Spring is here. For gardeners, it's the season to put your hands into the bare earth, sow seeds, and nurture young saplings in hopes of a big summer harvest. And no summertime harvest would be complete without a basket of juicy, red tomatoes.
To help with tomato season, one TikToker is sharing a simple-but-important hack that will ensure your plants stay healthy all year long.
The scoop
In their clip, TikToker @pipposgarden advises that growers cut or pick off all the bottom foliage from their tomato plants.
This will force the plant to concentrate its energy on producing tomatoes instead of leafage. It will also allow more sunshine to penetrate and ripen your tomatoes, and as @pipposgarden explains, "It creates better airflow and reduces the chance of disease."
@pipposgarden Tik Tok gardening hacks, Part 1 🍅 Benefits of removing the lower branches & leaves on your tomato plant 🪴 #gardening #garden #flowers #plants #nature #gardenlife #flower #gardendesign #love #landscaping #landscape #organicgardening #fyp #foryoupage #trending #viral #trend #viral #cucumber #tomato #tiktok #love #follow #explore #2023 #repost #like #follow #like4like #following #followback ♬ Lazy Sunday - Official Sound Studio
How it's helping
Tomatoes are extremely healthy for us, and they're a good staple plant to have in your garden. They contain lycopene, an antioxidant with a variety of benefits.
But in order to receive the maximum beneficial nutrients from tomatoes, it helps to eat ones that are grown naturally without any exposure to harmful chemicals. The best way to do this is to grow your own.
With the price of vegetables increasing by almost 40% at the end of 2022, now is as good a time as ever to think about growing your own food since it will help you save money.
One of the most important aspects of gardening is that it allows individuals the opportunity to take action in slowing down the overheating of our planet. Home gardening is much less energy-intensive than commercial farming, so your food is being produced with less carbon pollution.
And, if you switch to a more plant-based diet, you will be helping to lower the amount of methane gas — associated with the meat industry and 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide — from being released into our atmosphere.
Even if you have never tried gardening before, tomatoes are a good plant to start, as they are one of the easier plants to grow. And, as @pipposgarden's TikTok post shows, they can be grown in containers, so a yard is not necessary. They can even be grown indoors.
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