Mom Shares Her Secret Hack That Gives You an Unlimited Supply of Bell Peppers At Home

At first glance, a bell pepper looks like an ordinary fruit with a glossy four-lobed body and a fountain-like head shooting upwards. But inside their delicate feminine bodies, these ripened bells cradle a chemistry so fiery that the moment it explodes in a human’s mouth, the human is bound to jump in agitation, probably even shed a few tears. The innards of this cute little fruit hide a ferocious storm of piquant spice that humans love to enjoy in dishes like pizzas, pastas, and toasted breads. Though the birthplace of pepper lies in the Indian city of Kerala, bell peppers were first spotted by American archaeologists when they were exploring the prehistoric caves of Peru. That was that.

Today, bell peppers are frequently spotted in ornamental settings, on the ledges and window sills of houses. In a video, TikTok mom-and-son duo JudyBaoGarden (@judybaogarden) shared an ingenious hack on “How to grow bell peppers from seedlings.” At the beginning of the video, the son introduced her mom, saying that she was going to teach viewers how to propagate peppers in their kitchen garden. “Today, mom [will] teach us how to plant bell pepper seeds that she germinated two weeks ago,” he said. His mom appears in the video, carrying a bottle filled with germinating pepper seedlings. She then cuts off the bottle’s neck, revealing the paper-wrapped seedlings, whose tips seem to be bursting with sprouts.

“You need your favorite topsoil and nursery pots. Make sure those pots have drainage holes,” the narrator instructed. Meanwhile, the footage showed arrays of black-colored plant pots filled to the brim with fresh brown soil. Slowly and delicately, his mom picks up one seedling after the other and deposits it into the topsoil, squeezing it tight in the mulch. The man said his mom “recommends tweezers” for picking up the sprouted seedlings. The video then cuts to a scene where the elderly lady displays an empty tray in front of the camera. “You need a tray,” her son said in the voiceover.

Then, the gardeners placed the planters in the square tray. With a black sprinkler, they filled the tray with water rather than spraying it inside the potted plants. “Watering like this is good because it prevents overwatering,” he said. According to RHS School Gardening, this method of watering is also known as "bottom watering." In this case, Mama Judy used a soak-up tray to let the saplings' roots absorb water. 

Hundreds of gardening enthusiasts flocked to the comments section to thank the pro mom for sharing the brilliant hack. “Ooh, I like her germination technique and those tweezers look very handy,” commented @quickdirtygardens. @zollaliberated said, “I just gathered up my seeds! Planning my garden now!” Another TikTok user, @shani, exclaimed, “I am learning so much. I can't wait to start my own little veggie garden!”

@paulinesalinas72 joined the discussion, writing, “I've been wanting to start a garden and your videos are a great encouragement.” One user said, "That's so smart to use the micro green tweezers." Another one wrote, "Mama Judy's hands are blessed."

You can follow Judy Bao Garden (@judybaogarden) on TikTok for amazing gardening hacks.