Lazy man's seed starting
 

I have to grow my tomatoes in pots. Not the preferred method but 1) I love in Southern California and land is at a premium so I don't have any 2) the backyard is taken up by a swimming pool. So last year I had two tomatoes and a bell pepper, all of which I gave me problems. By the end of the year I was pretty frustrated, so I just left some fruit on the plants.

This year when I went to plant again, I saw a piece of fruit in the dirt from the old pots. Wasn't sure what it was, so I just buried it in with the new plants. To my surprise, in a couple weeks I had all these little green shoots popping up. I transferred them to another pot to wait them out and see what they were. At first I thought they were peppers, but turns out it's tomato plants and now I've got 5 little tomato plants 6 inches tall. It's so late that I don't know if they'll have a chance to bear fruit before the season is over.

Anybody else think maybe this is good way to do it in the future, just plant a whole dried tomato and see what happens? I know I've had better results with this accidental planting than I have with those stupid seed packets I buy.

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

I don't think this is late in the season for Southern California...

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

Planting dried tomatoes probably won't work too well. The tomato seeds are covered by a gelatinous membrane that needs to ferment off before the seed can germinate which is what I am assuming happened to that tomato of yours. If you are saving your own seed you have to scoop the seeds and let them ferment in an air tight container for a few days before you wash and dry them.

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

I'll keep you posted. I bought last year's plants from a local nursery (I can't remember the name of them, they looked like really small romas). It's very possible they could be hybrids. Considering what corporate america is doing with plants these days, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't produce anything.

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

You have LOT'S of time to grow tomatoes bro.

I'm in Canada, and we had frost last week (again). My plants are all still in the little cups that I've started them in, awaiting to be transplanted. I had so many tomatoes that I had to give them away.

You'll have lot's of time, being in Cali.

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

If they grow up to be like this...RUN!

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

Some fruits plant better by dropping the whole thing in the Earth...tomatoes are finnicky though, there are a lot of crazy chemicals in a tomato.

I think you'll have plenty of time to get tomatos, do not worry about it.

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

Yea, let us know what happens. I only buy heirloom vareities so if I like them I can save the seeds and know I will get plants similar to the parents. Plus there is less chance of them being cross contaminated with GM plants. With the hybrids you never know what you might end up with the next year.

Re: Lazy man's seed starting
 

We have plenty of room to garden, but always grow our tomatoes in pots, they do beautifully.

We only grow heirloom varieties. You need to replace the dirt every year that you've grown tomatoes in, so I don't think it's a great idea to let the seeds sprout in the same soil.

We dump the old dirt into our compost pile, or directly into a raised bed.