Will tomatoes grow over winter?

S

Still Invisible

Member

• Mar 29, 2012

• #1

Hi, I grew some tomatoes in the ground over summer and they yielded well for a while but due to unseasonably heavy rainfall the tomatoes split and rotted or fell to the ground and rotted.
Then the plants died.
But now I notice that there are lots of small tomatoe seedlings sprouting up from there.
Just wondering what will happen if I leave them, will they grow over winter and flower in summer, or will they die off in winter.
Winter temperatures here don't usually get below 10 celcius, and there are no frosts.

 

supermanlives

Active member

Veteran

• Mar 29, 2012

• #2

in so cal all my maters last all year. in the middle winter they dont grow much and only have a few maters. if your plant wasnt a hybrid the seedlings will be like the mom. if it was from a hybrid then who knows what you will end up with

 

G

greenmatter

• Mar 29, 2012

• #3

i read somewhere that a tomato is actually a perennial but it is grown as an annual.

they are not going to handle the cold at all and the longer you keep them in one location the more you are going to have disease problems. rotate crops if possible

i always get "volunteer" plants, but none of them amount to anything, so they are usually classified as weeds if they are taking up needed space

 

S

Still Invisible

Member

• Mar 29, 2012

• #4

Ok, so some of the parents were cherry tomatoes and some were roma tomatoes; will the seedlings be a cross between cherry and roma, or don't they interbreed?

 

G

greenmatter

• Mar 29, 2012

• #5

tomatoes definitely interbreed. unless you are dealing with some really cool heirloom genetics i would be starting fresh from seeds or going to the greenhouse and buying some babies.

 

supermanlives

Active member

Veteran

• Mar 29, 2012

• #6

i once kept a plant 5 years. just kept bending branches and covering with soil. like a ground vine. volunteers from hybrids are hit and miss. volunteers from heirlooms are like the momma. i tried a volunteer from a cherry plant last year . it was ok but the skin was too thick

 

N

northstate

Member

ICMag Donor

• Mar 29, 2012

• #7

They come in two types, determinate and indeterminate. One is affected by the day length and one is not. GM is correct in most places near the equator they are year round vines that keep growing. In SD superman can keep em going but they slow in the winter. They will cross pollinate for sure, F2's can be good but you are better off starting over unless you have an unreal heirloom to save.NS

 

N

Nader

Active member

Veteran

• Mar 29, 2012

• #8

So would it make sense then, that determinates are the short-day plants and indeterminates just do their thing regardless of photoperiod?

 

N

northstate

Member

ICMag Donor

• Mar 30, 2012

• #9

That is correct Nader. Most will respond to slowly cutting the water down a month before harvest to speed up ripening and make tastier fruit.NS

 

supermanlives

Active member

Veteran

• Mar 30, 2012

• #10

indys pump out fruit constantly, where determinate seem to have a crop ready all at the same time mostly. well atleast in my garden

 

supermanlives

Active member

Veteran

• Apr 1, 2012

• #11

harvested 3 small tomatos and 1 cherry tomato LOL

 

supermanlives

Active member

Veteran

• Apr 1, 2012

• #12

yes. todays picture

 

N

Nog Onsigbare

Member

• Apr 5, 2012

• #13

Ok thanks; I went and weeded the bed yesterday and also pulled up most of the self sown tomatoes; the ones I left are about 6 to 8 inches high so I will leave them as an experiment and see what happens.
S.I.

 

M

Mt. Goat

Member

• May 2, 2012

• #14

We have a super sweet 100 hanging in a sunny window. Started mid december and got 30-40 tomatoes. It stopped flowering so I cut it way back. It has grown in again and there are about 20 or so immature tomatoes on it again so far. I cloned it to grow some more plants, and plan on trying to keep it growing indefinitely. Good tasting tomatoes too!