My free hack grows the best tomatoes with zero effort – no greenhouse or garden needed and they taste superb
GARDEN searches peak every May in the UK, and over the past five years, the UK’s been the number one country searching around this topic worldwide.
In new data shared by Google Trends, ‘how to grow tomatoes’ were amongst the top 10 most searched gardening ‘how to’s’.
And ‘growing tomatoes from seed’ was also a top seed search.
But you don’t need to be Alan Titchmarsh or Monty Don to grow tomatoes at home.
All you need is a manky tomato lurking at the back of your fridge, an old plastic fruit tub, and some soil.
Simon Akeroyd, aka, @simonakeroydgardener on TikTok shared this hack with his 690k followers.
In a video liked by over 10k people, Simon claimed it’s “so easy” to grow your own tomato plants from a supermarket tomato.
He used a large salad tomato and cut it into thick slices – about five slices per tomato – and noted how many seeds were inside.
He then suggested recycling a plastic supermarket container with holes to use as your pot.
After adding some peat-free compost to the pot, he then laid two slices of the tomato onto the soil and covered it with more compost.
Then, you need to place the pot “somewhere warm and sunny” – he chose a windowsill.
“Soon, you will have loads of tomato plants,” he told TikTokkers but didn’t state the exact time frame it will take for seedlings to grow.
The pot was eventually overflowing with tomato seedlings, that will need “thinning out”, to allow each plant space to grow bigger.
Simon said to “do this once the true leaves have formed”.
True leaves are the second set of leaves that grow on a seedling, and they resemble the mature plant’s leaf shape on a smaller scale.
When it comes to potting on seedlings, the gardeners said to “hold the leaf, and not the stem” otherwise it will snap, and transfer into individual pots.
For anyone doubtful of this gardening hack, Simon shared a video of tomato plants and fruit that he grew last year, with the same method.
And on the plant were loads of large orange and red tomatoes!
This gardening hack also works for other varieties of tomatoes.
Someone with the username Purple Panda commented underneath the video: “I had some cherry tomatoes that went bad and I threw them in the yard for the critters.
“Next season I had the best cherry tomatoes.”
Jack replied to her comment: “Funny! I started just tossing em to a back area after two bushes had grown, now I get tomatoes for zero effort.”
SteveyRay added: “I just threw a whole carton of tomatoes I had that started to get mushy in a pot and put dirt over them and now I have like 40 tomato plants lol.”
LauraMc argued that “seeds are not that expensive” to buy but Simon explained how this method is “fun” and the tomatoes “taste superb”.
As for when you should do this, Simon recommended sowing the seeds now “if you intend to finally grow your tomato plants in a greenhouse”.
But if you want to grow your tomato plants outside, “wait a month or two”.
If you’ve noticed green algae on your fence, why not try a £7 Home Bargains buy that’s “amazing” at removing it?
Or if your lawn is uneven, a gardener has shared their hack to level it out and allow new grass to grow.
Meanwhile, Aldi’s latest Middle Aisle drop has everything you need to get your garden ready for summer.
May gardening jobs
The Sun's Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the tasks you need to crack on with in May.
GARDEN growth can go from nought to ninety in May, depending on the weather. The last UK frosts are generally seen at the beginning of the month, so all of a sudden there’s so much more to do and grow.
Plant out dahlia tubers
It’s a joy to finally plant out your dahlia tubers. Remember how big they can get – and space accordingly – anything up to half a metre apart.
It’s a good idea to put your support stakes in now instead of trying to work around them.
And make sure you include lots of well rotted manure or decent compost to feed it and then mulch to keep it moist and suppress weeds. They generally start blooming in July.
Final feed to Spring flowers
You can give a cheeky feed to all your remaining tulips and daffodils.
Although the majority of bulbs aren’t guaranteed to come back year after year any more, as long as you’ve left them to die back naturally there’s a good chance they’ll have stored enough energy to come back again. Tomato feed is fine.
Tie up climbers
Your clematis, honeysuckle and rambling roses should be well on their way by now – try to use plastic free string to tie them back into their support, or tuck them round each other to make sure they don’t sprout off in crazy directions.
Feed the lawn
It’s not too late to give your lawn a good feed.
Whether you use granular or liquid, it can give it a good boost to see it through the harsher summer months.
While mowing, don’t go too low with your cut length yet and never take more than a third off the grass height.
Get creative
It’s also time to get creative with hanging baskets and pots.
Trailing pelargoniums, which a lot of people call geraniums, and Begonias are a good, low cost way of getting lovely returning blooms throughout the summer in your baskets.
And pots can be planted with spring bulbs.
Don’t forget the greenhouse!
Give your greenhouse a good tidy and clean the glass inside and out.
The improved light will help plants grow quicker inside and tidying is good for the soul.
You can just use a household white wine vinegar and water solution – or even neat if you’re feeling spendy – which gives a really good shine.