Do you know what the similarities are between baking soda and tomatoes? They both are prominent in our garden and kitchen. Baking soda has countless uses, but does it have any benefits for tomato plants? This article will explain all you need to know about baking soda on tomato plants.
Baking soda on tomato plants:
Baking soda can be a lifesaver for tomatoes in many situations. Baking soda helps the tomato prevent and cure fungal disease. It can also repel the pests from the tomato plant. But there are some well-established misconceptions about the tomato plant and baking soda.
If you think you can only use baking soda for baking fluffy cakes, it’s like not knowing who Spiderman is! Baking soda has a heroic role in our households. From baking to cleaning and repelling, baking soda has many effective uses! And guess what? It is also nontoxic for humans.
Growing tomatoes is easy, but it can also get one of the most challenging plants to grow when your garden is prone to pests and fungal diseases. Can baking soda help tomatoes prevent them?
Yes, baking soda works great to keep your tomato plants safe from many diseases and pests. The best thing about baking soda is that it is readily available in your kitchen.
Is baking soda good for tomatoes? Baking soda can help deal with some common hard-to-cure diseases for tomatoes. And not just for the tomatoes, other plants in your garden can also enjoy the benefits of baking soda. But note that overusing it can harm plants, especially when you use it in the soil.
But what is baking soda? How does it work, and how does it helps the tomato plants? Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. It breaks down in the heat and produces CO2. The CO2 bubble inside the cake makes tiny bubbles that make the cake fluffy. Baking soda also reacts with acid and produces CO2.
Baking soda messes up the ion balance of fungus, causing the breakdown of fungal cells and stopping growth. That makes baking powder a simple but effective fungicide. You can use baking powder to remove the bad smell caused by fungus from your shoes.
You can use baking powder for three reasons. They prevent fungal disease, cure fungal infection, and remove pests from tomato plants.
Check out the top ways to use baking soda on tomato plants.
Preventing early blight:
Blight is a common problem for tomato plants, and it causes massive damage to tomato plants if you do not take care of the disease early.
Early blight is a fungal disease that happens at the flowering season’s start. The condition makes the leaves brownish, and the whole tomato tree slowly breaks down. It starts by making the lower leaves yellow. Then the leaves become brown and black. The disease spreads fast in different parts of the tomato plant, and it can infest other tomato plants if you do not take steps on time.
Appling baking soda spray on tomato plants can cure the disease when the disease is in the first stage. But it’s better to use it for prevention. When one of your plants gets the disease, spray baking soda and water on all the other tomato plants.
Late blight:
Late blight is almost the same disease as early blight, but as the name suggests, late blight starts in the late part of the fruition season of tomato. It can damage all the juicy tomatoes and make the plant brown.
The symptoms are similar to early blight, and timely baking powder spray can quickly help you to get rid of the disease. We will discuss the detailed process in the later part of the article.
Prevents mildew:
Powdery mildew can heavily damage your tomato plant. The infestation of powdery mildew can be fatal to tomato plants, and it is also hard to notice in the first stage. But baking powder can effectively prevent mildew infection.
However, when the tomato plants are heavily infested, it is hard to recover the damage with the baking powder. You may need more potent fungicides to cure tomato plants.
Other fungal diseases:
Many fungal diseases can infest your tomato plants, and baking powder does a great job of preventing and curing them.
Repealing and protecting from pests:
Baking soda has an excellent capability of repelling the pests of tomato plants. They do decent to repel the insects and bugs that harm tomato plants. But they are super effective in preventing soft-bodied pests such as aphids, slugs, and snails.
Spraying baking powder and water solution will keep the pests away from your tomato plants.
You can also make a border of baking powder around the tomato plants. It will stop many insects, slugs, and snails from infesting your tomato plants. But too much baking soda can be harmful to the plants.
Baking soda makes the soil alkyl. Tomatoes can thrive at pH 6.2 to 7.5. Too much baking soda will make the pH more than 7.5.
There are some misconceptions about baking soda and tomatoes. Some people think that baking soda can effectively control weeds. But it is not a good idea to remove the weeds using baking soda. Using too much baking soda in the soil hurts soil health.
Baking soda also does not make tomatoes sweet. The sweetness of a tomato depends on its genetics and healthy growth. Baking soda does not have any benefits on flowering and does not increase the number of flowers. Too much baking soda in the soil can reduce the number of soil microbes, seriously affecting soil health.
Using baking soda on tomato plants:
You should follow the correct methods while applying baking soda to your tomato plants. Overusing or using it wrong can hurt your tomato plants. Let’s discuss the proper procedures for using baking soda on tomato plants.
How much baking soda to put around tomato plants:
To apply baking soda around tomato plants, you must care about the amount. Too much baking soda can make the solid too alkyl, which is unsuitable for tomato plants. Don’t randomly spread around the tree; instead, make 2-inch thick border with the baking powder about one foot away from the tomato plant. It will stop the insects from infesting your tomato plants and will not directly affect the soil.
When to use baking soda on tomato plants:
You can apply baking soda spray if you spot insect or fungus infestation on your tomato plants. Inspect your tomato plants every day and look for signs of infestation. If you can spot it in the early stage, you can minimize the damage.
However, the best way is to use baking soda to prevent infestation on tomato plants. You can spray baking soda on healthy plants to deter insects or fungi from infesting them.
How often to spray tomato plants with baking soda:
Use baking soda every two weeks to prevent fungal disease or pests. You will also have to use baking soda spray after rain, as rain will wash away the baking soda. Spreading baking soda around the tomato plants is not so convenient as the baking soda will be ineffective within a week.
Baking soda recipe for tomato plants:
The baking soda spray recipe is pretty simple. Here are two methods you can use.
Method 1:
Add one spoonful of baking soda to one gallon of water. Add half a teaspoon of soap to the solution. Mix the solution well and pour it into a spray bottle. After applying the baking soda, you can store the rest in a cold place.
Method 2:
Make a 2-inch border of baking soda one foot away from your tomato plants. After one week, remove the visible baking soda and apply again.
What happens if you use too much baking soda on tomato plants?
Do not use too much baking soda on the tomato plants. A high concentration of baking soda can hurt the tomato plants’ growing parts and young leaves.
Use one spoon of baking soda in one gallon of water to make baking powder spray. It will be enough to prevent fungal growth and pest infestation on your tomato plant. This concentration of baking soda does not harm your tomato plants.
Do not use too much baking soda directly on the ground. You can use baking soda if your garden’s soil is too acetic. But when the soil pH is near neutral, using baking soda in the soil can cause a pH imbalance.
Final thoughts
Baking soda can effectively and conveniently keep your tomato plant safe from various fungal diseases and pests. You can also cure infestation with baking powder, but the best way is to use it for prevention. However, using high concentrations of baking powder can hurt your tomato plants.