Gardening can come with some expenses, including soil, seeds, seedlings, and tools. If you're looking to cut your upfront cost, look no further. This expert farmer is showing an amazing way to get a ton of tomatoes from a single plant.
The scoop
Andre Baptiste (@andrethefarmer) is a TikToker who shares tips about growing your own food. On his website, he says he aims to show "how to grow your garden and life in a sustainable manner."
In a popular video, he shows viewers "how easy tomatoes are to propagate from cuttings."
In the video, he clips a sucker — or small shoot — from a tomato plant. He then plants the clipping in his garden.
@andrethefarmer Propagating tomatoes from cuttings #tomatoes #tomatoplants #plantpropagation #andrethefarmer #permaculturelife #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound - Andre the farmer
In order to do so, Andre trims the bottom leaves to give the trimming a nice long stem.
"We can either plant this super deep, or if you have a shallow bed, you can plant it at an angle," he explains, adding that it's important to have as much of the stem covered as possible.
He then demonstrates how to lay the tomato at an angle and says that it will eventually grow into a mature plant.
🗣️ Which of these benefits is your biggest motivation in gardening?
🔘 Getting outside more 🌱
🔘 Growing healthy food 🥕
🔘 Making my yard beautiful 🏡
🔘 I don't garden 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
How it's helping
A hack like this helps save you money on supplies and makes growing your own food that much easier. There is some debate about whether to prune or leave suckers on tomato plants, as they can hinder the plant's ability to make fruit by sucking up nutrients.
This tip makes what to do with these shoots a no-brainer.
Gardening is a fun and healthy way to get outdoors and become more in touch with the natural world. A recent study found that people who participated in community gardens got more fiber in their diets than the average person. There have also been reports that gardening and nature can help alleviate stress and include many other health benefits.
What everyone's saying
Folks in the comments loved this tip.
One person wrote: "I do this all the time!! I end up with so many tomato plants."
Another person added more information about tomatoes, saying: "Very nice! A lot of people don't realize that all those 'hairs' on the stem will develop into roots."
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