Pomato facts for kids
A pomato is a special plant that grows both tomatoes and potatoes! The name "pomato" comes from combining "potato" and "tomato." It's made by joining a tomato plant and a potato plant together. Both of these plants belong to the same plant family, called Solanaceae (or nightshades). On a pomato plant, cherry tomatoes grow above the ground on the vine, while white potatoes grow underground from the same plant's roots.
Contents
How Pomato Plants Are Made
People have thought about growing potatoes and tomatoes on the same plant for a very long time, even since the early 1800s!
A pomato plant doesn't grow naturally from a seed. This is because it's made by joining two different plants. This process is called grafting. When you graft plants, you make a small cut in the stem of both plants. Then, you carefully tie them together. They heal and grow into one plant.
Once the two parts are joined, you can remove the leafy top of the potato plant and the roots of the tomato plant. This leaves the tomato leaves to help the potato roots grow strong. The potato roots become a healthy base, and the tomato part grows tasty fruit. Tomatoes are usually ready to pick in about 12 weeks during summer. The potatoes are ready later, often in early autumn, when the tomato leaves start to die.
Grafting can be used for many different plants. For example, some people grow "fruit salad trees." These are single trees that can grow many types of citrus fruits or other fruits like peaches and plums!
Why Pomato Plants Are Helpful
Pomato plants are a clever way to grow more food in a smaller space. They are great for places where land is limited, like small gardens or even balconies in cities. This can really help farmers in countries like Kenya. They can save space, time, and effort without changing how good their crops are.
Grafting also has other benefits. It can help plants become stronger against diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. It can also attract more different kinds of pollinators (like bees) to the plants. For delicate plants, grafting can even give them a stronger base to grow on.
Pomato Plants You Can Buy
In September 2013, a company in the United Kingdom called Thompson & Morgan started selling grafted pomato plants. They called their plants "TomTato." Around the same time, a nursery in New Zealand called Incredible Edible also announced their "DoubleUP Potato Tom."
Thompson & Morgan says they were the first to sell these plants. Their director, Paul Hansord, shared that he got the idea about 15 years ago. He saw someone in the US who had planted a potato under a tomato plant as a joke!
Pomatos in Stories
- In the 1969 book The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin by Vladimir Voinovich, a tomato/potato plant is very important. A character named Gladyshev invents it. But then, a cow eats it! The plant was called the 'Path to Socialism.'
- In the video game series Fallout, there's a plant called a "tato." It's a mix of a potato and a tomato that grew after a nuclear war. Players can find and eat it in the game.
See also
In Spanish: Tomtato para niños
