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Project Noah Nature School
Solanum lycopersicum
This is one of our tomato plants that are about 4 feet tall now. There are some small green tomatoes on the plant as well as a bunch of small yellow flowers.
Our tomato plant is in the full sun and in a tomato cage.
This plant is for a 4th grade Glenn O Swings group ( The Yellow Bees). Here are their questions about their tomato plant: 1. Where do tomato plants grow naturally? 2. Why can't humans eat a green tomato? 3. How many different types of bees pollinate tomato plants?
Spotted on Jul 7, 2021
Submitted on Jul 9, 2021
1 Comment
1. Where do tomato plants grow naturally? The natural tomato plant is known to botanists as Solanum pimpinellfolium, otherwise known as pimp. The plant is a wild ancestor of all the tomatoes we eat today, and still grows wild in Northern Peru and Southern Ecuador. The tomatoes that grow are about the size of a pea.
2. Why can’t humans eat a green tomato? Humans do in fact eat green tomatoes, and usually fry them and dip them in sauce to compliment the more bitter taste of the green tomato. Tomatoes start off green and then turn red because as the tomato ripens, it releases lycopene which has a red pigment. While it is making more lycopene, sugar in the tomato rises and acid levels drop, and the tomato softens.
3. How many different types of bees pollinate tomato plants? Tomato plants can be wind pollinated and bee pollinated, but those pollinated by bees have been found to have higher levels of vitamin c and weigh more. Tomatoes require buzz pollination where the pollinator vibrates their bodies to shake off the pollen from the closed anther. Pollinators include bumble bees and carpenter bees.