Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Allison M. down Ogden 7.9 mi on March 29, 2012 at 6:22am

A volunteer is a plant that germinated from a seed from a previous years' crop (most commonly from dropped tomatoes or plants that you let go to seed), rather than a seed you planted there on purpose

Permalink Reply by Duppie on March 29, 2012 at 7:38am

It is my understanding that not all volunteers lead to good tomatoes. So-called F1-hybrids will not grow to give the same tomato you got last year when started from dropped tomatoes.

Is that correct?

Allison Mackey said:

A volunteer is a plant that germinated from a seed from a previous years' crop (most commonly from dropped tomatoes or plants that you let go to seed), rather than a seed you planted there on purpose

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on March 29, 2012 at 7:54am

Our early volunteer tomato was reverse (trans)planted into a pot to allow it to be brought inside in case we get a freeze and will be (re)planted back into the ground once fear of freezing is past.

We've also transplanted into the ground a couple dozen tomatoes and peppers that we started from seed indoors.   These have been planted both inside and outside of the hoop house.  But they are still small enough  (unlike the early volunteer) to be protected by kozy coats.  And we always keep plenty of seedlings in reserve in case a freak freeze occurs in February, March or April and damages any of our early plantings.  If the weather remains mild we will keep putting out more and more of our seedlings, including some of the more tender ones like eggplant and basil.

I'm feeling terribly behind on the direct sowing of our cukes and squash as our soil is already plenty warm but I've yet to plant any...

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on March 29, 2012 at 8:13am

Seed from hybrids will generally give you something more like one of the grandparents involved in the cross of the hybrid.

But even when intentionally saving seed from open pollinated plants you may get something other than you expect unless you carefully isolate and control pollination.  This is especially problematic with things like carrots that will cross pollinate with undesirable weeds like queen anne's lace.

With tomatoes though we have had good luck with saved seed and volunteers.  There is a tendency for successive generations to bear smaller and less sweet fruit so we still regularly start some purchased seed each year too.

Duppie said:

It is my understanding that not all volunteers lead to good tomatoes. So-called F1-hybrids will not grow to give the same tomato you got last year when started from dropped tomatoes.

Is that correct?

Permalink Reply by igz on April 2, 2012 at 8:00am

thanks! in that case, im getting a lot of volunteers. most unfortunately, most are from my compost. i repotted a palm that now has peppers growing with it. and those damn squash seeds.  i have sprouts everywhere again. gah. tomatoes strated growing in a pot that i planted some garlic. those are already transfered outside. outside, i have seedum growing in new places, rasberries are expanding, morning glories are everywhere, some fern, and of course, mint is coming up in random places.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 2, 2012 at 3:21pm

In my garden, they're often tomatoes dropped by squirrels or possums.  So far, they've been decent plants more often than not.

Allison Mackey said:

A volunteer is a plant that germinated from a seed from a previous years' crop (most commonly from dropped tomatoes or plants that you let go to seed), rather than a seed you planted there on purpose

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 2, 2012 at 3:23pm

My understanding is that the size of the compost pile/bin makes a difference in how much heat is produced and whether seeds are killed or not.  From what I've read, it takes one cubic yard or more (preferably enclosed) to generate enough heat to kill seeds.  My compost bin is somewhat smaller than this, and it definitely doesn't kill seeds, because I've gotten volunteer tomatoes in places far from the veggie bed - places where I've used the compost.

h' said:

If composting properly, seeds are supposed to be killed by the heat.

igz said:

thanks! in that case, im getting a lot of volunteers. most unfortunately, most are from my compost. i repotted a palm that now has peppers growing with it. and those damn squash seeds.  i have sprouts everywhere again. gah. tomatoes strated growing in a pot that i planted some garlic. those are already transfered outside. outside, i have seedum growing in new places, rasberries are expanding, morning glories are everywhere, some fern, and of course, mint is coming up in random places.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on April 3, 2012 at 8:19am

Not just volume, but also mixture of ingredients, as well as moisture content will determine the temperature a compost pile can reach. I read somewhere that seed gets killed starting at 120+ degrees, but that you need an extended period over 140 degrees to kill all seeds. Last summer our tumbler got up to a blazing 155 degrees. That tumbler is the size of a small rain barrel.

Another option would be turn your compost more frequently. Any sprouts will be turned under and die.

Anne Alt said:

My understanding is that the size of the compost pile/bin makes a difference in how much heat is produced and whether seeds are killed or not.  From what I've read, it takes one cubic yard or more (preferably enclosed) to generate enough heat to kill seeds.  My compost bin is somewhat smaller than this, and it definitely doesn't kill seeds, because I've gotten volunteer tomatoes in places far from the veggie bed - places where I've used the compost.

h' said:

If composting properly, seeds are supposed to be killed by the heat.

igz said:

thanks! in that case, im getting a lot of volunteers. most unfortunately, most are from my compost. i repotted a palm that now has peppers growing with it. and those damn squash seeds.  i have sprouts everywhere again. gah. tomatoes strated growing in a pot that i planted some garlic. those are already transfered outside. outside, i have seedum growing in new places, rasberries are expanding, morning glories are everywhere, some fern, and of course, mint is coming up in random places.

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on April 3, 2012 at 8:48am

I've found that when we have a large quantity of fresh material to compost it's fairly easy to get hot compost, but most of the time when we add small amounts of kitchen scraps or a bit of garden waste on a regular basis it doesn't get that hot.  Also, even with a hot pile the outer portions will still stay cool.   Regular turning will help but most of the time we have some seeds that survive the composting process.

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