What do you do with volunteers?

[KathyDC]

For the first time, I basically just turned my old beds and amended them instead of doing some new strange growing thing. And, I suppose not surprisingly, I have about 7 volunteers sprouting up in different places.

I am super type-A about varieties -- I want to know what it is that's growing! In part that's so I can save seed and trade with confidence, but also I just like knowing what the varieties are.

So I'm having a dilemma. Do I just yank them? Do I let them grow a while then transplant and see what they turn out to be? I am having a hard time just contemplating ditching a viable plant, but also, what the heck will they be?!

What do you usually do?

[slugworth]

segregate and keep an eye on them as the season progresses.

[brownrexx]

I rip them out. They usually turn out to be cherry tomatoes.

[slugworth]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I rip them out. They usually turn out to be cherry tomatoes.

My mother used to say compost pile tomatoes are always cherry type.
2015 I had volunteers that were big,probably german johnson compost
version.That was a drought year and they were drought resistant.
Not watered for 2 weeks and they were still alive.

[KathyDC]

Interesting! In fairness, they are in a spot where I have planted cherry tomatoes before, so it could be. But now I am curious to see if they turn out to be cherries or not. I'm leaning toward transplanting them elsewhere and growing just for curiosity's sake.

[taboule]

I've always ripped them out, when they germinate in a bed, for reasons already stated (control, unknown ID..) and also 1) because I usually have enough plants not to bother, 2) by the time they germinate outside, they're too small and behind for my growing area.

This year was a bit different. When I started my seeds in March, I must have reused some peat pucks or seed mix of "duds" from last year. To my surprise, I got 4 seedlings from that batch, and they quickly outgrew the newly planted seeds. I kept them, they started flowering in the basement, and I ended up planting them first, one in each corner of a large bed. I know they're not cherries, I never grow those. They can only be from one of my favorites, and I'm looking forward to the surprises they'll give me. I'm growing around 50 plants this year, so I have plenty of known types for saving seed, and not much risk in the experiment. Most of what I grow ends up as sauce.

[slugworth]

Some people claim volunteers like from a compost pile are always cherry type,even if you never grew a cherry tomato in your life.
My mother said that ,and she was a gardener for 85+ years.
I think a lot depends on your winter temps and how it effects the seeds.
That is why I never freeze tomato seeds.

[brownrexx]

Last year I had a volunteer near the chicken coop so I let it grow for them since they love tomatoes. It turned out to be a Black Cherry. I had grown them the previous year in my garden.

The chickens pick their own tomatoes when they are ripe.

[ddsack]

My volunteers don't sprout until the weather heats up, and so have a slim chance of getting big enough to produce anything before frost in the fall. But one year I found a very healthy perfect plant when we removed the sweet corn stalks after harvest in August. I transplanted it into a large pot and brought it in the house before frost. It ripened a few delicious medium sized tomatoes in Nov/Dec. I could have at least narrowed down the variety if I looked at my planting charts for that bed for the previous year, but never got around to it.

[ScottinAtlanta]

I select ten of the most vigorous volunteers every year, and after 8 years have kept two that I continue to plant and select each year: A pale yellow large cherry, and a very productive red saladette. Two of my must grow plants - I call them Scott's Yellow Cherry and Eden's Temptation, just for fun.

I wonder how many years I have to select them before actually having my own varieties?