If you dream of a thriving tomato patch, your secret weapon might be in your bathroom trash.
The scoop
Clever TikTok creator Vees (@vees202) recently shared a genius seed-starting hack: using empty toilet paper tubes as miniature biodegradable planters.
@vees202 It worked for the peas and green beans. Let see how well tomatoes grow in toilet paper rolls 🍅 #tomatoseeds #letsgrowtomatoes #plantpeople #soilsister #gardengirl ♬ original sound - Vees VIPS
Vees first grabbed some soil from their garden, added it to a pot, and softened it up using a fork — you can also use a garden shovel. The creator then watered the soil and placed the toilet paper tubes that were cut in half directly in the soil.
"We're planting cherry tomatoes today," Vees said in the video.
Vees added two seeds per toilet paper roll and then added some soil on top. They then added more water, both inside the rolls and in the extra areas of the pot, and waited for the sprouts.
How it's helping
While it seems like a low-impact effort, finding ways to reuse items that would otherwise end up in landfills can really add up.
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Traditional plastic pots contribute to mismanaged plastic, which is a major contributor to landfill overcrowding. Approximately 50% of plastic ends up in landfills, and about 1-2 million metric tons enters the ocean each year. This greatly impacts ocean ecosystems.
On top of that, the cardboard toilet paper rolls are biodegradable, so they break down naturally and add organic material to your garden while doing so. Since the seedlings and their container go into the soil together, roots aren't disturbed, which can improve the replanting or potting process.
What everyone's saying
Viewers really liked the simplicity of this toilet paper roll hack.
"I haven't tried but thinking of doing so after seeing this," one commenter said.
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Not enough time ⏳ Vees gave a short update about the tomatoes, as well as other vegetables planted using toilet paper rolls, in another video. The tomatoes had just started sprouting, and the peas were seeing a lot of growth!
This easy hack even inspired a TikTok user to take up gardening.
"Thanks for sharing this. I never planted anything in my life but I'm going to try it," they said.
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