I have about 5 volunteers growing around my lettuce in the garden. They are sun gold and I'll probably just pull them like weeds.

Volunteers are usually very healthy and need no hardening off.

I might have to butt into this conversation as something of a neophyte. This is referring to the seedlings that unexpectedly were created by fallen tomato comrades, yes?

I have about 20 of these popping up. Obviously left over from the autumn of last year. Tallest are 4" or so already. Given that I was growing a mix of heirlooms and hybrid cherry tomatoes last year - all in close proximity - there's no guarantee that these won't be some kind of freaky crossed tomato, correct?

(Whether the answer is yes or no, I have an intrepid neighbor who wants to try to grab some for fun...)

They could be a cross or they could be true. Depends on what was going on in the garden last summer. :) Tomatoes don't always cross, but if you want to be sure you need to bag a blossom of a variety you want so nothing else gets in there.

And we have a long enough growing season that if you find a spot for the volunteers soon they'll take off and catch up in no time.

I was out in the garden yesterday afternoon and noticed that I have another spot with dozens of volunteers. My garden is probably 20x30, covered in black plastic with holes cut for the plants. This is my second year with this plastic (it lasts maybe 2 years). Anyway, these are not sun gold, but a round, red type that I got from my brother last year after a fertilizer misuse burned most of my seedlings. They are probably 8 or so inches tall.

I have been clearing the holes of weeds as I need them, and was just about to pull these weeds when I took a closer look and realized they weren't weeds but tomatoes, and lots of them. I don't have space for them all, but wow, I've never seen volunteers this big and healthy this early with no special treatment. I pulled last year's plants in the fall, but must have missed a tomato in this spot. I will try to keep one in place and transplant a few others to other vacant spots -- and here I was just lamenting that I had fewer plants than last year because for the first time ever my winter sowing was almost a complete failure.

Nature is truly amazing. :) With our cold winter and early spring how did these plants not only sprout but thrive? Suddenly I've gone from about 12 tomatoes to as many as I can find room for.

Caryl

My patch of volunteers.

I had two volunteers, which surprised me because my growing area last season was all covered by a tunnel, weed barrier and bordered by plastic. One was in the way so it was pulled but the other is left on a skinny path to fend for itself in soils that are teeming with bad nematodes and nutrient poor mucky fine sand and silt. It is trying to thrive but is lacking nutrients. That hasn't stopped it from flowering. The diminutive flowers suggest it is an F2 of Super Sweet 100, but aren't convincing of the F1 because there are only three or four on the first inflorescence. Because SS100 (I think?) is nematode tolerant to some degree I'm careful not to step on this plant. Maybe it will resist nematodes too so the seeds could be useful, if it fruits. It lost an entire growing tip and leaves down to stem from a caterpillar. Maybe I need to start looking out for this underdog!

PC

Here are the first pics of the summer volunteers.

They're still babies, so only time will tell.