I recently noticed that I have tomato, squash, and bean plants sprouting from the remnants of last year's garden. I didn't plant these myself, so I'm wondering if I should remove them or let them grow. Is there a risk that they might carry diseases since they came from plants that possibly had bacterial or fungal issues last season?
3 Answers
I usually keep the strongest-looking volunteers. Disease is usually not a huge concern, but keep in mind that if those plants are hybrids, they might not produce the same quality fruit as the original plants. However, in my years of gardening, I haven’t really encountered anything inedible from volunteer peppers or tomatoes. Just be cautious with squash; some can lead to toxic fruits!
In my opinion, most of the seedlings except for the squash should be fine to grow. They might just end up being hybrids. However, I’m pretty selective with my volunteers and usually only let potatoes grow back. The rest I pull out because I like to control what varieties I plant. Plus, squash can sometimes produce toxic fruits, so that's something to watch out for!
Yeah, but leaving potatoes can also lead to potato viruses, which can mess up a garden.
I've actually had some of my best crops come from these volunteer plants! Sure, there's a chance they might carry some diseases, but if they look healthy and you don’t mind them being there, I’d say let them be! You might be pleasantly surprised by the harvest!
Yeah, I agree! It's always a bit of an adventure with volunteers.
Toxic fruits? We've been eating the mystery squash growing in our compost for years, and they haven’t caused any issues!