Navigate Select ESC Close

We Buried Tacos Under Tomatoes, Here's What Happened

2025-09-04 Howto & Style
45.1k
2.0k
212
Epic Gardening
Epic Gardening
4.1m subscribers

Particle Size Impact on Tomato Yield: Whole vs. Minced Fast Food Fertilizer Test

This experiment demonstrates precisely how the physical breakdown rate of organic matter dictates nutrient bioavailability, revealing surprising winners in tomato yield when feeding plants fast-food scraps.

Short Summary

  • Directly burying high-density food waste confirmed that smaller particle size leads to faster, more bioavailable nutrient release for tomatoes.
  • Despite the theory, the control plant (receiving no added food) dramatically outperformed every buried treatment in total weight.
  • Use these results to optimize when and how you feed your soil, choosing bioavailability over sheer mass buried.

This video tests whether chopping or mincing fast food scraps (Cheesy Gordita Crunches) before burying them affects tomato growth compared to leaving them whole or using no additive at all. The findings provide critical insight into soil decomposition timing versus overall yield potential.

Unlock all features

FREE: Get instant access to 10 AI summaries, chats, or transcripts per day.

Description

In this video, I’m putting tomato plants to the test with identical fast food scrap buried beneath them. One goes in whole, another gets chopped up, and the last is minced into tiny pieces. The setup is the same across the board, so it all comes down to particle size. Come along @jacquesinthegarden and me as we test whether this quirky experiment affects tomato growth. Find FoxFarm Products Near You: https://foxfarm.com/find-a-dealer/ IN THIS VIDEO → SUPPORT EPIC GARDENING → Shop: https://growepic.co/shop → Seeds: https://growepic.co/botanicalinterests LEARN MORE → All Our Channels: https://growepic.co/youtube → Blog: https://growepic.co/blog → Podcast: https://growepic.co/podcasts → Discord: https://growepic.co/discord → Instagram: https://growepic.co/insta → TikTok: https://growepic.co/tiktok → Pinterest: https://growepic.co/pinterest → Twitter: https://growepic.co/twitter → Facebook: https://growepic.co/facebook → FB Group: https://growepic.co/fbgroup TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:21 Preparing the Food 1:53 Experiment Setup 3:11 Update 5:13 Result 6:05 Tomato Count DISCLAIMER Epic Gardening occasionally links to goods or services offered by vendors to help you find the best products to care for plants. Some of these may be affiliate links, meaning we earn a small commission if items are purchased. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. More info on our process: https://www.epicgardening.com/disclaimer/

Top Comments (10)

@mantequilla6680 2025-09-04

Oh good, I've always wondered whether I should amend my soil with Taco Bell

205 8 replies
@monicaj7620 2025-09-04

I just want to say that I’m really proud of Jacques for not mentioning “root knot nematodes” in this video. I literally can’t go near the tomatoes in my garden without hearing him say that 👏

95 9 replies
@blackbirdmd9189 2025-09-04

7:04 that’s not disease. That’s the Monterey Jack cheese coming through 😂😂

60 2 replies
@Chet_Thornbushel 2025-09-05

IDEA!! 💡 To get a bigger sample size- how about next year in the spring you tell everyone what you’re testing so your viewers that have the time and space can do the same experiment and then share their results, too? It’s all just for funsies so may as well get everyone in on it! You could do some of the classic tomato add-in tests- whole eggs, tums, basic kitchen scraps, etc so it’s accessible for lots of folks to grow along.

59
@TiffanyBee 2025-09-04

Talk about a missed opportunity to water them all in with Baja Blast & some fire hot sauce. We'll never know if Crunch would destroy Wendy if it had a hit of some yellow 5, blue 1, & HFCS. Did y'all end up taste testing the tomatoes? Curious to know if the TB tomatoes developed a different taste compared to Wendy. You know, just a subtle note of cheesy gordita crunch.

57 3 replies
@wombatstriker 2025-09-05

POV: Kevin's accountant said he had to stop putting Taco Bell on the company credit card unless he could "truly show that it was a business expense." 😂 @Epic Gardening

44
@pippa3150 2025-09-04

I'm a scientist (microbiologist) and I think you did a great experiment! Thank you for doing a control! I am just starting some tomatoes this week (Zone 13) so I will be sure not to add any tacos. Lol. This was fun, and interesting. Thank you!

41
@RosannaPatruno 2025-09-05

Can you make an experiment where you do weird crossbreedings, like a Carolina reaper and a purple bell pepper, or a watermelon with a jack o lantern squash ?

13 1 replies
@TheOGMicah 2025-09-04

Cheesy Gordita Crunches are the best! It’s sad to see them sacrificed but I suppose it’s ok if it’s for the sake of science😢

10
@zombiebychoice 2025-09-04

This feels like an April fools episode lol

5

Unlock the Data Inside
Turn Videos into Knowledge

  • Get FREE 10/day: transcripts, summaries, chats
  • Chat with videos, export text & PDF
  • $1 free API credit for RAG, chatbots & research

Free forever plan • All features unlocked

App screenshot