Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is one of the most popular ingredients used in baking goods and in every household thing. You might have taken it when your stomach hurts or cleaned your laundry with it. You may have done some science project combining baking soda and vinegar together way back in the day. But, do you think that this wonderful ingredient can do best for your houseplants? Does it hurt your houseplants? Let’s see!
What Is Baking Soda?
Baking soda is a crystalline powder of soda ash and trona which is naturally alkaline or basic. It is inexpensive and can be mixed with water or any liquid solution for host of household. When used in cooking, soda acts as chemical leavener producing carbon dioxide in reaction to an acid.
Does Baking Soda Hurts Houseplants?
The simple answer is NO. You can use this wonderful ingredient for your houseplants to encourage their healthy growth.
What Happens When You Use Baking Soda Excessively?
Even though it is safe to use baking soda on your plants, it is a salt and too much salt can hurt plants. When you use it excessively, it clogs plant tissue cells and make the plants to absorb less water than before, sometimes plants even loses their energy, wilt and droop leaves.
On the other hand, too much salt can become poison to plants. The condition is called “ion toxicity” which causes leaf edges of plant to turn in to brown and appear burned. So, baking soda should be used sparingly to avoid both the issues.
Baking Soda For Potting Soil?
Baking soda is alkaline and does not lower the acidity of the soil as well as lime when used for soil in your garden. Mixing small amount of baking soda in to potting soil to neutralize the soils acidity is detrimental to sensitive plants in the garden.
Mix 4 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 quarter of lukewarm or room temperature water and add it to the potting soil is first poured in to planting container or immediately after placing the plant in the soil. Avoid overwatering this mixture to not allow the roots sit in a puddle.
Baking Soda For Powdery Mildew:
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease appearing as gray coating on plants. It suppresses the growth of affected plants and eventually become deformed or wither. So when you see any signs of powdery mildew, all you need to do is mix 4 teaspoons of baking soda in 1 gallon of room temperature water and spray it on the affected plants. Spray it regularly until it completely fades away from the plant and severely affected stems or leaves can be removed.
Baking Soda For Black Spots:
Houseplants are often affected by black spots which is another fungal infection that begins as spots on leaves. On being neglected, they encompass the entire leaves and turn them in to yellow color and fall off.
It is better to remove affected leaves immediately and increase air circulation by providing fan around the plant. Using baking soda for this condition is also helpful as well, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 quart of water, then add few drops of dish soap to it. Pour this solution in a spray bottle and spray it on the affected plants covering the entire plant. You must do it once in a day to keep your plant healthy.
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