I am new to gardening and plannted tomatoes, zuchinnies, peppers and eggplants this year. After the season is done for this year, do any of these grow back the following year or do I have to replant them? Thanks
They are annuals and do not grow back. They grow from seed.
I have had tomatoes come back each year, and in fact, have some new "volunteers" coming up in a potted tomato right now. ;-)
But only because I dropped a couple of over-ripe fruits into the bottom of the pot so they are coming up from the seeds that were in the fruits.
Tomatoes are annuals. They need to be replanted each year.
Peppers, however, depending on the variety and the severity of the winter, CAN come back! I have a Chile petin right now out in the main garden bed that is over 4 years old and it's huge. The plant looks dead in the winter, but I leave it there and it re-sprouts lots of leaves and my cackatoo deeply appreciates the hundreds of pea-sized fruit it produces every year.
Summer squash, no. Needs to be replanted every year. I've had eggplants last 2 years, but that's it so I'm not really sure about them.
I've had volunteer tomatoes the following year if I planted from seed (rather than plants from the nursery) and let a few fruits fall in the bed. As long as you don't spray weedkiller, or anything else that will kill seeds or sprouts, the tomato seeds should sprout the following spring.
I planted some fantastic yellow tomatoes and they kept coming up year after year. I'm in coastal California - if you're in a very cold winter area, this might not work.
Susan B.
it works in Michigan, but only with cherry tomatoes that I know of.
They aren't pernenials, but if you let enough fruit rot on the ground they will re-seed.
I grew sweet 100's last year which produce a larger amount of wasted fruit the mound under the plant (and attract mouds of ants). I have a
2 foot trough of volunteers that came back this year, plus a few peeking out from uder broccoli and flower beds. None of my other tomatoes re-seed, but I don't let the fruits fall to the ground and let the seeds rot back into the ground.Last year's hot chile pepper plant has a bunch of moldy peppers which got composted. I have dozens of voluneteers from that plant. DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY,
If you live in a warm climate they are perennial. I live in Los Angeles and I have had Lemon Boy tomatoes overwinter two or three times.
I've found that I get much more vigorous growth (and more fruit) if I prune my peppers sharply every spring, just as they're starting to show signs of new growth.
Interesting, as I had to really prune this one last winter! We were installing a new "pop-up" greenhouse where this plant was living and I had to cut it back so it'd fit properly in the back corner. :-)
It's bigger and better than ever this year.... Looks like I never cut it in the first place!
Freya bird is thrilled. ;-)
The plant is a wild volunteer. I did not plant it, but I protect it.
Where are you located? Primarily, what is your latitude? Is your "handle" also your location? All the plants listed are perennials with the exception of zucchini which is an annual. However, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are all very frost sensitive perennials so, if you live in an area where there is any chance of frost they will not survive. Some people have good results with peppers by bringing them inside in pots for the winter and pruning them back in spring. Don't know how it might work with eggplants and, because of their indeterminate nature, it's not practical with tomatoes.
Ross. Southern Ontario, Canada. New AgCanada Zone 5b
43º17'15" North 80º13'32" West To email, remove the obvious from my address.
On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 14:57:00 -0400, "Ottawa" wrote in rec.gardens.edible:
This is Perth checking in, not very far from you.
Have you found this to be a lousy year for tomatoes? Some that I have in pots have what I believe is one of the wilts. The plants growing in raised beds get blossom end rot as fast as I can throw them away. I think the heat and random rain showers are responsible.
Prudens Purple, Dufresne, White Beauty, Window Box Roma, Great White, UltraGirl and Early Girl.
This is by far the worst year ever for my little darlings.
-- Gardening Zones Canada Zone 5a United States Zone 3a Near Ottawa, Ontario
"Ottawa" wrote in news:L_7Ee.9901$je2.1032236 @news20.bellglobal.com:
You can save the seeds from a few overripe tomatoes and plant them again. It works best, however, if you can plant the seeds immediately after taking them from the tomato.
I have two tomato plants in a five gallon bucket from seeds. After following a tip I got here, I'm starting to get fruit. (Some tomato plants grow big and leafy and don't produce fruit. If you trim them down, they'll get down to fruit producing.)
Puckdropper
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