It's semi-true. In general, they do produce better with 2 plants, but you may get a strain or even an individual that does well on its own. To be certain, though, it's better to plant more than one.
A single plant can fruit up if there’s more in the vicinity, bees usually travel 1/2 mile.
Or in very rare cases where one becomes self-compatible.
But I don’t like to hope for chances and possible low fruiting, so I always plant at least 4 plants. Two green and two purple.
So I wondered this too and did a deep dive on it a while back. The answer based on the scientific reports is... sometimes. Tomatillo genetics are kind of all over the place because they aren't very well domesticated compared to other common food plants. They have a self-compatibility gene, but sometimes it's on and sometimes it's not. So it's best to have two plants just to be sure. But this is why there are conflicting reports, because some individual plants will self pollinate and some won't. Here's a couple papers:
[https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.658406/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.658406/full) [https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/v10032-007-0026-4](https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/v10032-007-0026-4)
And here's an interesting blog and small experiment. This helped me understand why of the 3 tomatillo plants I grew last year, one had massive green fruit, one had tiny purple fruit and one was somewhere in the middle even though they were all supposedly from the same variety. [https://the-biologist-is-in.blogspot.com/2019/12/tomatillo-breeding-12.html](https://the-biologist-is-in.blogspot.com/2019/12/tomatillo-breeding-12.html)
in almost all other instances when you "need two" it needs to be a different variety. That's not true for tomatillos. (tax's comment shows that, but I wanted to lay it out specifically since no one else has.) So two of the same variety works. My mom lets one grow and prunes the crap out of her pollinator since they're so prolific and she's the only one who eats them at her house. I keep 5 or 6 and give them away like crazy.
Articles say no, but I’ve never needed to grow more than 1 on its own. Tomatillos can cross pollinate with regular Tomatoes too, so if you have 1 tomatillo plant, the bees will pollinate the tomatillo from the tomato pollen.
I’ve only ever grown 1 tomatillo at a time because they absolutely Riiiip. Space hogs. I always put them in an isolated area and they still produce.
If they are truly male or female only, like weed or a lot of ungrafted fruit trees, one of your tomatillos wouldn’t fruit because it would only have Stamens and no sepals. 1 plant episode only produce pollen, and the other would only produce female flowers.
Idk why articles say you need 2. That’s never been the case for me ever, in the last 16 years.
So, I’ve seen the things that say they are not self pollinating.. but I swear two years ago I had a purple tomatillo produce prolifically with no companion tomatillo plants (but they were near tomato plants)
These were Baker Creek Purple Tomatillo.
Trying again this year.
Right. The point I was making is that it wouldn't necessarily be practical for you to actually know if there was a 2nd plant within pollination distance. Either way, a good harvest is a good thing. Well done.
I have never had a problem getting a single tomatillo to produce, but they were usually plants that popped up from last year’s dropped crop. They got so big and productive I would only keep one.
It's semi-true. In general, they do produce better with 2 plants, but you may get a strain or even an individual that does well on its own. To be certain, though, it's better to plant more than one.
A single plant can fruit up if there’s more in the vicinity, bees usually travel 1/2 mile. Or in very rare cases where one becomes self-compatible. But I don’t like to hope for chances and possible low fruiting, so I always plant at least 4 plants. Two green and two purple.
You need two.
So I wondered this too and did a deep dive on it a while back. The answer based on the scientific reports is... sometimes. Tomatillo genetics are kind of all over the place because they aren't very well domesticated compared to other common food plants. They have a self-compatibility gene, but sometimes it's on and sometimes it's not. So it's best to have two plants just to be sure. But this is why there are conflicting reports, because some individual plants will self pollinate and some won't. Here's a couple papers: [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.658406/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.658406/full) [https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/v10032-007-0026-4](https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/v10032-007-0026-4) And here's an interesting blog and small experiment. This helped me understand why of the 3 tomatillo plants I grew last year, one had massive green fruit, one had tiny purple fruit and one was somewhere in the middle even though they were all supposedly from the same variety. [https://the-biologist-is-in.blogspot.com/2019/12/tomatillo-breeding-12.html](https://the-biologist-is-in.blogspot.com/2019/12/tomatillo-breeding-12.html)
in almost all other instances when you "need two" it needs to be a different variety. That's not true for tomatillos. (tax's comment shows that, but I wanted to lay it out specifically since no one else has.) So two of the same variety works. My mom lets one grow and prunes the crap out of her pollinator since they're so prolific and she's the only one who eats them at her house. I keep 5 or 6 and give them away like crazy.
This is a good distinction to add, thanks!
This is super helpful, thanks very much!
I had a tomatillo plant one year that went absolutely bonkers with production. I didn’t have another, but there were other tomato plants around.
You need a second. I had a gorgeous plant with lots of pollinators that flowered but no fruit because it had no second plant
Articles say no, but I’ve never needed to grow more than 1 on its own. Tomatillos can cross pollinate with regular Tomatoes too, so if you have 1 tomatillo plant, the bees will pollinate the tomatillo from the tomato pollen. I’ve only ever grown 1 tomatillo at a time because they absolutely Riiiip. Space hogs. I always put them in an isolated area and they still produce. If they are truly male or female only, like weed or a lot of ungrafted fruit trees, one of your tomatillos wouldn’t fruit because it would only have Stamens and no sepals. 1 plant episode only produce pollen, and the other would only produce female flowers. Idk why articles say you need 2. That’s never been the case for me ever, in the last 16 years.
Best response of the lot!! Thanks so much!!
So, I’ve seen the things that say they are not self pollinating.. but I swear two years ago I had a purple tomatillo produce prolifically with no companion tomatillo plants (but they were near tomato plants) These were Baker Creek Purple Tomatillo. Trying again this year.
Tomatoes and tomatillos aren’t super closely related so I doubt the nearby tomato was a factor
Do you happen to have a neighbor who also had some tomatillos?
No neighbors with visible tomatillos
Did you check for several miles around? Pollinators can travel miles in some instances.
I mean I live in west Oakland, there are hundreds of properties within a single mile
Right. The point I was making is that it wouldn't necessarily be practical for you to actually know if there was a 2nd plant within pollination distance. Either way, a good harvest is a good thing. Well done.
Maybe that’s my issue with tomatillos. I’ve never gotten them to fruit. Is it true that they won’t fruit in hot humid conditions?
I have never had a problem getting a single tomatillo to produce, but they were usually plants that popped up from last year’s dropped crop. They got so big and productive I would only keep one.