Some years ago, I heard the idea that you had to plant two tomatillos in order to get fruit. One tomatillo plant alone would flower but not set fruit. It needs cross pollination.
This reminded me of the idea I had heard about avocados too: that you need two avocado trees in order to get fruit. I knew that idea was false because I’d seen lone avocado trees loaded with fruit.
But how about evidence against the need for two tomatillos?
In 2016, I first tested the idea by planting a lone tomatillo early in the summer. It grew well and flowered but did not set fruit. All of the husks (calyxes) remained hollow. But after I stuck a second plant next to it in mid-summer, it started making fruit.
So maybe this idea of needing two tomatillos is true, I thought.
I did not grow a lone tomatillo plant again until this summer of 2025. The same thing happened, as the plant flowered and formed husks but when I squeezed the husks they were never filled with tomatillo fruit.
This time I removed the plant, and then I planted two new tomatillos in another part of the garden. From their first flowers until now at Thanksgiving, these two plants have made oodles of fruit. I think I’ve made four batches of green salsa from them already.
Maybe there are lone tomatillo plants that fruit, but they don’t want to in my yard. Going forward, I will always plant two (or more) tomatillos.
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