Last fall, Nancy found a small volunteer tomato vine that had sprouted in the same pot as a mature vine she was about to pull up. Rather than pulling up the young plant, she repotted it and brought it inside. Throughout the winter, she trimmed it back so it wouldn’t get so spindly and she watered and nourished it. I thought she was crazy. You can’t carry over a tomato vine from one year to the next.
But she did. This spring, when the last frost date had passed, she replanted it outside in her above-the-ground garden. Lo and behold, it is now blooming and doing fine.
Master gardeners agree that volunteer tomatoes often exhibit exceptional vigor and health benefits due to natural selection and optimal growing conditions. They are a reliable source of fresh produce, often outperforming intentionally planted tomatoes. They can be the strongest and hardiest plants in a garden. Afterall, they have proven that they like the conditions they are given and have adapted well. Some say that they thrive on neglect and need less care and attention than transplants or vines grown from seed.
This week I also found a volunteer plant in my garden, which popped up beside my potato vines. Naturally, I’ll let it grow and find out later exactly what kind of tomato it really is. When it comes to tomatoes, where there is a will, there absolutely is a way.
