I think baking soda should be renamed All-purpose Gardening Powder, or even magic fairy dust. The horticultural applications are nearly endless! Take, for example, my five favorite uses around the yard:
1. Killing slugs the all-natural way: After all the rain we had this past summer, slugs were proliferating among my plant life. Sprinkling baking soda on them shriveled the slugs and solved the problem.
2. Testing soil pH: Are your flowerbeds and lawn too acidic? Have you got a lot of weeds, which tend to thrive in more acidic soil? In a small dish, mix garden soil with a little water, until it becomes muddy. Dust the dish with baking soda. If the mixture bubbles, your soil is acidic.
3. Correct acidic soil: If the test, listed above, proves positive, you can amend highly acidic soil by mixing baking soda and water into the area. The result: more flowering, fewer weeds. But be careful about how much you apply. Start with just a pinch or two of baking soda. Too much will burn plant leaves and roots.
4. Keep fungus at bay: Applying a spritz of baking soda to leaves infected with mildew or fungal diseases not only cleans them, but neutralizes surface areas. More alkaline areas limit the ability of fungal spores to grow. Mix 1 tsp of baking soda with a few drops of dish detergent and a liter of water for a solution which will clear up infected areas.
5. Keeping cut flowers looking good longer: Dissolve a teaspoon of baking soda in a vase of cut flowers for longer-lasting freshness and blooming.
