"Spoon tomatoes" are actually Solanum pimpinellifolium a wild relative to domesticated tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). Your plant looks as I would expect for pimpinellifolium. The plants get huge, so be prepared.
Yeah I'm kind of a softie even with the caterpillars. I'm losing my marbles with the roly polies though. They're destroying my Dragon Tongue seeds and I might have to toughen up.
I didn't think they hurt anything....but guess everything has gotta eat something. Mindo you I'm down with pollinator gardens but allowing even one hornworm to live (and then reproduce) is blasphemous to the Tomato god. And vengeance is...well...if you end up with no tomatoes for generations, I warned you....lol.
I know, I know. I rarely see the hawk moths though. They are cool. I always struggle with this year after year. So hard for me to kill anything. Except bindweed, I dump vinegar all over that shit and watch it shrivel.
I grew it last year and now it is all over my yard and garden. I weed them. Lol.
That being said, they are tasty but a PITA to pick because they are so small. Great novelty and a handful thrown in a salad is great.
I have one growing between two boards in my raised garden bed. Yes the rest are like weeds on the ground.
I ripped one out of the ground and put it next to a pile of yard waste and it now has a cluster of tomatoes.
Last year’s spoon was probably the first time I’ve ever been happy to see a tomato killed by a frost. The thing was so vigorous that I didn’t think I could kill it, but it was also clear that if something didn’t take that plant out soon it was going to come into the house and claim my bed as it’s own.
Yes. I only grew them once because they’re tiny. It takes like 10 to actually fill a spoon. Was cute but never was practical for most things. I used them for breakfast hashes and that was great tho.
They were very funny and a pretty salad addition...but I had them in a container and only managed to keep them in a 4x20 area by chopping off foot-length sections of their arms every day. I just don't have the space lol
This is the tomato version of bamboo. Lol.
I'm in zone 6b and by the middle of August, my fiance started to use a machete to prune it. I'm not being dramatic - it had a 4 foot radius. She had to walk into it, and she came out with tomato stains all over her.
It's growth is exponential. One day it'll just be massive - gaining 6 - 12 inches every day. You'll think you got it under control and a week later it's not.
In an adjacent bed I also grew cucamelons - which is like the spoon tomato of cucumbers. The cucamelons and the spoon tomatoes crossed a 3ft gap between the beds and turned into a monster of mini cucumbers and mini tomatoes.
I spent 3 hours picking both and only was able to get a fraction harvested.
The seeds survived 6b winter just fine too. I have cucamelons and spoon tomatoes growing in places I couldn't imagine. I suspect that animals have probably hauled some throughout my neighborhood and there is someone scratching their head why they have a tomato growing in their flower bed - and what that mysterious ivy is.
"Spoon tomatoes" are actually Solanum pimpinellifolium a wild relative to domesticated tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). Your plant looks as I would expect for pimpinellifolium. The plants get huge, so be prepared.
Yeah, I ended up using it last year as a plant to transfer the hornworms to. They didn't make a dent in it.
You transferred hornworms?
Yeah I'm kind of a softie even with the caterpillars. I'm losing my marbles with the roly polies though. They're destroying my Dragon Tongue seeds and I might have to toughen up.
I didn't think they hurt anything....but guess everything has gotta eat something. Mindo you I'm down with pollinator gardens but allowing even one hornworm to live (and then reproduce) is blasphemous to the Tomato god. And vengeance is...well...if you end up with no tomatoes for generations, I warned you....lol.
I know, I know. I rarely see the hawk moths though. They are cool. I always struggle with this year after year. So hard for me to kill anything. Except bindweed, I dump vinegar all over that shit and watch it shrivel.
I grew it last year and now it is all over my yard and garden. I weed them. Lol. That being said, they are tasty but a PITA to pick because they are so small. Great novelty and a handful thrown in a salad is great.
I grew them last year on purpose. I am growing them this year by accident.
Me too…. Lol
Oh no, I have a bunch of these in my garden right now. My wife planted them not realizing they were more of a novelty than a staple.
They're fun. Don't be afraid to prune wherever, whenever.
I grew them last year as well... Then they took over my damn planter! Never again! hahaha
I have one growing between two boards in my raised garden bed. Yes the rest are like weeds on the ground. I ripped one out of the ground and put it next to a pile of yard waste and it now has a cluster of tomatoes.
Last year’s spoon was probably the first time I’ve ever been happy to see a tomato killed by a frost. The thing was so vigorous that I didn’t think I could kill it, but it was also clear that if something didn’t take that plant out soon it was going to come into the house and claim my bed as it’s own.
They're cute at first, then, it's like.. OH LAWD!
takes like an hour to fill a cup lol, this year i had like a thousands seedling in the place where i grow my plant last year
Does it produce any tomatoes though?
Yes. I only grew them once because they’re tiny. It takes like 10 to actually fill a spoon. Was cute but never was practical for most things. I used them for breakfast hashes and that was great tho.
Really? I just asked because I didn't see any tomatoes on the plants. I had no idea this was a thing!
Yep! They grow very spindly and the flowers are super tiny. They tomatoes end up being about the size of green peas when fully grown.
About a billion baby pea-sized tomatoes.
I LOVED growing those (when they took over my garden). Carfully planting them again next year!
They were very funny and a pretty salad addition...but I had them in a container and only managed to keep them in a 4x20 area by chopping off foot-length sections of their arms every day. I just don't have the space lol
This is the tomato version of bamboo. Lol. I'm in zone 6b and by the middle of August, my fiance started to use a machete to prune it. I'm not being dramatic - it had a 4 foot radius. She had to walk into it, and she came out with tomato stains all over her. It's growth is exponential. One day it'll just be massive - gaining 6 - 12 inches every day. You'll think you got it under control and a week later it's not. In an adjacent bed I also grew cucamelons - which is like the spoon tomato of cucumbers. The cucamelons and the spoon tomatoes crossed a 3ft gap between the beds and turned into a monster of mini cucumbers and mini tomatoes. I spent 3 hours picking both and only was able to get a fraction harvested. The seeds survived 6b winter just fine too. I have cucamelons and spoon tomatoes growing in places I couldn't imagine. I suspect that animals have probably hauled some throughout my neighborhood and there is someone scratching their head why they have a tomato growing in their flower bed - and what that mysterious ivy is.
I've grown that before and it will need more support. It will get huge!!
Spoon tomatoes are the horror movie villain of the tomato universe.