Douglas Smith, a gardener from Hertfordshire, UK has just set a new Guinness Record for most tomatoes grown on a single stem, 1,269.
The record for most tomatoes grown on a single stem had stood unchallenged for over a decade till last summer. Then English farmer Douglas Smith managed to grow 839 tomatoes on a greenhouse-grown plant. A few weeks later, he surpassed his own record by growing 1,269 tomatoes on a single stem.
Douglas Smith can be called an exceedingly dedicated horticulturist. He spends up to four hours a day in his back garden taking care of his plants.
To maximize his chances of setting a new world record, Smith read various scientific papers and even took soil samples to be tested in a laboratory. But in the end, it all paid off.
“I am over the moon,” Douglas said. “This year was only meant to be an experimental year to see which varieties would produce the most fruit and we had to contend with early blight, which put paid to several other tomato plants. I’m amazed by how many tomatoes were on the plant in the end.”
“The tomatoes were counted into boxes of 10, and 10 boxes were placed in a tray. Each tray held 100 tomatoes,” the gardener added.
