The Secret To Thriving Tomato Plants Is Sitting In Your Bathroom

There are a lot of myths when it comes to gardening, and they can get especially silly when it comes to growing things like tomatoes. Peruse any online gardening community, and you'll read stories of using acorns to predict winters, urine to get rid of gophers, or used coffee grounds to fertilize tomatoes. While many myths have been busted, there are some tricks that gardeners have put to the test and succeeded. The latest one happens to involve your electric toothbrush. Gardeners are using the vibrations from their electric toothbrush to help pollinate tomato flowers, potentially encouraging the plants to produce more fruit. Yes, we know it sounds strange, but the technique is based on how tomato plants naturally release pollen.

Tomatoes are self-pollinating, meaning their flowers contain both male and female parts, so they don't need another plant to reproduce. But it can turn into a tomato plant problem if the pollen is having trouble getting from the stamen to the pistil. If that's too much eighth-grade biology, basically, tomato flowers release that pollen when their blossoms are shaken or, say, vibrated. Pollinators, wind, and other movement provide that naturally. 

Obviously, in an outdoor garden, this shaking happens all the time. But things get a little more complicated if the tomato is in a greenhouse or any kind of relatively still environment. This is where your electric toothbrush becomes quite the nifty gardening tool. Once your tomato plant sets out its little yellow flowers, grab your toothbrush and gently vibrate near the stem briefly.

There's no need to smash the bristles into the blossom — it doesn't take much, and you don't want to bruise the flower. The goal is to mimic the shaking action in nature that causes the pollen to naturally fall. Repeat the process every few days, ideally around the middle of the day and when it's sunny. As more yellow flowers sprout, vibrate those, too. This method is particularly appealing to those who have greenhouse-grown tomatoes. A greenhouse is technically an ideal growing environment, but it certainly limits any exposure to strong winds and bumblebee antics that are happening in the outside world. 

Poor pollination is also a common reason why your tomatoes are refusing to grow any bigger. Active and consistent pollination is important because it leads to more seeds developing inside the fruit, and more seeds eventually produce larger, heavier fruit. You'll know your efforts are working when the flowers drop and small, green bumps of little baby tomatoes appear. Of course, not every tomato plant needs its own electric toothbrush. If your plants are producing plenty of fruit on their own, let them keep on keeping on. The toothbrush trick is just one tomato gardening hack to keep in mind if your fruit set is looking poor. 

Remember that pollination isn't the only factor determining tomato production. Your tomatoes still need lots of sunlight, consistent watering, nutrients, and hot-but-not-too-hot temperatures. No amount of toothbrush buzzing can compensate for a plant that's stressed out.