Tomato growing vines from leaves and fruit branches?

8 years ago

I had some kind of cherry tomato plant volunteer in a big dirt pile behind my house (from digging out a garden bed). Stuck a big cage around it and decided to prune it heavily to just a couple of stalks and top it off when it grows over the top so it wouldn't topple. Easy peasy.

It is working fine but the tomato is growing in ways I have never seen. I had a couple of fruit stems grow off the main stalk and make some beautiful large cherries. No problem. But then they kept growing, turned upward, got hairy, and started to work as a growing vine! Two of those. I have never seen this behavior on a tomato before.

Today I noticed what looks like little vine sprouts growing from between fronds on the leaves too.

I have never seen growth from these non-sucker spots before. Have I accidentally crested some kind of weird mutant tomato? Has anybody ever seen this behavior before?

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Comments (14)

Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
8 years ago
Tomato trusses grow on the stem, not from the leaf node.
Sometimes, in some varieties, the end of truss turns into a branch.
Is that what you have ?

Sey
novachild99
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It looks like two of my trusses have turned into branches. First time I have ever seen that but if you say it happens I certainly believe. But it really does look like I've got some baby branches starting to grow out of leaves too: look at my last two pics?
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The flowers and fruit is set on the newer branches only. No. While it may seem that way it is more weather related than anything else. There is a strong correlation between age of the plant and air temperatures. Many varieties when planted while the weather is still cool will bloom and set fruit while the plant is still quite young and small, well before it begins to climb. In fact many ask if they are supposed to remove that early fruit for the health of the plant but are advised to just leave it. That same plant, planted much later and hit with excessive heat will continue to grow but it will not bloom or set fruit until it gets a break in the weather and it may be quite tall by then. The older bottom leaves and branches don't seem to contribute anything except that they are close to the ground and shaded. They are also shading the plants roots, helping to keep them cool, which is an important role. Should they be pruned? If diseased, yes but otherwise, normally no, there is no reason to do so and pruning the plant is stressful for it. Your real issue is the aphids, not the plant's new or old growth or the location of the leaves. So you need to treat the aphids and let the plant do what comes naturally for it. There are any number of aphid treatments available including simply squishing them by hand, hosing them off with water, insecticides both organic and non-organic, and cutting back on high N fertilizers. But removing leaves because they have aphids isn't usually one of them. Dave
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Thank you all for your replies. Dave, I keyed in my zip on my first post, but I guess that doesn't tell you much. :-) I live in Ga, and we have had temps in the mid to upper 90s for a couple of weeks now, and the forecast doesn't change over the next week. In the past month, we've had one, yes ONE rain shower, so my poor maters are lacking delicious rain water. I'll check out the article you linked. Thanks! We've had a bit of all that you described...extreme temperatures (from dipping into the mid-40s when the plants were younger to weeks on end of the upper 90s lately), very little rain, and some of the heaviest winds that our area has seen on one or two occasions, so it's impossible to diagnose the root problem I suppose. I water deeply twice per week, always checking the soil before I do to make sure a watering is needed. I've used miracle grow 2 times since planting these guys back in April, plus I tilled compost into my soil back in fall and mulched with compost under my hay...which answers Betsy's question. The hay is actually the same hay I used from last year. I bought 2 bales and only needed one last year. I didn't have these same issues. The older leaves are yellowing a bit, but the plant is producing blooms and tomatoes, so I hope all is going to be ok. Betsy, I kill aphids by hand. I get out there daily (sometimes bi-daily), crawl all around (and underneath) my plants to kill every aphid I can find. :) That's just as easy as squirting them with a hose, which can potentially damage the leaves and wash away pollen. I'd say this year the aphid population has been a moderate, not light, but not exceptionally heavy since I'm pretty darn consistent with my daily killing sprees. lol! There was a period of 3 days when I was out of town where the aphids mulitiplied faster than I imagined they could, but otherwise I'm keeping them at bay. They do seem to be more prevalent on my Big Boy plant (the tangled, curled one) than any of my others, so I guess they've figured out I have a harder time finding them there. Smart critters! Thank you all for your help! Any recommendations at this point? Or should I just be thankful that the plants are still green and producing fruit? :) Thanks! Allyson
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Hello Seysonn! Well, sadly, those plants are dead. They got bacterial speck and I pulled them, as I did not want it to spread to the rest of my plants. But! The silver lining is that the newer plants that I got (nursery plants) are doing ok. They are somewhat purple from the cold, but I think they will 'make it'. If they don't I can pull them too since I ended up with an awesome batch of seedlings that I homegrew (sweetie, super sweet 100). So, guess I will just chalk all of this up to experience and hope for better luck next year. It has been a great learning experience, so i'm pretty sure i'll do better in the future! So glad your plants are doing well! From what i've read you are a seasoned gardener, and I admire all the experienced gardeners on here, they have been so helpful to me in my gardening journey. Looking forward to summer and sunny, warm, weather! Happy gardening!!
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novachild99
Original Author
8 years ago
Here is one of the leaf growing branches today. Definitely looking like a branch.
digdirt2
8 years ago
Volunteers from hybrid seeds can show all kinds of throwback, unusual growth patterns. Even volunteers from a crossed OP seed can. You can see it from the leaves too - 2 different types. And aggressive pruning sometimes triggers unusual leaf/branch development similar to growing-in-the-wild plants, a stubborn response somewhat like a child's temper tantrum. :)

Do you have a mutant? Yup.

Dave
novachild99
Original Author
8 years ago
That is very cool. Wonder if they will taste good.
stevie
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
> That is very cool. Wonder if they will taste good.

i don't think a tomato that doesn't taste good exists ;)

if the seeds came from a fruit that came from a hybrid plant this is possible as mentioned.
also, if you think this is weird this is nothing.. some plants can produce different types of tomatoes on a single plant including different sizes from grape size all the way to huge big beef size tomatoes.

imagine having a plant where you can pick cherry tomato, roma/plum and big beefs from a single plant lol...
zzackey
8 years ago
I was so excited when I had tomato volunteers a few years ago. I watered and fed them and I could hardy wait to eat them. Well, shucks! They tasted bitter and the skin was very tough.
rgreen48
8 years ago
Take a cutting and keep it going all winter. In the spring, take another cutting or 2, along with the mother, and set it outside.

You may have something you like. It sure seems like it wants to grow!
ncrealestateguy
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I prune all of my plants to 3 stems and I see this happen quite a bit... especially the trusses sending out a new stem. I just pinch mine off, so the plant does not waste any energy on it. Sometimes I leave it alone for a while until it gets a few leaves and then I pinch it. I do this to encourage more shade for the fruit since I am pruning to only 3 stems and no suckers.
Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
8 years ago
Anytime I see a branch is about to grow from the tip of a flower cluster, just nip it right away. It happens often.
lillivewire87
8 years ago
I just noticed tonight that one truss on my Hawaiian Pineapple is doing this. Guess I will nip it tomorrow.
Laurie Webb
last month
My black cherry tomatoes do this every year! I was here trying to find out if this was normal and if I should let them do it or cut them back.
cindy-6b/7a VA
17 days ago
Laurie - You can do either. Mostly personal preference.
callirhoe123
17 days ago
Suckers grow from the spots where the leaves meet the main stem. If you don't pinch them off, they grow into a new plant and can sap energy from the main plant. Many people remove them as soon as they appear. If you leave them, you can have more foliage and fewer fruit.

Tomato growing vines from leaves and fruit branches?

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Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7

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Tomato growing vines from leaves and fruit branches?

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