Most people have a carton of baking soda in their home, or at least a box. It’s a versatile natural product that can be used in many ways. Cooking is the default way to use baking soda, but it can also be used for cleaning, has a variety of beauty uses, and can also be used around your garden and yard.
How? Well, baking soda’s powerful properties can protect your garden from pests and keep your plants clean. It can fight weeds, prevent a variety of plant diseases, and help clean up your garden and yard. If you don’t know what it can do for your plants, here are a few great uses of baking soda that will make your plants grow even more.
But, first things first – let’s say a few things about baking soda.
What is Baking Soda?
Baking soda is a natural product made up of sodium bicarbonate. This is an alkaline substance that reacts when it comes in touch with acidic substances. When it reacts, it bubbles and releases dioxide, which makes it a fantastic leavening agent for bread baking. This property also makes it a great natural agent for soothing an upset stomach.
Other properties make baking soda a great cleaning agent. It can absorb and neutralize even the worst odors, and is especially helpful for keeping your fridge odor-clean.
Baking soda is also great for plans and to fight weeds with. It can even prevent fungal diseases on your plant if you use it correctly.
Amazing Baking Soda Uses for Your Garden and Plants
Boosts the Growth of Your Plants
Mix a teaspoon of baking soda and Epsom salts each with a gallon of filtered water and ½ a teaspoon of ammonia and spray your plants daily with it. This treatment will boost their growth so you’ll have bigger and healthier plants. Roses especially love this treatment.
Great for Soil Testing
Since baking soda is a highly alkaline substance, it’s great for soil testing. To find the pH of your garden’s soil, you can test it easily at home. Get a few soil samples and pour ½ a cup of vinegar in one. If the soil bubbles, it is alkaline – it has started bubbling because it reacted with the acid in the vinegar.
If there are no bubbles, mix ½ a cup of water with a teaspoon of baking soda and add it to the soil. Should it bubble then, your soil has a pH of around 7 and is acidic. Sprinkling baking soda in your garden can make the soil alkaline which is better suited for growing plants.
Prevents Fungal Diseases
While baking soda itself doesn’t kill fungus, it can put it under control. As mentioned earlier, it can make the soil in your garden alkaline, which will effectively prevent fungal diseases. Mix a bit of baking soda with dishwashing soap and some water, then spray the plants in your garden with it. It’ll keep fungal diseases away from them and help your plants grow properly.
Treats Tomato Diseases and Mildew
If you’re growing tomatoes and diseases are hampering their growth, baking soda is the solution. Mix 2 gallons of water with 2 aspirins and 2 tablespoons of baking soda to create a powerful mixture that can treat fungal diseases on your tomatoes and make them grow better.
A similar substance can treat powdery mildew in your garden. You’ll need to mix a gallon of water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda, dishwashing liquid, and vegetable oil each. Spray this in your garden to eliminate powdery mildew once and for all.
Prevents Harmful Pest Infestation
Baking soda is great against cockroaches, slugs, aphids, silverfish, and spider mites in your garden. If you have a problem with these pests, use baking soda as a pesticide diluted in warm water. For spider mites and aphids, mix a teaspoon of baking soda with 1/3 cup of olive oil and 1 cup of warm water. Spray it all over your garden to get rid of the problem without harsh pesticides.
Major infestations can be treated with a mix of 1 gallon of water, a tablespoon of baking soda and olive oil, and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Spray this in your garden every few days until you see no trace of them.
Ant hills, gnats, slugs, and caterpillars can also be eliminated from your garden with baking soda.
Fights Weeds
Want to get rid of weeds in your garden and your walkways and patios? Just pour baking soda in the affected areas or spray a solution of water and baking soda. Reapply as needed and it’ll effectively prevent the weeds from growing big again.
