Tomatoes are one of the easiest and most rewarding crops to grow in a backyard garden. There are countless varieties you can grow, from large heirloom tomatoes to small golden nuggets.
One thing we’ve learned from our years of backyard gardening is that tomatoes LOVE to regrow. Each tomato has hundreds of seeds, and it often feels like every single one will germinate in the right conditions.
If you want to learn how to grow tomatoes successfully every year, check out our in-depth tomato growing guide here.
So this begs the question – are tomatoes weeds or an invasive species?
Why I Think Tomatoes Are Invasive
Tomatoes have the ability to regrow from cut-offs. When pruning a growing plant (with cleaned garden pruners), you can plant the cut-off into the soil and it will continue to grow and produce tomatoes! We tested this theory in our first year of gardening. Needless to say, we were amazed. Tomatoes plants have:
- High germination rates
- A large number of seeds in each tomato (if you want to learn how to save tomato seeds, check out this article).
- 50+ tomatoes per plant
- Each node cut-off can be its own individual plant
- The ability to regrow like a weed
This begs the question: Why aren’t tomatoes growing everywhere?
Along roadsides, in forests, on hiking trails – it feels like they should be everywhere.
What Defines a Weed or an Invasive Species?
Before labeling tomatoes as a weed or invasive species, it’s important to understand these terms:
- Weed: Any plant that grows where it’s not wanted, often competing with cultivated plants for resources.
- Invasive species: A non-native plant that spreads aggressively and disrupts local ecosystems.
By these definitions, tomatoes might be considered weeds if they sprout unexpectedly in places like flower beds, cracks in sidewalks, or fields. But can they be classified as invasive?
Are Tomatoes an Invasive Species?
Tomatoes originated in South America and were domesticated thousands of years ago. While wild tomato species can spread rapidly, cultivated varieties are usually dependent on human care. However, in warmer climates with suitable conditions, tomatoes can escape cultivation and grow wild.
In some cases, tomatoes can escape the garden and start growing in the wild. For example:
- In tropical regions, abandoned tomato plants can spread via seeds dispersed by birds or animals.
- Certain wild tomato relatives exhibit aggressive growth and adaptability.
Despite these occurrences, tomatoes are not considered an invasive species compared to well-known invasive plants like wild-raspberry or lilac bushes.
- Wild Black Raspberry Plant: How to Grow, Cultivate, and Prune Them Successfully
- How to Grow, Prune, and Replant Lilac Bushes: A Complete Lilac Care Guide
Why Do Tomatoes Sometimes Grow Like Weeds?
Tomatoes spread easily because their seeds travel through compost, animals, and garden waste. Once they land in decent soil, they germinate quickly and compete with nearby plants.
Should You Worry About Tomatoes Spreading?
If you find tomatoes growing where they weren’t planted, consider:
- Removing unwanted plants before they go to seed (which means before they start dropping tomatoes).
- Ensuring there’s no tomatoes left to decompose in your garden bed.
- Mulching garden beds to suppress accidental growth.
- Using crop rotation to prevent excessive self-seeding.
While some gardeners welcome surprise tomato plants, controlling their spread ensures they don’t take over your garden.
Tomato Growing Mistakes and Crimes
In our first year of gardening, we grew 8 tomato plants that reached 6 feet tall and produced around 400 tomatoes in a single season.
Insane.
That summer, we were eating fresh tomatoes straight from the backyard – and if you’ve ever grown your own, you know there’s nothing better.
If we didn’t finish a tomato, we tossed the rest into the garden bed as compost.
Do not do this.
Some tomatoes also went moldy because our beds were small and overcrowded. Others were partially eaten by animals. We left all of it to break down in the soil.
Again – do not do this.
At the time, it seemed harmless.
The next year proved otherwise.
We had over 30 tomato plants sprouting all over the garden, in places we never planted them, competing with everything else like weeds.
Since we’re not great at thinning plants, we let some grow… even when they were clearly in the way.
We even had tomatoes growing out of our compost pile – and those turned into some of the healthiest plants we’ve ever seen.
Why We Never Learned Our Lesson
Did we learn our lesson? A little – but not really.
Here we are now, coming to the end of another winter and getting ready to plant some items in the greenhouse. I went outside to clean up the beds, add manure, and clear out dead plants.
And lo and behold – tomato seedlings growing everywhere!
Helpful Articles About Tomatoes:
- How To Grow Tomatoes From Seed To Harvest.
- A Simple Way To Save Tomato Seeds
- When and How to Transplant Tomato Seedlings
- The 3 Best Companion Plants For Tomatoes
So – Are Tomatoes Weeds or an Invasive Species?
Tomatoes are one of the best crops for beginners because they’re hardy and easy to grow.
They can feel invasive, but they’re not technically classified that way.
Are they a weed? Sometimes. It depends on where they show up.
If you’re growing vegetables at home, you can explore all of our hands-on advice in our Vegetable Growing Guides, based on what actually works here on our homestead.
We are growing our website with more articles all the time, and we invite you to grow with us. If you have any questions about tomatoes or would like to share some of your knowledge with us please leave a comment below. Happy Gardening!
I love for tomatoes to come up like this. We always called them volunteers. My dad taught me that you could have a late crop of tomatoes by planting suckers as well. I never plant cherry tomatoes. They come up in the garden every year, and I let 2 or 3 grow. I also have volunteer watermelons that come up every year. This year, I even had volunteer cucumbers, and summer squash. I never have to plant Zinnias either. They come up in my flower bed every year from seeds. I have a passion for growing things, and a fascination with how plants come up year after year. To me, it’s all good. Happy gardening.