Baking Soda for Garden and Vegetable Garden: 22 Ways of Application On a Site

Today, from a glance at the counter of the horticultural store begins to ripple in the eyes – there are so many colorful tubes and packages, and they all promise us a quick escape from the country problems. But if you, like me, can not afford to regularly give for these newfangled drugs a tidy sum, I suggest you go the other way and replace them with ordinary baking soda. After all, this traditional kitchen product is useful not only for the preparation of lush dough, but also help out in a wide variety of gardening.

Powdery mildew

Cheap baking soda will be a great alternative to expensive fungicides and in a short time will help to cope with powdery mildew on berry bushes. To do this, dilute in 10 liters of water 4 tablespoons of soda and treat the affected plants on the sheet. Such procedures are best done in the evening, alternating them with intervals of a week.

This tool will help to remove the powdery coating and the leaves of vegetable crops. Its important distinguishing feature is absolute safety for both humans and the environment. Therefore, treatment of affected plants can be carried out even during their mass fruiting.

Grey rot of grapes

A good reputation is a tool and grapes. In this case you can kill two birds with one stone: not only to rid the scourge of powdery mildew, but also to protect them against gray rot. In order to prevent this disease, grapes are treated with soda elixir (4 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) at intervals of 10-14 days.

Late blight

This product will help in the fight against late blight tomatoes. Moreover, prevention will be more effective than treatment, so it makes sense to start spraying tomatoes with a soda solution a couple of weeks after planting seedlings in the ground, repeating the treatment every 7-10 days. With this approach, you can avoid the appearance of late blight on tomato bushes, and at the same time increase the sugar content of ripening fruits. The working solution is prepared at the rate of 3 tablespoons of powder per 10 liters of water.

Early yellowing of cucumber lashes

To prolong the fruiting of cucumbers and prevent premature yellowing of their lashes, you can use 1 tablespoon of baking soda diluted in a bucket of water. But for these purposes is not carried out spraying and root irrigation – every tree pour in 0.5 liter of the drug. Feeding is carried out after the first wave of fruiting cucumber beds, alternating them every other day for a week. In this case, the soda cocktail should be made under the plants on the pre-moistened soil.

Caterpillars on trees

Sodium bicarbonate solution prepared at the rate of 5 tablespoons per 10 liters of water is an effective tool in the fight against leaf-eating caterpillars on fruit trees. When such pests need to be abundantly moistened with a solution of the tree crown from the sprayer and repeat the procedure after 3-4 days.

Caterpillars on cabbage

I don’t like baking soda and cabbage caterpillars. In this case, you can simply powder the affected plants with dry powder on the dew or after sprinkling from the watering can. The powder will not harm the leaves, but with voracious caterpillars will deal instantly.

Slugs

The same effect has soda powder on slugs, corroding their tender bodies. To do this, you need to powder the place of accumulation of clams with soda or to prevent the perimeter of the bed, pour a soda border. After contact with powder slugs quickly die.

Wireworm

Some gardeners with sodium bicarbonate successfully fight against wireworm on a potato plantation. To do this, you only need to add 0.5 teaspoons of this miraculous powder to each hole when planting potatoes. “Experienced” argue that even with the mass dominance of the pest for the third year of such use soda get exceptionally clean potatoes without a single wormhole.

Ants

Baking soda-means № 1 in the battle with ants in the suburban area. For this purpose there is no need to direct a solution – places of accumulation of ants it is possible to sprinkle simply dry soda and they immediately in a panic will begin to retire from the “hostel”.

Aphid

The most common pest of garden plantations – aphids quickly disappear from the occupied branches, if they are sprayed with a solution prepared from 10 liters of water and 4 tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate. Such treatments are best done after sunset, alternating with an interval of 3-4 days (usually enough 2-3 procedures).

Weevil

Planting raspberries and strawberries are often plagued by a weevil, whose larvae damage the ovary at the very beginning of its development. To protect the bushes from the activities of this pest, it is necessary to conduct 2-3 spraying at intervals of 4-5 days during the period when the plants lay buds. For this purpose, the bucket of water diluted with 2 tablespoons of baking soda and liberally moisten the bushes and the ground beneath them with this solution.

