Huh??? There are only two possibilities: Either a seed (actually two) made it through our very cold, snowy winter or it is a weed that looks exactly like a tomato seedling. What do you think? I have two, possibly three seedlings growing where I did not plant tomatoes. They are, however, growing where I made a pile of stuff I was throwing away when I was cleaning up for the winter. Could tomato seeds have made it through that awful winter we just had? If so, I wouldn't mind direct sowing in the fall and letting them sprout on their own in the spring. They are doing better than my in-house seedlings. Any thoughts?
Any chance you could post a photograph for us Beeker? It would help us to see if what's growing are tomato plants or not.
Beeker, we have self-seeded tomatoes pop up every year. They are usually cherry tomatoes (red or yellow pear, or sungolds) and when they are little I transplant them to a spot where they can stay and grow. We had an unusually harsh winter (for Texas!) and still there were a couple of dozen little tomato plants all over the large vegetable gardens. As Eileen said, a photo would be a great help.
Beeker, I have tomatoes sprouting in the garden that I didn't plant. They will survive over the winter and give you a new plant, but if you keep it don't expect it to be anything like you ate, if it was a store bought tomato. If you know it was an heirloom fruit you will get the same for a plant, but there is no telling until it sets fruit and ripens.
I have read that tomato seeds actually benefit from cold stratifying and come up strong and hardy in Spring. You can freeze them in ice cube trays for a couple of months then plant the ice cube where you want the plant to grow. Or you can sow them in the fall before the ground freezes. Did you have any tomato leftovers...old, bug eaten ones or scraps from the kitchen for example that you threw into that pile of stuff or a compost pile? My tomato plants last year were from seeds I forgot to keep out of the compost pile the year before. Snow and ice are great insulators for seeds. Once they are frozen in the ground or there is a good deep layer of snow on the ground they won't be affected by the colder air that settles in during a harsh winter.
Beeker, That happens all the time especially with tomatoes and peppers. If you are sure it's a tomato and have room for it, let it grow. However, as Carolyn said it's not gonna be true to its original kind if it was a hybrid. You might get a new type of tomato. If it was a heirloom then you will harvest the exact same kind you planted previously. Planting in the fall seems a bad idea to me cause their is no guarantee they will germinate for sure! I had a volunteer cayenne pepper that I did not had the heart to pull out and it had hundreds of peppers by the summer but they were milder than bell peppers . ( photo / image / picture from Green Fingers's Garden )
Toni, that's new info for me. I thought they might rot for being too long in the snow or water. Thanks. Dear Mods it took me a while to find the pic and upload it and I missed Toni's post. Sincere apologies for double posting in advance.
There is no problem with tomato seed surviving winter. I have had tomatoes growing under snow that were volunteers.
I have tomato volunteers each year in my gardens. Sometimes they are good, and there has been the occasion that the tomatoes are bitter. The plants are always very strong and healthy
Beeker, we had a horrendous winter in Michigan, yet we too have volunteer tomato plants. I have no idea what type. The best volunteer plant we ever had was a Spaghetti squash. I intended to pull "The weed" out, but Himself said leave it. We collected 19 Spaghetti squash off that plant. Green Fingers, you have green fingers indeed. I have never had a volunteer pepper plant. Beautiful.
After the season was over last year, I pulled everything out and made a pile in that general area. It did include rotten tomatoes. After making the pile, I ran out of time and didn't get back to it until spring. By the time I finally moved the pile, it was mid-April. I wouldn't be surprised if the little guys are tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes because I also had a cherry tomato plant growing in that general area that dropped some fruit. I will try to get a picture today. I have no doubt that if it is a tomato, they will be truly delicious because I only use heirloom seeds. Being in New England, I didn't think it would be possible to have tomato seeds over-winter so well. If it is possible, I will direct sow in the autumn and see how it goes. I will still start some seeds indoors too as back-up. If the outdoor seeds do well, I'll just give my indoor seedlings away. Everybody bugs me for them anyway. As far as trying to direct sow the seeds, I would like some information on how to do that in the autumn. I was originally planning on getting free compost from our town and spreading it in the autumn, then tilling it in the spring and planting. If those are my plans, I certainly cannot direct sow in the autumn. So, two questions: How do I do that ice cube trick? and What is the best method of autumn prepping and/or spring prepping so I can plant some things to over-winter and get an early crop?
