This Gardening Tool For Your Fingers Looks Silly But Also Satisfying To Use

In gardening, there are a variety of tools you can use to cultivate your plot, but nothing beats a green thumb.

San Diego-based Kevin Espiritu of TikTok account @epicgardening has shared a peculiar but surprisingly practical tool for hands-on gardening. The tool, called a thumb knife, features a silicon sleeve you wear on your pointy finger and thumb, with a blade attached to the latter. In lieu of a pair of scissors or shears, you can use the miniature knife to pick fruits and vegetables, as well as to prune branches.

In his TikTok video, which now has over seven million views, Espiritu says that the thumb knife “might be the dumbest gardening tool” he has ever seen. He then uses it to pick an herb and a flower, before commenting, “impractical but highly satisfying.”

His followers, though, begged to differ. Some explained that the thumb knife is for those with dexterity issues and ailments such as carpal tunnel, arthritis, and even allergies.

“I’m thinking it would be nice to not have to put gloves on to get herbs… I have allergies!” says one comment, while another reads: “It’s actually nice for harvesting a lot of green beans and peas. Cuts down on stains and calluses.”

It also makes tasks easier for farmers. “My family grows thousands of geraniums and this would be perfect for deadheading,” said one of Espiritu’s followers. Another person added that it reduces accidents, as the most common accident at vineyards is workers cutting themselves when pruning vines.

And if those aren’t good enough reasons for you to get a thumb knife, it could also keep your houseplant from dying. One comment reads, “A clean cut on the plant actually makes the plant less vulnerable to infection than if you were to just tear it.”

A bit silly? Maybe. Impractical? Definitely not. Oddly satisfying? It gets a thumbs up!