Cut flowers

Baking soda will be in demand in other suburban Affairs. For example, it can significantly extend the life of cut flowers. For this bouquet placed in a vase filled with soda solution made from 1 teaspoon to 1.5 litres of water.

Seed disinfection

This powder, having disinfecting and antiseptic properties, will free the seed from bacteria and viruses. To do this, the seeds need to be decomposed on cotton pads or a piece of cloth soaked in soda solution (5 g powder per 1 liter of water), and leave for 5-6 hours.

The deoxidation of soil

Baking soda is an excellent deoxidizer, so it will be particularly useful when used in areas with acidic soil type. With regular application of this powder, the pH level of the soil gradually shifts towards neutral, which will gratefully accept most garden crops. It is enough when planting seedlings in each hole to make a pinch of dry product, which, in addition, will protect plants from root rot.

Indicator of soil acidity

And to roughly determine what type of soil is the soil on the site, you can take a handful of wet soil from a depth of 20-30 cm and sprinkle it with sodium bicarbonate powder. If the soil is acidic or strongly acidic, soda will react with it – will start to hiss and foam, as well as when interacting with table vinegar.

Weeds

Many people today make tracks to the site tile and each year are faced with the same problem – through the gaps constantly breaking the weeds that are impossible to remove by hand. From such an unsightly picture can easily get rid of all the same baking soda. To do this, dissolve 0.5 kg of powder in a bucket of water and pour such a “slaughter” solution of annoying weeds. After a few days, unnecessary grass completely dry up.

Fire

Summer residents annually have to burn a pile of branches left after pruning, as well as a variety of plant debris. To take fire a fixed location, on the edges you can put a bead of soda powder, which will not allow flame spread in the wrong area.

Unpleasant smell

Baking soda is good at absorbing a variety of odors, so can be useful at their summer cottage in one thing — save their masters from the flavors of the outdoor toilet and ripening compost. To do this, just need to periodically sprinkle with dry powder of soda.

Pool water

Today, many gardeners on the site have a swimming pool-frame or inflatable, it does not matter. But in any pool located on the street, the water blooms very quickly. To prevent this unpleasant phenomenon, you need to add 1 teaspoon of baking soda for each m3 of water.

Dishwashing

This economical product will help summer residents deprived of water in their garden house. After all, soda will help without the hassle to clean the greasy plaque from the plates and pots, even in cold water and eliminate the need to use modern detergents that have to be rinsed out for a long time.

Insect bite

Evening gatherings in an open gazebo are always overshadowed by annoying mosquitoes and midges, bothering us throughout the summer season. If insect bites could not be avoided, quickly remove the itch from the affected area can be using all the same soda. For this powder to dissolve in small amount of water, bringing it to the consistency of thick cream, and apply this pulp on the bite.

Pollution on the skin

And of course soda powder is useful after active work on the beds, because the slurry of soda and water will help to remove stubborn dirt from the palms and feet is much more effective than any soap.

Application features

Baking soda is a soft alkali made from the simplest elements that will not cause any harm to either the gardener or the green plantings. Therefore, this product can be used even during the active fruiting of vegetables and berries.

Based on the alkaline properties of sodium bicarbonate, in the preparation of solutions should not use metal containers. In addition, the dishes in which the soda solution is prepared should be clean – without plaque fertilizers or other products on the walls.

In the preparation of soda solution can not use hot water with a temperature of +50 … + 55°C. in addition, the valuable properties of soda are lost after 3 hours after dissolving the powder in water, so the working solution should be used immediately after preparation.

And that a mixture of soda and water lingered on the shoots of plants and managed to have a positive effect, when preparing a solution for spraying in water, you need to add a couple of spoons of liquid soap.

Baking soda will provide invaluable service in the fight against diseases and pests of plants and help in solving a variety of household problems that have to be solved by each summer resident. At the same time it will help to significantly reduce the amount of the check in the horticultural store.

Dear readers, share your ways of using soda. Maybe you have better application ideas, or, on the contrary, some of them were not effective. Please write in the comments.