I love it when you send questions my way about the gardening. I do have to freely admit, though, that sometimes, they stump me. They are things I have just never tried or heard of one way or the other. So, when reader, Anna, asked me about her tomato plants, I was intrigued, and thought it was totally worth sending it out to all of you:
Hi Mavis, I’ve enjoyed your blogs for quite sometime! I’m inspired by your creative cost savings and also your gardening know how. A question for the garden. We live in central to southern California and I still have 3 tomato plants from last season that are still growing and producing. The toms are rather bland but the plants seem healthy. These never got pulled as we had a baby at the end of tomato season 🙂 and it just wasn’t a priority. All of these bushes are indeterminate heirloom varieties. My question is…do you think it is worth it to trim them back and leave them in the ground and see how they fare through this upcoming tomato season?? I think they may just give us another delicious crop :). Any insight would be awesome! Sidenote, they are in raised beds :). Thanks, Anna
I have never tried to get a tomato plant to give me two years of production, so honestly, I really don’t know. According to an article I read, tomatoes don’t typically live more than one growing cycle in the Northern Hemisphere, HOWEVER, it is very common for them to produce for two years in more tropical locations, where the temperatures never dip below 65 degrees. So, I guess, depending on the conditions, you could potentially have a crazy fluke year, and get another growing cycle out of those bad boys. My vote is to leave them {especially if space is not an issue} and test it out.
All of that being said, I am really hoping one of my readers will have actual experience with this sort of thing and will weigh in. With that, readers, I leave the answer up to you.
~Mavis
Erin says
I usually get two seasons of production out of my tomatoes. It seems to work like this for me in FL, zone 9B, if I plant them in spring they will produce until it gets really hot, then they will go dormant without fruiting in the summer then they will begin fruiting again in the fall. If I plant them in the fall they might go dormant through the winter without fruit and then they will begin producing in the spring till it gets too hot. My pepper plants and eggplants do the same thing. It does help to trim them back a bit and the new growth produces more and better fruit. I tried to get them back to the big main branch with several leafy branches to provide the energy to support new growth. Pepper plants can be knocked down to the ground and allowed to completely regrow from one small main section shaped like a Y, but my tomato plants seem to prefer a gentle pruning instead just removes any really long vining branches. You should also make sure to give them a nice top dressing of compost and I would recommend a liquid fertilizer like a compost tea to get them the nutrients for a second season. That’s probably why they taste bland right now. Too much rain also gives mine a bland. Best of luck!
Erin says
Also, taking cuttings from the growing tips of your tomatoes is a great way to start a second round of tomatoes that grow and produce way faster than starting from seeds or even nursery transplants. I always take cuttings to root in water before pulling up a spent tomato plant. It’s an especially good idea for hybrids. I have to grow nematode resistant hybrids so if I want to propagate my own plants it has to be from cuttings.
Sue R. says
Thanks for this tip about taking cuttings of tomato plants! I never thought of trying that!
Melissa D says
Do you use rooting hormone? Or just water and a sunny windowsill?
Erin says
Water and a windowsill. I’ve also had some success just sticking them into good wet dirt in the garden. Tomatoes are super duper easy to root.
Jonnie says
Tomatoes are perennials. They will grow, and produce, as long as they are alive.
Sarah says
I say keep the tomato plant! They will produce for ever. I have a tomato plant that is about 5 years old and produces year round. I brought it with me to Seattle from E Oregon. During the winter I keep it in my indoor grow room and roll it outside when the weather permits.
I’d give it a good hair cut and as long as you keep feeding it- it’ll keep doing its thing. The size of tomatoes on mine has stayed relatively consistent. I don’t like tomatoes so I can’t speak on the taste… Just that they taste as unappealing now as they always have. Ha!
Leah says
My grandfather (an amazing gardener) used to overwinter his tomatoes. He would prune them and fertilize them with compost. I have attempted this but find that the garden pests seem to have a memory of where they were before and attack them viciously. I also see other wilts and various fungi attack these plants. I don’t even try to overwinter them anymore. This is the same reason they recommend to not plant the same crop in the same place year after year. Best wishes.