volunteers

[desertlady]

I am curious, does volunteers veggies produced more or less? I noticed my volunteer tomatoes produced smaller fruits and less..

 

[Ridgerunner]

Its purely the luck of the draw. I often have volunteer tomatoes left from my compost after my early spring stuff is gone. The onions and garlic had several this year. Sometimes they produce prettty well. Sometimes they are worthless. Of course, mine might come from an heirloom or they may be from a hybrid.

 

[vfem]

Mine are all over the place, just depends I guess. Maybe your tomato volunteers were from a cross of some of the ones you had previously and the hybrid it created didn't produce well?

I got a couple of volunteer cherry tomatoes this year. One is thriving and one is kinda willowy and not really producing much.

 

[desertlady]

Mine are all over the place, just depends I guess. Maybe your tomato volunteers were from a cross of some of the ones you had previously and the hybrid it created didn't produce well?

I got a couple of volunteer cherry tomatoes this year. One is thriving and one is kinda willowy and not really producing much.

yep that what my tomato looks like too, kinda wimpy, Thats interesting that it could mixed with other kinds.. I cant wait to see how it tastes !! (still green)

 

[digitS']

I am prejudiced against volunteers.

If they show up on uncultivated ground and are just left to grow, that isn't always best for their chances.

Cucurbit volunteers in my garden once invaded my squash patch and I couldn't differentiate between them and what I'd planted. The volunteers were probably crosses between pumpkins & zucchini and were useless!

Tomato volunteers invariably have no time to ripen their fruit. I don't normally grow any late varieties so they are self-seeded from something that can produce fruit early. However, they don't have the benefit of an early start indoors. So, they will show up a good number of weeks behind and then are out of the running when frost comes.

Still, I save 1 or 2 every year . . . you never can tell.

Steve

 

[vfem]

That's a good point Steve! I actually moved my volunteers into beds and out of the ground they started in (exception being the watermelon as they don't transplant well).

I didn't think of that! Maybe it is just the location it came up in. :/

 

[desertlady]

interesting Steve ! Its good to know ! Thanks !