TikTok Shares An Essential Garden Tool For Growing Tomatoes

Is there anything more satisfying than plucking fresh tomatoes from your backyard? While your produce garden may bring you immense joy in life, chances are that figuring out how to get your vines to grow in an orderly fashion — and not buckle under the weight of the produce — is less than enjoyable. If you find yourself in this constant battle, TikTok may have the secret weapon to solve your plant-tying woes.

TikTok's @tx_kerri shared one of her favorite gardening tools, a plant-tying machine that uses semi-flexible gardening tape along with a stapling capability to seamlessly trellis your tomato plants, stake them, or tie them to another supportive structure. The TikTok creator's video shows the device at work. She simply pushes the open device against the plant vine and stake until the tape is extended to wrap around both, then squeezes the handles together to staple and cut the tape in one easy motion — no fumbling with twine and scissors necessary. Followers of the account raved about the device, claiming that it is their favorite gardening tool and is incredibly convenient to use.

Keeping plants growing upright may seem like a silly thing to an inexperienced gardener — after all, how hard can it be? But, for a seasoned vegetable grower, you know the struggle. Growing your tomatoes (and other vined produce) in a vertical fashion helps the plants to receive adequate sunlight and nutrients versus growing in a tangled heap on the ground. This growing orientation also delivers an easier harvesting process, reduces the chances of fungus taking over, and makes it less difficult to spot devouring pests, resulting in healthy and thriving tomato plants.

If you expend even a little energy every week trying to get your plants to stay upright, you may want to consider investing in this tool ($35 on Amazon). The Funteck plant-tying machine boasts a 4.2-star rating, based on over 1,200 customer reviews. It comes with 10 rolls of tape, 10,000 staples, and spare parts. While some of the negative reviews criticize the machine, claiming that the staples are faulty, most of the reviews are positive, with customers praising the easy function of the device and the sturdiness the ties offer.