3,492. Planting for Seed vs. Planting for Vegetables

Hilchos Maaser Sheini and Neta Revai 1:9

Let’s say that someone refrained from watering onions that don’t sprout for thirty days, or he refrained from watering onions that are irrigated three times before Rosh Hashana. In such a case, they are tithed as produce of the outgoing year. If water was withheld from the onions for a shorter period of time, with the result that they started to dry up before Rosh Hashana, then they are tithed as produce of the incoming year.

Hilchos Maaser Sheini and Neta Revai 1:10

Regarding Egyptian beans that reached a third of their growth before Rosh Hashana, if they were planted to grow seed, they are tithed as produce of the outgoing year; if they were planted to grow vegetables, they are tithed as produce of the incoming year. If they were planted to grow both seed and vegetables, or if they were planted to grow seed but the landowner later decided also to use them for vegetables, he tithes from the seeds for the vegetables and vice versa. If the beans didn’t reach a third of their growth before Rosh Hashana and they were planted to grow seed, they’re tithed as produce of the outgoing year; the vegetables that grow are tithed as they’re picked so long as they’re picked before Rosh Hashana. If they’re picked after Rosh Hashana, both the vegetables and the seeds are tithed as produce of the incoming year.

If the beans were planted to grow seed and then the landowner decided to use them as vegetables instead, they are tithed based on his current mindset. If they were planted to grow vegetables and then the landowner decided to use them for seed instead, his intention doesn’t affect when he tithes them unless he refrains from watering them for three times when they’re normally watered, provided that the plants reach a third of their growth before Rosh Hashana. However, let’s say that they don’t reach a third of their growth before Rosh Hashana, even though he refrained from watering them for three periods when they’d normally be watered. If he planted them to grow seed and the whole crop matured before Rosh Hashana, then the seed is tithed as produce of the outgoing year and the vegetables are tithed based on when they’re picked. If some of the plants matured and others didn’t, we apply the Sages' rule that he should gather the whole crop as one (RH 13b), taking tithes from the seed for the vegetables and vice versa.