Home - Garden
Sprinkle Some Baking Soda On These Plants And Watch The Magic Happen
By MASIE O'TOOLE
Cabbage Family
A more alkaline soil mix can help prevent and cure clubroot. Infected plants grow large, thick roots that either kill the plants or reduce the yield.
Try a baking soda treatment if you notice this issue developing in your broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, radishes, or plants in the Brassicaceae family.
Peas
Peas are a great plant to cultivate if you live in a colder climate or if you're working with more alkaline soil, but this mix shouldn't veer to extreme levels.
Further alkalizing a basic soil mix can damage and even kill the peas, but with baking soda, you can take your mix from an acidic pH to something around 7 to 7.5.
Asparagus
As a hallmark food of an alkaline diet, it's no surprise that acidic soil can negatively affect asparagus. Sprinkling baking soda on the soil will help neutralize it.
Planting your asparagus in soil with a pH of 6.5 to 8 guarantees you won't face any issues that could compromise your crop.
Leeks
Most members of the onion family prefer slightly acidic soil, but leeks are much more accepting of soil with a neutral to alkaline pH.
Because of this, they can benefit from a bit of baking soda sprinkled near the root of the plant, especially if you grow them in the same soil as onion, garlic, and shallots.
Thyme
Most herbs will thrive in neutral soil, but thyme prefers to range on the more alkaline side of the pH scale rather than acidic.
Sprinkle some baking soda into the soil if you notice the pH level is too low to adjust these levels and give your plant a better chance of producing healthy, lush foliage.