Has anyone ever tried this?

[bughunter99]

I was just out there admiring that size and health of one of my volunteer tomato plants. It seems to have weathered the drought much better than my transplants. There is so much of a difference that this fall I am thinking of planting a few seeds in the ground on purpose and marking their spot to see what happens. Has anyone tried this before?

Stacy

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by bughunter99

I was just out there admiring that size and health of one of my volunteer tomato plants. It seems to have weathered the drought much better than my transplants. There is so much of a difference that this fall I am thinking of planting a few seeds in the ground on purpose and marking their spot to see what happens. Has anyone tried this before?

Stacy

Stacy, in zone 5 it's risky but I have a suggstion.

Growing up on the farm the tomato varieties put out first were started inside and transplants set out. The ones to be put out later were direct seeded out side, the seedlings pulled and sorted and packed into bushel baskets and then transferred to the plant setter. And most years that worked well.

But I don't equate a volunteer, which arises from the seeds of fruits that drop to the gorind in the Fall and only a few percentage of them make it through to germinate in the Spring, with direct seeded ones in the Spring, if I read you correctly.

[Worth1]

If you planted seeds in the fall where I live they would sprout all winter long.
Anytime the ground got to the right temps some would sprout.
Some would make it till spring to sprout.
Yes I have had volunteer wild cherry I have let go on the make tomatoes that following summer.

Worth

[Medbury Gardens]

My season is just not long enough for volunteer tomato plants to ripen there fruit, so even though heaps will germinate when it gets warm enough all get hoed out.

[halleone]

Originally Posted by bughunter99

I was just out there admiring that size and health of one of my volunteer tomato plants. It seems to have weathered the drought much better than my transplants. There is so much of a difference that this fall I am thinking of planting a few seeds in the ground on purpose and marking their spot to see what happens. Has anyone tried this before?

Stacy

Well, I don't intentionally plant seeds out that way, but I generally find a few volunteers here and there, either from fallen fruit, or from where one of my dogs swiped a tomato and ate it out of my sight and seeds got squirted here and there. Unless they are in the way, I generally let them grow, just for the fun of seeing "who" comes up (identifying isn't always right).

My best cherry tomato this year is a volunteer growing on the side of my earth berm bed, and it has been very vigorous. No tomatoes have been grown in that bed for a few years, and I usually grow the cherry tomato in the fenced-off compost bin, to keep said dogs out of them. About three years ago the cherry tomato was grown in this ones spot, and last fall I did a lot of bed renovation - I wonder if it was a seed from way back then that was brought up to planting level. Can seeds lie dormant that long, in the ground, until conditions are right for them to grow?

[kygreg]

2 years ago, I planted seeds in February. I planted 4 or 5 seeds in each spot. I planted 5 spots with a different variety in each. I did nothing to protect the seed or seedlings. 4 of the 5 spots germinated and had seedlings. The seedlings of only one spot survived to produce a mature plant (Homer's German Oxheart).

[ContainerTed]

I had 14 volunteer tomatoes come up this year. I usually just till them under when I use the tiller for early weeding. But this year, I just wanted to see what could survive. The location of the volunteers didn't always make sense, because about half were in areas that have never had a tomato planted since I first broke ground on this piece of raw pasture.

Well, the data is in and here's the count. 13 of them were Matt's Wild Cherry and one was a very sour version of what had to be Sungold. Matt's Wild Cherry fruits were just as tasty as the ones I had grown from transplants, and I couldn't see any difference between them and the one I grew from a transplant. The fruit from the Sungold type was sour until the fruit was just about to drop off the plants, and then they were "average" tasting (but not even close to the original Sungold F1's). So, of all those 97 varieties grown in 2011, only MWC and a hybrid reseeded themselves. There were none of the beefsteak types, canning types, pastes, salad sizes, or other cherry types.

It makes me wonder whether or not Sungold's parentage has a very close connection to ground cherrys and Peru.

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Stacy, in zone 5 it's risky but I have a suggstion.

Growing up on the farm the tomato varieties put out first were started inside and transplants set out. The ones to be put out later were direct seeded out side, the seedlings pulled and sorted and packed into bushel baskets and then transferred to the plant setter. And most years that worked well.

But I don't equate a volunteer, which arises from the seeds of fruits that drop to the gorind in the Fall and only a few percentage of them make it through to germinate in the Spring, with direct seeded ones in the Spring, if I read you correctly.

Hi Carolyn,

Yes, I know. My thought was surrounding direct seeding in the fall. I was thinking of planting half a ripe fruit in a marked location or so. While I will certainly do my using seed starting and transplanting out in the spring, the volunteers in the garden were so much less work and so much more robust this year than the transplants. that I was thinking of giving direct seeding in the fall a shot for a few varieties and then will compare to same with transplants.

Stacy

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by halleone

Well, I don't intentionally plant seeds out that way, but I generally find a few volunteers here and there, either from fallen fruit, or from where one of my dogs swiped a tomato and ate it out of my sight and seeds got squirted here and there. Unless they are in the way, I generally let them grow, just for the fun of seeing "who" comes up (identifying isn't always right).

My best cherry tomato this year is a volunteer growing on the side of my earth berm bed, and it has been very vigorous. No tomatoes have been grown in that bed for a few years, and I usually grow the cherry tomato in the fenced-off compost bin, to keep said dogs out of them. About three years ago the cherry tomato was grown in this ones spot, and last fall I did a lot of bed renovation - I wonder if it was a seed from way back then that was brought up to planting level. Can seeds lie dormant that long, in the ground, until conditions are right for them to grow?

Sure! Weeds are notorious for just that behavior.

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by Worth1

If you planted seeds in the fall where I live they would sprout all winter long.
Anytime the ground got to the right temps some would sprout.
Some would make it till spring to sprout.
Yes I have had volunteer wild cherry I have let go on the make tomatoes that following summer.

Worth

Not here in Chicago. The ground freezes solid and even with the freeze thaws it is highly unlikely the ground would warm enough to have the sprout before spring.

[MissS]

I am in wisconsin and every year I do 'plant' a rotting fruit. This year my Brandywine Cowlicks left out has surpassed those that were started indoors. This is a fluke as we had a very warm spell this spring which had the outdoor seed germinate prior to those sown indoors. I truely thought that the volunteer would perish from the cold. The volunteers have won this year.

Volunteer seed does germinate every year here, however, the plants usually lag behind those that were started inside. I really do not mind this as then I am getting big maters all season long.

[halleone]

Originally Posted by bughunter99

Sure! Weeds are notorious for just that behavior.

Never even entered my mind, but ya know, I think you're right!