Gardening with Baking Soda
Cheap, effective and OG (the original “green”), baking soda bakes, cleans, heals, disinfects, scrubs, deodorizes, exfoliates, and brightens just about everything in the home. But did you know baking soda is great in the garden too?
Here are some fabulous tips from plantcaretoday.com.
1. Make a Non-Toxic Fungicide
Mix 4 teaspoons of baking soda and 1 gallon of water. Use on roses for black spot fungus and also on grapes and vines when fruit first begins to appear.
2. Spray to Treat and Prevent Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew is causing major problems with impatiens this year, but also can be a problem for other plants, like lilacs, cucumbers, squash and zinnias.
Spray Recipe: 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1 gallon of water, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid
Mix all the ingredients together and spray plants weekly. Apply on overcast days to prevent any potential foliage from burning.
3. Discourage Gnats In Soil & Fungus on Leaves
Mix in 1 gallon of water, 4 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon biodegradable soap. Mix well, spray infected foliage or soil as needed.
4. Discourage Weeds
Pour or sweep baking soda in a thick layer into cracks on a sidewalk or patios. The baking soda should kill any small weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from coming up.
5. Kill Cabbage Worms
Mix equals parts flour and baking soda and dust plants (cabbage, broccoli, kale) being eaten by cabbage worms. They munch on the leaves and die usually in a day or two. Repeat as needed.
6. Kill Crabgrass
Simply wet the crabgrass, pour a heavy dusting of baking soda on the weed. The crabgrass should start dying back in 2 or 3 days .CAUTION: When applying baking try NOT to get it on your grass as too much baking soda can burn and kill it.
7. Clean Your Hands
After a day in the garden and dirt, clean your hands by rubbing and scrubbing wet hands with baking soda. Rinse.
To those comprehensive tips, I add:
8. Garden Mildewcide
Another simple recipe to combat powdery mildew on cucumbers, zucchini, melons, roses, and lilacs. Fill a spray bottle with 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 pint water. Spray as needed.
Baking Soda Bonanza by Peter A. Ciullo
This tip is ingenious!
9. Test your soil PH.
Wet the soil and take a small amount of baking soda and sprinkle it onto soil. If the baking soda bubbles, your soil is acidic with a PH level under 5.
