Volunteer Plants

I was recently asked what the term "volunteer tomato" means. This simply means you have a tomato plant that is growing somewhere you did not plant it. Don't get all stressed out and think something is wrong because this is normal to happen. It can occur for several reasons, but you may never know for sure what caused yours.

First, we have to understand that tomatos have been grown domestically and wildly for thousands of years. This length of time has made the tomato plants very hearty and adaptable. Ones growing without anyone caring for them may not produce very good tomatos unless the climate is right, but they will grow none the less.

So, if you have a volunteer plant growing somewhere, it just means a seed got to that location at one point. Typically, it is a seed from the previous year. It may have ended up their after an animal ate one they got away with, or maybe a seed dropped during planting, or maybe even a tomato that was dropped during harvesting. There are a million ways it could have gotten their.

I have already found a volunteer tomato plant sprouting in the gravel of our driveway. If they are hearty enough to grow in a gravel driveway, do not be suprised to see one pop up in your lawn or other location in the yard. Really this can happen with any plant, but not all plants are as willing to grow just anywhere.

So don't think you are doing something wrong when plants happen to pop up somewhere you did not plant them. It happens sometimes. You can take care of the volunteer or just pluck it out. Maybe you would like to leave it alone and let it go naturally for comparison to the ones you are going to take care of. The choice is up to you.

Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!