Gardener smashes his own world record by growing 1,269 tomatoes on single stem

TOMATO champ Douglas Smith has smashed his own world record — growing 1,269 on a ­single stem.

The Sun told last September how the gardener had harvested 839 on one truss.

That was almost double the previous record of 488, set in 2010. And days after his latest haul was verified by Guinness World Records, he vowed to break even more.

Dad Douglas, 43, aims to grow the most tomatoes on a single plant — currently 1,355, claimed by a Coventry man in 2013.

He is also going for a garden pea record — but refused to give details in case other veg growers beat him to it.

IT boss Douglas, of Stanstead Abbotts, Herts, pored over scientific papers to perfect his cherry tomato growing technique.

He said: “You have to make sure the environment is well set up. I’ll send samples of soil off to labs to make sure the plants have what they need.

“I spend three or four hours a week tending the tomatoes in a greenhouse in my back garden.”

Douglas, who lives with wife Piper, 45, and son Stellan, six, added: “I would have started with about 100 plants in pots and 50 went into the ground. Only two made it to the end.

“The first came in at 839 but I still had this one.

"It was an even higher number which is amazing. I’m really pleased.”

In 2020 Douglas grew the UK’s tallest sunflower at 20ft.