Gardener shatters world record by growing 839 tomatoes on a single stem

A GARDENER has grown a record 839 tomatoes on a single stem — shattering the previous world best.

Douglas Smith’s haul is almost double the existing record of 488 from 2010.

SWNS

Douglas is the proud Guinness World Record holder of the most tomatoes grown on a single stem – 839[/caption]

SWNS

Douglas’ haul is almost double the existing record of 488 from 2010[/caption]

It took an hour to harvest all the pound coin-sized fruit, which weighed more than 9lb.

Douglas, 43, filmed the count and called in a priest and a policeman as witnesses so it can be verified as a new Guinness World Record.

The IT manager, of Stanstead Abbotts, Herts, prepared meticulously for the challenge — poring over scientific papers and sending soil samples to a lab for analysis.

His tomatoes were grown from seeds planted in March, with just two retained for the attempt for most tomatoes on a single stem, or truss.

He said: “I spent three or four hours a week tending to them in a greenhouse.”

Dad-of-one Douglas has also grown the largest tomato in Britain — a 6lb-plus monster harvested last year.

SWNS

Douglas says his crop of tomatoes ‘tastes great’ as well as being record breaking[/caption]