"They were literally the best cucumbers I've ever had," exclaimed a home gardener after trying out a DIY trick. In a TikTok video, user Alixx (@the.plant.baddie) proves you don't need to buy fancy seeds or starter plants. She dried out the seeds from a grocery-store cucumber and planted them.

The scoop

Alixx shows the simple steps she took to grow cucumbers from her home. After scooping the seeds from a store-bought cucumber, she dried them and placed them into a mix of soil and compost. 

Over the summer, the seedlings took off. First, small pots sprouted green leaves. Then, the plants were moved to a larger spot where they flourished with yellow blossoms and began fruiting by late summer. 

How it's helping

This easy hack solves a common gardening problem: expanding your vegetable patch without spending money on new plants, while also making the most of food scraps. 

Another bonus? You can take seeds from your homegrown cucumbers and keep your home garden growing.

On the practical side, this DIY hack saves you both money and effort. You can multiply your garden's yield at almost no cost. 

A $70 investment in seeds and supplies can produce about $600 worth of homegrown vegetables. Not to mention, homegrown vegetables taste better and are fresher than supermarket produce. 

You can also rest easy knowing that your veggies are organic and chemical-free, which can be difficult to determine in the grocery store aisle. Not only is it better for your physical health, but your mental health will thank you, too. Studies show that gardening reduces stress and anxiety, all while boosting your mood.

In short, this easy hack means more free food, better flavor, and a fun, stress-reducing new hobby without the usual costs of store-bought plants.

Beyond the health benefits, this hack is great for the planet. Growing food at home dramatically shrinks your carbon impact. By growing your own food, you cut out grocery trips, industrial farming outputs, plastic packaging, and long-distance shipping. 

What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time ⏳ Not enough space 🤏 It seems too hard 😬 I have a garden already 😎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

This means less mass-produced produce, less fuel burned during transportation to supermarkets, and less plastic packaging being thrown in landfills. You also encourage local biodiversity in your yard by supporting pollinators.

Growing your own vegetables from scraps is just about a zero-cost way to reap all these money-saving, healthy, and environmentally friendly benefits. 

What everyone's saying

Viewers of the video went to the comments to share their thoughts about this hack. 

One commenter wrote, "I'm so excited to try this!"

Another applauded Alixx's success, calling her a real "green thumb."

Another joked, "That's how I ended up with 22 cucumber plants."

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