Known for its uses in home maintenance, baking soda is popular for cleaning, disinfecting, degreasing, and even deodorizing all surfaces in the home. But its uses don’t stop there. This multi-purpose product is also useful in gardening. Find out how to use baking soda for your landscape garden, orchard, or even your vegetable garden.
Sodium bicarbonate will not cease to amaze us. Useful for cleaning the house, removing bad odors and maintaining clothes, this biodegradable and inexpensive product is also useful in gardening.
Baking soda for gardening – Source: spm
How and when to use baking soda in the garden?
-
To keep parasites away
Cabbage Worms – Source: spm
Baking soda can keep some pests away from plants, such as aphids, caterpillars, caterpillars, earthworms, and ants. To do this, sprinkle on the ground with the help of a strainer. However, avoid touching flowers and plants with baking soda.
Another option is to fill a watering can with 500ml of water and add a tablespoon of baking soda and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Then water the soil at the foot of your plants with this solution.
-
To prevent fungal diseases
Cryptogamic disease – Source: spm
A cryptogamic disease, also called a fungal disease, is an infection of plants caused by a fungus. In fact, 90% of the diseases that affect garden plants are fungal diseases.
Baking soda can protect your plants from some of these diseases, such as mold, rust, or powdery mildew. In fact, this product is alkaline, that is, its pH is greater than 7, so when it is added to an acid medium it neutralizes it, thus preventing the development of these pathogens. This is called raising the pH of acidic soil.
If we take the example of downy mildew, the fungus responsible for this disease develops on acidic surfaces, such as on the surface of the leaves of tomatoes or on their aerial parts. By neutralizing this acidity, baking soda prevents the development of downy mildew on tomato plants.
Keep in mind that baking soda acts as a preventative, but by itself it is not enough if your plants are exposed to moisture that encourages fungal growth.
Option 1
In a spray bottle, mix one teaspoon of baking soda and one teaspoon of black or castile soap with one quart of water. Spray this solution all over the plant as soon as you plant it. Repeat this once a week for two months and every time it rains. In addition, rain and high humidity in general favor the development of fungi on your plants.
option 2
Mix a teaspoon of baking soda with 2 teaspoons of dishwashing liquid in a liter of water until you get a homogeneous preparation. Transfer the mixture to a spray can and spray on your plants.
Keep in mind that baking soda can damage flowers , so if you have flowering plants, spray only the parts below the flowers.
-
To deodorize the compost
Composting – Source: spm
Compost fertilizes the soil and provides it with the necessary nutrients for the development of plants. Therefore, it is made up of vegetable and organic residues that, on occasion, can generate bad odours. To neutralize the bad odors that come out of the compost, just sprinkle a little baking soda on the pile.
-
To get rid of weeds
Kill Weeds – Source: spm
Sodium bicarbonate is a natural herbicide. To weed your garden or vegetable garden, simply sprinkle baking soda on the areas where you don’t want unwanted plants to grow. Repeat this trick only once or twice a year . Note that this trick is only effective for paver, patio or gravel driveways, and wall bases. Avoid spraying it on lawns and flower beds.
Please note that if used in excess in the soil, ie above a 1% concentration, baking soda can become phytotoxic and lead to deficiencies in minerals such as calcium and magnesium. . Tip: To prevent weeds from appearing, you can install a mulch. This is a layer of straw that keeps the soil moist and slows down weed growth.
In addition to baking soda, there are other natural herbicides such as nettle manure, white vinegar or starchy pasta cooking water, which is very effective in killing weeds.
From now on, you will no longer reserve your baking soda for cosmetic or domestic use, but you will also use it to take care of your garden and protect your plants from everything that could affect their good growth.
