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How To Use Baking Soda To Keep
Your Tomato
Plants Healthy
By EZEKIEL MAINA
Baking soda can help your tomato plants thrive, fostering an abundant crop of plump, juicy fruits by warding off pests, diseases, weeds, and poor soil pH.
With its mild-alkali armor, baking soda disrupts fungi spores, helping to prevent diseases like powdery mildew, leaf spot, anthracnose, and blight.
For a mix to prevent diseases, combine 1 tablespoonful of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of gentle dish soap, powdered aspirin, and a teaspoonful of vegetable
oil into 1 gallon of water.
Baking soda releases carbon dioxide when ingested, meaning pests will not want to eat tomato plants with baking soda on them, and rabbits are repulsed by
the powder's scent.
Baking soda can also kill weeds, but this method is a double-edged sword, as too much can damage plants and water via sodium infiltration.
The best soil conditions for most plants lie between a pH of 6 and 7. If your soil's pH strays to the excessive side, baking soda can help reduce the alkalinity or acidity.
For any of these cases, you can shower the powder at the base of your tomato plants or douse the leaves with a baking soda solution. However, test
it on a few plants first.