Two Vegetables in the Space of One?

Did you know that you can graft a tomato stem onto a potato plant and thus produce both tubers and fruits on the same plant and in the same space? This is possible because both plants are very closely related, belonging to the genus Solanum (S. lycopersicum for the tomato, S. tuberosum for the potato). And the two tastes don’t mix: the tomatoes will still taste like tomatoes and the potatoes, like potatoes. There is even name for this new vegetable: it is generally called the pomato, although the term tomtato is also used.

Occasionally you’ll see ads offering pomatoes by mail, but the price is usually exorbitant (grafting requires additional human handling and very precise manipulation at that, and that adds to the cost). The result is that these ads rarely last long. After a year or two, the supplier simply disappears.

Of course, you can do the grafting yourself and save money, but there is a problem with pomatoes: they tend to be slower to produce tomatoes, which mature a month later than normal. In cold climates where the growing season is already limited, growing pomatoes is therefore not very interesting. In hot climates, though, the idea is gaining in popularity. In Kenya, for example, where the lots are very small, farmers grafting pomatoes themselves rapport they can almost double their profits at no extra cost and without increasing the size of their lot.

For most gardeners covered by this blog, the pomato is more a curiosity than a practical way of gardening. But if you want to experiment with the idea, go right ahead!