THE POTTING SHED UK October Issue | Page 5

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Harvest potatoes AND tomatoes from the same plant

Thompson & Morgan announces another

major horticultural breakthrough. Specially

hand-grafted plants producing potatoes AND

tomatoes will soon be available to UK home

gardeners for the first time.

Above the ground - gardeners can pick more than 500

cherry tomatoes with a Brix level of 10.2 - that’s sweeter than

supermarket varieties. The fruits also have just the right level of

acidity that only the very tastiest tomatoes can boast. They really

are delicious. And that’s not all!

Below the ground - gardeners will find a nice big crop of

delicious white potatoes which are incredibly versatile. They can

be boiled, mashed, roasted or made into chips.

It sounds incredible, but it’s true. Home gardeners really can

grow tomatoes and potatoes on one plant. This concept has been

worked on for over 15 years, but this is the first time that plants

have been successfully produced commercially. Tomatoes

are members of the potato family (Solanaceae) and are therefore

naturally compatible with potatoes. Each plant is hand-grafted to

create this unique double-cropping feature. There’s no genetic

modification - it’s an all-natural and completely safe process.

As is the case with all of Thompson & Morgan’s plants, TomTato™

is dispatched with full growing instructions. However the company

says that these are hardly necessary as the plants are so easy to

grow. TomTato™ can be grown inside or outside, in a large patio

pot or 40 litre bag, on the allotment or in the vegetable patch.

Thompson & Morgan is expecting huge interest in its innovative

new ‘veg plot in a pot’ and customers are being urged to order

early to be sure to get their hands on these unique plants.

Paul Hansord, T&M’s horticultural director, is understandably

excited about bringing TomTato™ to UK gardeners: ‘When I first

saw this plant, I was amazed! Potatoes and tomatoes on the

same plant? You really have to grow TomTato™ to believe it’.

fruit trees,

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