Lateral roots can grow 3 feet and more from the base
of a plant. They also grow down 3 feet and more.

The root structure of a tomato seed planted in the ground
is quite different than a transplanted plant too. The seed
tomato will have a much larger taproot than a transplant tomato.

The unwatered plants will probably have a larger root
system (they're looking for water) than the watered ones.
They've undoubtedly found sufficient water and have
'gone native'. They've adapted to your soil and conditions.

I've attached a link that I got from Carolyn years ago.
Very interesting read if you're so inclined.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato root development

In addition to all the factors qaguy mentioned the primary difference is that your plants that you consider "carefully tended" were actually well-handicapped by the diaper (seriously??) and the bucket ring and way over-watered so were shallow rooted and water-dependent.

Even with all things being equal a standard tomato plant won't compare with a cherry tomato plant when it comes to production and heat tolerance but you really need to re-evaluate your planting and watering methods for best results.

Plant deeper, skip the bucket parts, leave out all the cellulose and plastic in the diaper and learn to water very deeply and much less frequently.

Dave

Thanks for the feedback here, all of which sounds reasonable. The questionable techniques (diaper, bucket ring) are ones my lovely wife read about on the Internet and insisted that we use, although at this point our volunteer tomato plants have us both rethinking everything. There is, as we know, all kinds of misinformation on the Internet :( So in addition to the ones mentioned, there are a couple of other differences between the volunteers and the "well tended" plants. The former is growing in soil that was formerly a thicket - briars and other vines, small trees, sumacs, junipers, etc. The soil is virgin as far as its use as a garden is concerned. Our garden tomatoes are growing in replacement topsoil of unknown origin. A 10 in. rainstorm last year sent a small river through that portion of our garden, taking out the topsoil down to the subsoil. The replacement soil grows good cucumbers and radishes, but may not be ideal for tomatoes, even though they were planted in holes filled with well-composted soil. Next year I'll do this:

* Plant some tomatoes as seeds rather than store-bought transplants

* Do away with the diapers and plastic rings

* Water minimally to encourage the development of deep roots

* Plant all the tomatoes in the new area where the soil is rich

This post was edited by fmouse on Sat, Sep 7, 13 at 11:13

Gagay,

That is a fascinating read, and throws a whole new light on how to start tomatoes from seed! I'm tossing my tiny peat pots that I normally start my seeds in. No wonder they get stalled!

Thanks for the link.

Linda

Perhaps the volunteer tasted sweeter due to less water. Perhaps more soil and less composted material helped.

My one cherry tomato plant in the front yard almost always does well. This year it produced more fruit than the eight cherry toms in the back yard.

so theoretically if I plant one seedling into deeper and larger container right away it will do better than seedling transplanted several times from one size container to another?

Sweet 100s are a hybrid. This means that the seeds of a Sweet 100 plant will recombine from their hybrid parents and "re-assort" in many different and unpredictable ways. Perhaps many many Sweet 100 seeds stared out, but perhaps the only ones that survived were those that had re-assorted to be most adapted to your particular (difficult) growing conditions. So they produced good, healthy plants. This SOMETIMES happens with Volunteer tomatoes. I know people who insist that all volunteers are crap, and they rip them out at the first sign of growth Others insist that the volunteers are sometimes the best and strongest plants in their garden. Due to genetic chance, both things might happen. If you have a plant you like, be sure to save some of the seeds from it, and try to grow them next year. And hope that it is stable enough that it continues to do well, AND to taste good.