Frankenplant: the TomTato

[Hum]

It sounds like something out of a futuristic film: the TomTato.

Developed by horticulturists in the U.K., the plant is a gardening oddity that produces cherry tomatoes on its vines and potatoes underground. :huh:

Two vegetables on one plant at the same time! It's the Frankenstein of plants. The Frankenplant?

The two plants are grafted together, and are offered in the U.K. by the Thompson & Morgan company.

The less catchy-sounding Potato Tom is also available in New Zealand.

An infomercial-style video shows a successful example bursting with juicy tomatoes and spuds. According to the BBC, this is not the first time a plant of this type has been developed, but ?taste had previously been a problem.?

?In the past we've never had any faith in the plants - they've not been very good ? but grafting has come on leaps and bounds in recent years,? Guy Barter of the Royal Horticultural Society told the BBC.

The proof may be in the tomato ? and potato ? dish. But Thompson & Morgan director Paul Hansord said that this dynamic duo of gardening was 10 years in the making is now ready for prime time. In the video, the plant is promised to bear tomatoes that are ?sugary yet tangy? and yield ?delicious white potatoes.?

The tomatoes and potatoes ripen at the same time, according to CBS. But the TomTato, which can be planted in a plot or a pot, lasts only one season.

source

[Gabureiru]

It reminds me off....

 

Tommacco!!!!

 

[DocM]

Grafted plants aren't exactly news - mixes like apples and pears on the same root stock are rather common. Tomatoes and potatoes are a natural match because both are members of the Nightshade family; potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, chilli and bell peppers, tobacco and several ornamentals.

[Growled Member]

It's a brilliant idea. My wife and I are small time gardeners and with our limited space it would be great to get two crops from one plant.

[Hum]

French fries and ketchup at the same time ! :p

[Growled Member]

French fries and ketchup at the same time ! :p

 

Only you would think of that. :D

[francescob]

Potomato?

[remixedcat]

Eww wouldn't eat food from it... just like the icky plants from Fukushima. Deformed plants = gross no matter what

[DocM]

You do realize that most apples are from grafts to base root stocks?

This is VERY common in orchards, as in for hundreds of years.

[francescob]