This Viral TikTok Hack Keeps Bugs Off Your Vegetables

If you are an avid vegetable gardener, you likely battle garden pests regularly. Whether they’re aphids, rabbits, or deer, some hungry critter always seems to be messing with your precious produce. Gardeners on TikTok have shared numerous methods for keeping pesky pests away, from wire mesh to DIY pesticides. User Rob Drucker taught us a new favorite using huckleberry plants.

Drucker credits the pest control hack to subsistence farmer and TikTok garden influencer Brianne Graber, who touts companion planting as an amazing way to preserve your plants without pesticides. Their videos are included below; read on to learn how you can try the huckleberry trap plant hack yourself and grow more vegetable varieties with other companion plants.

What Is the Huckleberry Trap Plant Hack?

Basically, the huckleberry trap hack is to plant a garden huckleberry bush—or multiple—beside vegetable plants that pests often devour. Graber has planted the huckleberries near her sweet potatoes, hot peppers, and tomatoes, while Drucker has planted them beside his peppers and romaine lettuce. The huckleberry bush, when planted beside the crops, keeps them safe from insect pests. (If you’re fighting mammalian or avian pests, try these deterring tips.)

@thezenhenandthehoneybee Companion planting is a game changer for those of us growing food without pesticides. Trap planting is one of my favorite ways to utilize companion planting. Gardening with nature truly is the solution to many gardening issues, especially when it comes to natural pest control. I’m your Huckleberry. 😏 #companionplanting #organicgardening #growingtomatoes #growingpeppers #growingpotatoes ♬ original sound – TheZenHenandTheHoneyBee

Is the Huckleberry Trap Plant Hack Effective?

Though Graber admits that using huckleberry as a trap plant was “an accidental discovery,” she claims that it has completely changed the way she grows her crops. She explains that since using the huckleberry trap plant hack, her vegetables are “completely pristine and free of insects.” Similarly, Drucker says that while his peppers used to get “decimated by bugs,” since planting huckleberries, he “can’t find [one] leaf with an insect hole in it on [his] peppers or on [his] romaine lettuce.”

As an added bonus, the huckleberry plants will also successfully grow huckleberries, despite insects eating their leaves. Graber harvested enough huckleberries to make “the best jam [she’s] ever had.”

How Does the Huckleberry Trap Plant Hack Work?

Drucker explains, “The idea is that the huckleberries are a trap companion plant, and the bugs will go and eat the huckleberry leaves—which you don’t care about—instead of your plants.” This explanation perfectly describes the role of a “trap plant,” or a plant that is used as bait to draw pests away from more prized plants. For larger pests, might we suggest adding a wire mesh fence?

@unhandyhandyman Trap plant that works! #gardeninghacks #companionplanting #huckleberries @thezenhenandthehoneybee ♬ original sound – Rob Drucker

What Is Companion Planting?

According to Farmer’s Almanac, companion planting is “when two plants are grown near each other for the benefit of one of those plants or both […] the benefit can be one-way or mutual.” Author Catherine Boeckmann continues, “Companion planting could be as simple as growing flowers near your crops to attract pollinating insects or growing two vegetables alongside each other to confuse or repel pests.” While Graber describes the huckleberry as “the absolute best companion plant [she] has ever used,” trap plants are just one type of companion plant, and there are many other plant pairings you can try.

How Can I Try the Huckleberry Trap Plant Hack?

In the comments section beneath his video, Drucker answers questions from viewers on how to try the huckleberry trap plant hack themselves. To start, he suggests buying garden huckleberry seeds from a company called Thresh, available on Amazon.

From there, he recommends planting the huckleberry seeds about one foot away from your row of plants. Then, simply follow these tips for growing plants from seed and watch the insects flock to the huckleberry leaves.

How Can I Try Other Companion Plant Pairings?

If you are starting a vegetable garden, consider using some of the below companion plant combinations to further benefit your fruits and vegetables.

Companion Plants for Corn

Dill will help draw aphids and mites away from the corn crop. Dwarf sunflowers can attract ladybugs, which will consume any straying aphids. Finally, beans provide structural support and balance out the nitrogen in the soil to help corn flourish.

Companion Plants for Cucumbers

Once again, dill will act as a trap plant for aphids and mites, while nasturtium, oregano, radish, and tansy can also repel insects such as cucumber beetles and ants. Additionally, people believe that nasturtium and tansy enhance the growth and flavor of cucumbers.

Companion Plants for Green Beans

Nasturtium will draw aphids away from the beans, while lovage and rosemary can repel insects entirely. Additionally, sunflowers can provide useful shade so that the beans’ leaves don’t burn.

Companion Plants for Summer Squash

Like dwarf sunflowers with ladybugs, buckwheat will attract insect predators to eat zucchini’s pests. Oregano and zinnias can attract pollinators, while nasturtium draws aphids and whiteflies away from the squash.

Companion Plants for Tomatoes

Numerous plants can repel insects and worms that target tomatoes. These companion plants include calendula, asparagus, basil, borage, and thyme. In addition to repelling insects, basil will also attract pollinators, resulting in larger, tastier tomatoes. Finally, dill will attract parasitic wasps that will eat any caterpillars looking to feast on your tomatoes.

Please explore additional companion planting suggestions here. As long as you avoid these incompatible vegetable pairings, your garden should benefit greatly from its new companion plants!

FAQ

What are common pests that attack vegetable gardens?

Vegetable gardens attract various crop-damaging pests. Aphids are tiny insects that consume sap and cluster on fresh plant growth. Spider mites create markings and webs on leaves. Tomato hornworms are huge caterpillars that consume tomato leaves. Squash bugs harm squash and pumpkin plants. Cucumber insects consume cucumbers and melon leaves, spreading illness. In addition to insects, animals such as rabbits, deer, and birds can damage plants by eating their leaves, fruits, and vegetables.

Are there companion plants that repel pests?

Many plants repel pests in various ways. Some plants have powerful odors that confound or terrify pests, such as marigolds, which repel both nematodes and whiteflies. Basil repels flies and mosquitoes. Mint discourages ants and flea beetles. Other plants, such as nasturtiums, serve as “trap crops” by luring pests away from other vegetables, as demonstrated by the huckleberry hack. Certain plants also attract beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps, which devour typical garden pests. Dill attracts parasitic wasps. Sunflowers and buckwheat attract ladybugs. Using natural pest repellents can significantly reduce the need for chemicals in your garden.

About the Expert

Rob Drucker is a TikTok creator known as @unhandyhandyman, sharing gardening hacks and DIY projects.

Brianne Graber is a subsistence farmer and TikTok garden influencer known as @thezenhenandthehoneybee. She is a former biochemist who focuses on organic gardening and sustainable living practices.