Viral experiment: YouTuber grows real tomatoes from McDonald’s burger

A simple experiment with a McDonald’s cheeseburger has caught the attention of gardening fans and social media users. James Prigioni, a gardening influencer, turned tomato slices from a Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe into thriving tomato plants.

He also shared a YouTube video showing the entire process, from planting the slices to seeing them grow. The results surprised even him, showing that gardening can start with the most unexpected ingredients.

From burger to seed

Prigioni decided to experiment with the tomato slices from his burger instead of throwing them away. He tried two methods. As mentioned in a report by PEOPLE, in one, he planted two seeds taken from a slice in a cup. In the other, he placed a full tomato slice directly into the soil.

Moving the plants outdoors

After 23 days, both plants had sprouted. He moved them outside, keeping the seed-grown plant in a bucket and planting the slice-grown plant directly in the ground.

He admitted that he did not water the bucket plant properly on several hot days. Still, the plant continued to grow and produce tomatoes.

Early fruits from stress

By day 94, the bucket plant had already produced tomatoes. He explained that the plant likely bore fruit earlier because of the stress it endured.

A tomato surprise

The plant grown from the full tomato slice surprised him even more. As mentioned in the report, by day 108, it had dozens of tomatoes ripening on its branches.

“I expected this tomato to grow, but I did not expect this,” he said. “I’ve had some plants with a lot of tomatoes on them, but never in my life have I seen a single tomato plant with this much fruit on it.”

“McDonald’s tomato,” he said. “Started from just a Quarter Pounder, now, we have a whole tomato – a host of tomatoes.”

Taste and type

Prigioni taste-tested the tomatoes.

“No acidity, sweet but a mild sweet,” he said. “The kind of tomato that you could just eat a bunch.”

He noted that the smaller tomato from the bucket plant was sweeter. As mentioned in the report, he also explained that the tomatoes are “likely hybrids,” so each plant may grow differently and not “true to seed.”

Ripening issues

By day 121, the ground plant had many big tomatoes, but they were not fully ripe. He said this could be because hybrid plants sometimes lose their even ripening characteristics.

Why he did it

“For me, it was just about fun,” he said. “And it actually helped improve my whole garden because I was so excited to get out there and see how those tomatoes were doing… that I stopped and looked around at the garden.”

“To be able to take a cheeseburger, grab a tomato from it, then grow a tomato plant, and then harvest pounds and pounds of tomatoes from it is just such a unique and refreshing experience,” he added.

Thumb image: James Prigioni