Baking Soda Pesticide and Fungicide Spray

when you think about it our gardens are a delicate balancing act a balance of soil air water minerals nutrients and life a unique balance of chemistry and biology both below the ground and above and when this web of interactions becomes imbalanced or even off just slightly bad things happen namely pests and other nasties aphids spider mites white flies thrips you name it these guys tend to proliferate whenever your garden or your plants are stressed i've always believed that a healthy strong garden and its inhabitants can repel most pests all on their own without our intervention this means that when my soil and my garden is in tip-top shape i never worry about insects or fungus the good insects take care of the bad and the conditions are never ripe for the fungus to get a footing and all of a sudden that balance doesn't seem so delicate because of this i always strongly oppose the use of chemicals in our gardens it's just not necessary and it's really not solving the problem rather it's potentially causing more sometimes though we need an edge just a small victory over the bad guys to turn the tide in our favor enter baking soda long touted as an effective treatment for both pests and fungal outbreaks we'll discuss why it works how it works and the methods to safely use in our garden [Music] first off what is baking soda well baking soda is a somewhat natural chemical compound consisting of one sodium atom a hydrogen a carbon and three oxygens and the chemistry of baking soda has two things we need to watch out for as gardeners one baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is a salt and terrestrial plants aren't fond of high levels of salt in the soil and two it's alkaline so it can raise the ph of that soil as well you'll find baking soda readily available in any grocery store as it's used in baking cleaning and deodorizing around the house but you can actually find it in nature it occurs naturally in the mineral nacalite so it's definitely not a chemical or poison and the levels we'll be using it at should be of no cause for concern still it's always a good idea to know these things okay now we know what sodium bicarbonate is how does it actually work for pests such as aphids and spider mites and even caterpillars once the baking soda gets into their systems lethal doses of carbon dioxide are released it acts fast and it's effective but it does appear that they have to ingest the stuff so don't expect miracles when baking soda is used all by itself it may not have the blanketing effect of other sprays such as a natural insecticidal soap the real benefit of baking soda though is protection protection from harmful fungal outbreaks most notably powdery mildew notice how i said protection it's far better for the prevention of future outbreaks than it is the treatment of current ones funguses come to our plants through spores either from the air above or the soil below because baking soda is so reactive it creates an ion imbalance for those spores killing them instantly and it creates an inhospitable environment so that they can't even get established by not letting the spores get established fungal outbreaks are actually repelled and current ones are kept in check maybe even reversed and that's great news for us squash and zucchini growers the most effective and safest way to use baking soda in the garden is to atomize it and by that i mean turn it into a dilute liquid spray for an easy application for both insect repellent and fungal protection i use the same formula [Music] i simply take one liter of water [Music] add a teaspoon of baking soda [Music] a teaspoon of natural castile soap [Music] and two teaspoons of vegetable oil [Music] the oil is going to help suffocate and kill insects on contact as well as propel fungal spores and the natural soap will act as a spreader sticker to keep the solution where it needs to be on the leaves [Music] mix it all together and spray the plants twice monthly for a preventative strategy or every three days to contain an existing outbreak [Music] as always though before using a new product on your garden always do a test leaf first it's just good practice because you never know when a sensitivity issue may pop up so do your due diligence and with that let's end off with some parting thoughts about using baking soda in your garden is it really the miracle solution that some people claim it to be no far from it but it can be effective when it's used and timed correctly soft bodied insects like aphids spider mites and even large caterpillars can definitely be kept in check with a baking soda spray but it's the added benefits of the oil and the natural soap that really do make quite the difference and make it very effective for localized outbreaks and i like that we're going natural here steering clear of harmful synthetics and systemics but just remember that past hot spots and fungal outbreaks are always a symptom they're a symptom of an imbalance indicators that something isn't working right and that maybe our attention is needed natural spray solutions like our baking soda one definitely work and they're handy let's just remember not to rely on them too much especially if they're masking larger issues [Music] hey thanks so much for watching guys i appreciate the support more than you know and if you're getting value from these videos please like and share them to spread the word and help your fellow gardener to grow better

Channel: The Ripe Tomato Farms

Views: 1,838,496

Keywords: baking soda, baking soda on plants, sodium bicarbonate, organic pesticide, baking soda pesticide recipe, baking soda pesticide, baking soda in garden, baking soda uses, uses of baking soda, pesticide, pest control, natural pesticides, organic pesticides, pest control methods, home made pesticides, pesticide spray, best pesticide for plants, aphids, whiteflies, control mealybugs, caterpillars, fungus, fungus gnats, gardening, powdery mildew, the ripe tomato farms

Id: 320D-41xt-M

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 11 2022