Protecting a garden from pests can be one of the most challenging tasks for anyone. People will try almost anything to keep their harvest safe, including natural deterrents like cloves and homemade pest spray.
An expert gardener on TikTok has shared another option for keeping insects out of your garden.
The scoop
Get2Gardening (@get2gardening), who has over 70,000 followers on TikTok, has amazing tips for how to manage a small garden in urban settings. In one video, she clued viewers in on a companion plant that produces a nutritious vegetable while keeping gardens free of aphids.
@get2gardening #companionplanting #bffplants #gardenbestie #patiogardener #urbangardening #suburbangardening #texasgardening #radishes #gardentips ♬ original sound - Get2Gardening
"A hundred percent of the time, radishes will attract aphids," she explains. "This is why they're one of my best friends forever."
She goes on to tell the viewer that radishes protect your other plants from predation by providing bugs with a nice, tasty snack. They are then less likely to infest the rest of your garden.
Not only that, but radishes are easy to grow, so even new gardeners should have good luck with this incredible companion plant.
How it's helping
Growing vegetables at home can be a great way to save money. According to our guide, the average person can grow nearly $600 worth of food a year on a $70 investment.
Having a vegetable garden also saves you time on trips to the grocery store, and gardening is a healthy way to spend more time in nature. Reports have shown that gardening is good for your mental and physical health.
Urban gardening can also help keep people cool amid the overheating of our planet. Areas in cities that lack vegetation can be impacted by heat islands, which are formed when materials like pavement make things feel even hotter.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Vegetation (including urban agriculture) can reduce the heat island effect by providing shade and cooling (through transpiration and evaporation)."
What everyone's saying
The TikTok has over 40,000 likes and hundreds of comments. People were overwhelmingly excited about this garden trick.
One person said, "Coolest thing I've learned in a while, thanks!"
"That's awesome," another agreed. "I never knew that!"Â
A third commenter chimed in, "I've just bought some radish seeds so looking forward to planting them!"
Finally, a fellow gardener wrote: "Trap crops! Nasturtiums are a great trap crop for black aphids! And they look pretty great until they're overrun."
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