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Heard a guy at the nursery say 'it's just a weed' about a volunteer tomato plant
I was at Johnson's Greenhouse last Saturday picking up some compost and this older fella walks past a little tomato sprout growing out of a crack in the concrete. He points at it and says to his friend 'it's just a weed, pull it.' I kept my mouth shut but it got me thinking. That little plant was doing more growing in that crack than half the stuff I try to keep alive in my raised beds. We get so focused on what plants are supposed to be where that we forget anything green and thriving has value. That tomato probably got watered by runoff from the hose and did fine without any fancy fertilizer. Has anyone else had a random plant pop up somewhere weird and turn out way tougher than the ones you babied along?
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blair63024d ago
Johnson's is great but I've gotta disagree a little - that volunteer tomato might be tougher but it's probably not going to produce as well as one you start in good soil with actual nutrients.
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hall.charles24d ago
Oh totally, I had a cherry tomato plant pop up right next to my compost bin one year and it was a monster. I didn't do a thing to it, no watering, no staking, nothing. It climbed up the side of the bin and produced more fruit than the three I babied in my best soil with drip irrigation. The fruit was smaller and a little tougher skin, but it tasted just as good and kept going until a hard frost. Sometimes I feel like those volunteers are just showing off.
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