So you’re aware about baking soda and its various uses inside the house in baking,
cleaning, deodorizing and a range of other things. But did you know that it is equally
useful in the garden? Surprised? Hi viewers and welcome back to Bestie!
There are lots of benefits to choosing baking soda for your garden. Not only is it safer to use than
the harmful chemicals found in pesticides, fertilizers, and other garden products,
but it’s also affordable and found at just about every store. And in today’s video,
we will tell you all the different ways that you can use baking soda in your garden.
From killing crabgrass, revitalizing your compost, cleaning plant leaves, keeping cut
flowers fresh to treating poison ivy and more, watch till the end to learn about all of them.
Healthy fungicide: Fungal problems can be tough to prevent in the garden.
Especially if the year’s weather happens to be warm and wet.
Luckily, there are some simple steps you can take to prevent fungus from taking hold.
One of the easiest ways is to mix four teaspoons of baking soda with a gallon of lukewarm water.
Use the mixture on roses to treat black spot fungus
or on vines and grapes as soon as fruits begin to appear.
This baking soda concoction also works well at preventing and treating powdery mildew,
a disease that’s common to all kinds of plants, but particularly squash plants. You can even
sprinkle a bit of baking soda on tomato plants, which will prevent slugs and tomato hornworms.
Are you a fan of gardening? What are the plants, flowers or vegetables that you’ve
grown on your own? Tell us quickly in the comments section down below!
Test soil: You can do a simple pH test on your soil with baking soda.
Your plants absorb the minerals found in the ground through their roots.
If the soil is too acidic or alkaline, it hampers this process.
Conduct a simple home experiment using baking soda and vinegar to test your soil’s pH levels.
Place the two soil samples into small cups. Add half cup of vinegar to one of the cups. If the
soil bubbles, the soil is alkaline. This means it has a pH level of seven or more.
If it doesn’t bubble, use the other soil sample to test the acidity.
Add the baking soda to the water and pour the solution into the second cup.
If the soil bubbles, you have acidic soil with a pH level of seven or below.
If the test reveals that your soil is acidic, you can amend the problem by sprinkling baking
soda over it just before you water. This should help to reduce its acidity. Continue
to test your soil weekly until it no longer bubbles when exposed to water and baking soda.
Revitalize your compost:
Starting and maintaining your own compost pile is one of the best things you can do for your garden.
The best way to prevent it from reeking and scaring your neighbors?
Add a bit of baking soda. It will eliminate the odors without stopping the beneficial
actions of valuable microorganisms in your compost. If you don’t compost you’re missing out.
Natural ant killer: Powdered sugar and baking soda are a natural ant killer that creates a
fatal bait. Mix equal amounts of both the ingredients and sprinkle over ant hills.
When the ants eat the mixture, they carry it back to their nests, killing the ants within.
The sugar attracts the ants, while the baking soda kills them. Be sure to use powdered sugar and not
granulated sugar, as the ants will pick out the granulated sugar, leaving the baking soda behind.
Banish sap sucking pests: Both aphids and spider mites are incredibly aggravating garden pests to
deal with. And they can kill your plants. Both of these organisms suck nutrients and moisture
out of the leaves of your plants, for instance, completely depleting them of their nutrients.
Use baking soda to deter them. Simply combine two cups of water with ⅔rd cup of olive oil
and a teaspoon of baking soda. Mix the combination in a spray bottle,
then apply it to your plants. These annoying pests will be gone in no time.
Clean plant leaves: Plants need photosynthesis to survive and thrive.
To help your houseplants make the most of the sunshine they receive,
keep their leaves clean by wiping them gently with a damp sponge or soft cloth dampened with a very
dilute solution of baking soda and water. Add about half a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda
to a liter of pure, filtered water to make this gentle cleaning solution.
Organic pesticide: For those of you who are environmentally conscious,
buying chemical pesticides is a pretty undesirable option.
Although you don’t want your gardens to get eaten up by bugs and other critters,
you also don’t want to risk having poison leak into the ground or get carried into our home.
Fortunately, you can make a safe and effective pesticide with baking soda.
