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Unexpected tomatoes

Hello all, I hope someone can help me, I have been growing runner beans in a raised bed for a number of years and use compost collected from peelings etc, This year I have 15-20 tomato plants and 1 potato plant that have sprung up from nowhere! I can only presume they have sprouted from the compost.

Does anybody think I should pull these out? Will they affect my bean crop? Or just leave them to it and see what happens? Your thoughts please.

Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,032

    I had tomatoes all over a new flower bed which I had dug home made compost into. I pulled them all up.

    But I have grown a few on in the past, however if they are from F1 hybrid plants they don't come true from seed.

    I wouldn't leave them on the beans. If you want any then dig them up carefully and replant them somewhere else and see what happens.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    I understand sewage farms grow a good crop of tomatoes every year if given the chance. The seeds are not destroyed by their travels through the compost heap or the human gut!
  • LilyanneLilyanne Posts: 21
    I have heard that too, Welshonion. My veg patch was taken over this year by "rogue" potatoes that had sprouted up from those that had inadvertently been left behind! I'm looking forward to seeing what I can dig up.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    Not only have I got last years  missed potatoes coming up, I also have runner beans that have grown from dropped seeds. If they weren't in the Kale patch I'd be grateful.

  • TimatoTimato Posts: 2

    Thanks everyone, I will leave a few in and see if they fruit.

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