Gardening in small spaces is all the rage and there is a growing need for innovative and creative ideas for how to use our small spaces efficiently. Along comes the TomTato. What is a TomTato plant? It’s basically a tomato-potato plant that literally grows both potatoes and tomatoes. Read on to find out how to grow TomTatoes and other useful TomTato plant info.
What is a Tomtato Plant?
The TomTato plant is the brainchild of a Dutch horticultural company called Beekenkamp Plants. Someone there must love fries with ketchup and had the brilliant idea to graft the top of a cherry tomato plant and the bottom of a white potato plant at the stem. The TomTato was introduced to the Dutch market in 2015.
Additional TomTato Plant Info
Amazingly, this quirky invention didn’t require any genetic modification because both tomatoes and potatoes are members of the nightshade family, along with peppers, eggplant, and tomatillos. I can see some future combinations here!
The plant is said to produce up to 500 delicious cherry tomatoes plus a good number of potatoes. The company states that the TomTato’s fruit has a higher sugar content than many other tomatoes with just the right balance of acidity. The yellow, waxy potatoes are perfect for boiling, mashing, or roasting.
How to Grow TomTatoes
Interested in growing a tomato-potato plant? The good news is that the plant is easy to grow and can, in fact, be grown in a container provided it has enough depth to accommodate the growing potatoes.
Plant TomTato plants just as you would a tomato; do not hill around the potatoes or you may cover the graft. TomTatoes should be grown in full sun in well-draining, rich, fertile soil with plenty of organic matter. The soil pH should be between 5 and 6.
Tomatoes and potatoes both need plenty of food, so be sure to fertilize at planting and again in three months. Water the plant consistently and deeply and protect it from strong winds or frost.
On occasion, the potato foliage will grow through the tomato foliage. Just pinch it back to soil level. Add compost to cover the potatoes every so often to prevent those near the surface from becoming green.
Once the tomatoes have finished producing, cut the plant back and harvest the potatoes beneath the soil surface.
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