What is up with the weird hybrid plant stuff being sold?

[Joemonkey]

I first saw this, a tomato plant that grows potatoes below it

http://gardenerschoice.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=229

then "fruit salad" trees

http://www.fruitsaladtrees.com/

how much of this is true?

 

[RESmonkey]

it's like two chicks at the same time...or 12!

 

[WizKid408]

Not sure about those, but my parents once had a tree that grew 4 different kinds of Pears. Each looked and tasted different from one another. It was created using grafting.

 

[Matthiasa]

How much is true... probably none.

The first one is more probable though still very unlikely to be true.

Unless you want to count grafting anyways.

 

[txrandom]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting

 

[KillerCharlie]

I first saw this, a tomato plant that grows potatoes below it

http://gardenerschoice.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=229

then "fruit salad" trees

http://www.fruitsaladtrees.com/

how much of this is true?

They're not unique plants, they're several plants that have been grafted together.

 

[BrownTown]

potatoes and tomatoes are very closely related. The important thing to remember is that the "tomatoes" that come off of potatoes are poisonous...

 

[0roo0roo]

yea my guess is grafting as well.
plants are weird that way, like slapping your arm onto someone elses body and it taking just fine.

 

[SirStev0]

No Tomacco? This thread disappoints.

 

[Colt45]

tomato and potato is both nightshade, right? I suppose they'd jive ok.

 

[BoomerD]

As has already been mentioned, there's nothing "hybrid" about these types of plants. It's all done by grafting different species together.

 

[bignateyk]

yea my guess is grafting as well.
plants are weird that way, like slapping your arm onto someone elses body and it taking just fine.

More like slapping your arm onto a monkeys body.

 

[acheron]

More like slapping your arm onto a monkeys body.

...that still has its own arms.

Why do we not have three-armed monkeys yet? Science, you have failed us.