All you have to do is mix a tablespoon of olive oil, two tablespoons of baking soda
and a couple drops of liquid soap in a gallon of water. Put it in a spray container and apply
gently to your garden every three days. It will definitely keep the bugs away.
Get rid of patches of crabgrass: If you don’t already know,
crabgrass are those annoying and fibrous little chunks of grass that
seem to always grow back between sidewalks and other problem areas.
For an easy way to get rid of them so they won’t come back, all you have to do is moisten
the problem area and apply a thick amount of baking soda so it turns into a paste.
Sweep the paste into any cracks and it should wipe out any weeds you may have.
just keep it away from the grass you want.
Keep cut flowers fresh: When you bring your flowers inside, it’s inevitable that they’re
going to die back eventually. However, you can keep them looking gorgeous for longer if you
add a tablespoon of baking soda to a couple of quarts of water. Change the solution every day,
and you’ll likely find that your flowers stay fresh twice as long as they used to.
Make a plant fertilizer: Baking soda on its own can’t be used to fertilize plants,
but you can use it with other products to make a good replacement for fertilizers. Just combine
1 tablespoon of epsom salt with a teaspoon of baking soda and a half teaspoon of household
ammonia. Put this mixture into a gallon of water and stir well. Use it once a month on your plants
by mixing a 1/8th -1/4th of the concentrate with 4 cups of water in a watering can.
Kill cabbage worms: These little caterpillars don’t just feast on cabbage leaves, they also love
to eat other such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale in your vegetable garden, as well.
To kill them, make a mixture of 50 percent white flour and 50 percent baking soda.
Put this mixture into a shaker container or a powder dispenser and dust the plants
that are infested. The leaves of brassicas are thick and the
mixture will not do damage to them but the caterpillars will eat it and soon die off.
Treat Poison Ivy: Anyone who spends a lot of time out in the garden has
likely gotten a poison ivy rash. Heard the term “leaves of three, let them be?”
Sometimes, you can find yourself in a patch of it unknowingly.
If this happens, one effective home remedy uses baking soda. To treat poison ivy,
mix 1/2 cup of baking soda to some bath water and soak in it. You can also make a paste by combining
baking soda with apple cider vinegar or water and applying it to the rash to soothe the itch.
Perk up Your Plants: Plants looking a bit listless? Try watering them with a gallon
of pure, filtered water, a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of Epsom salts,
and half a teaspoon of ammonia. They’ll be looking healthier in no time. For regular maintenance,
you can do this as often as once a month – roses, in particular, love this kind of TLC.
Not just for outdoors, plants are beneficial for your health even when you keep them indoors. Want
to know how? Watch this video titled “5 Health Benefits Of Keeping Plants In Your Home & Office”
Now back to baking soda hacks for your garden.
Sweeten Tomatoes: There’s nothing that says summer quite like biting into a fresh,
juicy tomato fresh from the garden. Baking soda can make those tomatoes even sweeter.
Just sprinkle a bit on the soil that surrounds the tomato plants. It will lower the acidity levels
and make your tomatoes taste ten times better. Just try not to get any on the plants themselves.
Clean up walkways: If you have walkways that wind through your garden or in your yard,
you can use baking soda to get them cleaned up. Just wash the surface using 2 tablespoons
of baking soda per quart of warm water. For tough stains and dirt, you can add a little
more baking soda and then use a scrub brush or a broom with a stiff bristle to scrub it off.
Remember, that you’ll need to be careful not to spill the solution on your flower beds,
or get it onto your lawn. This is because a high concentration of
baking soda is likely to burn your wanted grass and plants.
Insect repellent spray: Add 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/3rd cup mustard oil to a plastic or
glass container with a tightly-fitting lid. Now stir the ingredients to mix.
Return the top to the jar and store at room temperature.
When ready to use, mix two tablespoons of the dry mixture to one cup warm water in a
plastic or glass spray bottle. Shake to mix. Spray the solution around any area where you
want to get rid of unwanted bugs and as an effective mosquito repellent spray.
How often do you garden? What are your favourite garden plants?
Let us know in the comments section below!