Growing tomatoes can be a rewarding experience, but it's important to make sure you're doing things right. Placing a common household item in the garden can help prevent them rottingKatie-Ann Gupwell13:55, 17 Jun 2026Updated 13:55, 17 Jun 2026Many gardeners cultivate tomatoes at home, but there's a straightforward technique you can employ to help them flourish. As it happens, all that's required is an everyday household item to ensure they produce an abundant crop in your garden.‌While it might sound like an unconventional approach, it could genuinely transform your plants, and the trick has recently been highlighted by a gardening fan called Ish. Known as Gardening with Ish on TikTok, he regularly shares useful tips to assist people with their outdoor spaces, and his most recent piece of advice could revolutionise the way you cultivate tomatoes.‌This isn't the only guidance of its nature to emerge lately, either. Previously, recommendations were also shared to help gardeners produce exceptionally big tomatoes.‌Ish said: "Let's talk about support. I've got myself my tomato plant here, and I'm just wrapping some twine right around the bottom on the root ball, placing it in there."I'll hang this up after wrapping it around the tomato plant. As you can see, it creates a nice central anchor. It'll grow up around it. That's perfect."It gets plenty of light to it, it allows it to not break when it's growing. That's what you need for your tomatoes.‌"The next thing it needs is a good amount of sunlight. Now, it is June, which means it doesn't need to be in a greenhouse. It can be directly outside because it's nice and warm now, but plenty of sunlight is crucial."As a result, those fruits should ripen absolutely perfect. Don't let the soil dry out. A lot of people make this mistake. It stresses it out, and that's when you get a crack in your tomatoes."Content cannot be displayed without consent‌He stressed the importance of keeping plants well-watered, adding that feeding your tomatoes is equally essential. Ish recommended applying tomato feed every two weeks throughout the summer months.Following these straightforward tips should make a considerable difference to your tomato crop. Once you know what you're doing, it really isn't that complicated.How it worksWhat you might not be aware of is that planting and supporting tomatoes with string allows indeterminate varieties to grow upwards. This approach saves space, enhances airflow to ward off fungal diseases and makes harvesting considerably more straightforward.‌Training a vine to grow straight upwards means you can comfortably accommodate and manage more plants within a smaller area. It also makes it far simpler to identify and remove "suckers" and older, deteriorating leaves.While supporting tomatoes with string won't cause the plants to physically "multiply" on their own, it can significantly boost their yield. The string technique trains the plant to develop vertically along a single stem, which improves airflow, maximises sunlight exposure and keeps fruit off damp ground to prevent rotting.If you've yet to get your tomatoes in the ground this year, now could be the ideal moment to get started. In the UK, June is widely regarded as an excellent time to tackle the job.Article continues belowBy early June, both air and soil temperatures are sufficiently warm to shield young plants from frost shock, making it the ideal time to act. This should give them a tremendous head start.Should you require further guidance on growing tomatoes, it's worth seeking advice from a professional gardener.