Emma Miller
Common baking soda can be used for whitening teeth, washing dishes, cleaning kitchen utensils, and doing other household chores. Many gardeners and horticulturists turn to this available folk remedy year after year when working with plants.
How do baking soda work on ants and other insects
Experienced hostesses struggle with pests in the garden exactly with the help of baking soda, and, it is also effective against slugs, caterpillars, weevils, and other insects.
From ants
Prepare a baking soda solution: dissolve 2 tbsp. of baking soda in 2 liters of water. Unwind the anthill, pour the solution on top, and then cover the area with dense material.
The second option is dry baking soda in pure form or mixed with sugar. You just need to sprinkle the anthill with the baking soda. If you use it pure, the ants will simply go away, but if you mix it with sugar, the insects will taste the treat and die from it.
For caterpillars and weevils
Take a bucket of water of 10 liters and add to it:
- 2 Tbsp of baking soda;
- 2 tbsp of grated laundry soap;
- 10 l of wood ash (if desired).
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and spray the affected plants morning and evening for 7 to 10 days.
For aphids
Dissolve 200g of grated laundry soap and 5 tbsp of soda ash in a 10-liter bucket of water. Spray the affected areas of the plants with this solution in the morning and evening for 10 days.
Dry baking soda or a solution identical to the one you make to get rid of aphids will help against slugs, but it’s not the plants but the pests that need to be watered.
Which plants can be sprayed with baking soda?
Plants in the garden are often not only attacked by pests but also various diseases.
From powdery mildew
In order to rid plants of this fungal infestation, in a bucket with 10 liters of water, mix:
- 10 tbsp of baking soda;
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
As an alternative, soda ash can be used, but the amount of soda should be halved. Spray the plants twice a day when the weather is dry.
Against Phytophthora
Especially effective baking soda for tomatoes – it gets rid of the vegetables from a severe fungal disease called “phytophthora is”. Experienced gardeners advise dissolving a glass of baking soda in 10 liters of water, if desired, you can add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Then – spray the planted crops with the solution, and, the folk method is effective not only for tomatoes but also for other plants affected by the fungus.
From weeds
Fighting weeds – a regular problem for gardeners, so many of them instead of labor-intensive methods use the folk method. Calcined soda is suitable for fighting unwanted vegetation best of all. You need to dilute 5 tbsp. of soda ash in 10 liters of water and liberally water the solution of weeds – their number on the plot will noticeably decrease.
Soda for plant nutrition
If you want the vegetables to grow quality and the harvest to be rich, dissolve 2 tbsp of soda in 10 liters of water and pour a liter of solution on each planted shrub.
IMPORTANT: Before using baking soda as fertilizer, water your plants with plain, clean water.
