Soda for cucumbers in the greenhouse and garden + 6 recipes for diseases and pests

Any gardener dreams of harvesting an excellent harvest, but many are wary of using industrially produced fertilizers. Nevertheless, the plantings need to be fed and protected from pests. At the initial stages, folk methods can also cope with these problems, for example, soda for cucumbers in the garden has long established itself as an effective remedy.

Soda and its benefits for cucumbers

Of course, the ill-considered use of fertilizers harms the crop, but there are situations when you cannot do without them. For many decades, gardeners have been using sodium bicarbonate, better known as soda, which is beneficial for crops.

Advantages:

1. Disinfects seeds.
2. Plays the role of feeding.
3. Positively affects the taste of the crop.
4. Prevents diseases and pest attacks.
5. It prevents yellowing and drying of leaves.
6. Has a beneficial effect on acidic soil.
7. Increases plant immunity.
8. It is especially good to use soda if the bushes grow too slowly or form a lot of barren flowers.

Along with baking soda, soda ash is used. Only when using the second option, do not forget about gloves. And you need to add it twice as much as food.

Read why cucumbers may turn yellow and what to do.

Why water cucumbers with soda?

More and more vegetable growers are refusing to use chemicals on their plots. However, such a decision often leads to the loss of the entire crop. Many have found salvation in the remedies that our grandparents used. One such universal fertilizer is baking soda.

Regular baking soda - bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate - can be a real help in growing cucumbers. When used correctly, the product has antibacterial and antiviral properties.

What effect does it give?

Baking soda is an inexpensive product that every housewife has in her kitchen. It can be used for more than just baking. Sodium bicarbonate has a positive effect on plant development.

Properties of soda in the garden:

• disinfects seed material;
• fertilizes plants;
• improves the taste of fruits;
• repels insect pests;
• prevents pathogenic yellowing and dying of foliage;
• protects and treats various diseases;
• reduces soil acidity.

Benefits for cucumbers

Experienced gardeners have noticed that soda fertilizers not only protect plants, but also increase productivity. Sodium bicarbonate helps strengthen plant immunity.

Indications for treatment with soda are slow development of the bush, the formation of a large number of barren flowers.

Cucumbers treated with soda differ in taste. The substance cleanses the surface of the fruit from fungal spores, which promotes the accumulation of sugars.

Pre-planting treatment of cucumber seeds with soda

This beneficial substance increases the pH level in the soil. Such an environment is unfavorable for pathogens, especially for a variety of fungi. You can significantly reduce the risk of fungal infection by soaking planting material in a soda solution for 24 hours.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Dissolve soda in water, adhering to the following proportions: for 1 liter of water - 1 tsp. soda
2. Sort out the seeds, put them in cheesecloth and put them in the solution.
3. After 24 hours, rinse the seeds under running water and spread them on a flat surface to dry.
4. Now the seeds can be planted.

From powdery mildew

Fungi are one of the most common crop diseases, so gardeners have to look for ways to combat them. Powdery mildew affects the greenery of plants, covering the plates with a white coating called mycelium. If you do not delay treatment, sodium bicarbonate will help you cope without harm to the vine.

How to spray cucumbers with soda? To do this, you need to prepare a special solution, which is then used to irrigate the leaf using a sprinkler. For the liquid you will need:

• sodium bicarbonate - 50 g;
• laundry soap - 40 g;
• water - 1 bucket.

The block is rubbed until fluffy shavings are formed, after which it is combined with the powder in a slightly warm liquid. Gently stir until the components dissolve, then pour into a spray bottle. The procedure is carried out in the morning or evening until the signs on the greenery completely disappear.

Rules for feeding cucumbers with baking soda

Gardeners should strictly adhere to the correct ratio of soda to water in the solution, otherwise an overly saturated mixture can cause burns. This will lead to a decrease in the yield, and its quality will leave much to be desired.

Baking soda contains a small amount of chlorine, and an oversaturated solution will damage the soil. Many beneficial substances simply do not reach the plants.

The main rules for using soda:

1. The solution should be poured under the root; its temperature should not be lower than +25 °C, but not higher than +28 °C.
2. If a sprinkler system is used, the diameter of the holes should be minimal. It is necessary to spray both the stems and the green mass.
3. You cannot use containers made of metal or polystyrene to prepare the mixture, as soda reacts with these substances.
4. Do not overheat the solution. At temperatures above +60 °C, soda disintegrates and loses its beneficial properties.
5. The shelf life of the solution is three hours.

Seeds, processing, planting

Having resolved the issues with preparing the soil, you purchased the seeds of your favorite variety of cucumbers. If purchased grains are covered with a preventive glaze, there is no need to treat them before planting.

If the seeds do not have a protective layer, it is advisable to treat them before planting to prevent the occurrence of any diseases. For these purposes, there are many different solutions offered by retailers.

Recommended for you:

How to fertilize roses with soda and fight pests

But in a situation where you need it quickly or you don’t want to use “chemicals,” there is an excellent disinfectant that is on hand in every home - ordinary baking soda.

NaHCO3, sodium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate - this is all familiar soda. There has been a lot of talk about it lately, but if you look back, this product was often used by our great-grandmothers for medicinal purposes and not without success. But let's return to our seeds.

To disinfect grains and protect them from fungal diseases after planting in the ground, the seeds must be soaked in a weak soda solution for a day.

The solution is prepared as follows:

1. Take one level teaspoon of sodium carbonate and dissolve it in one liter of water. Soda will not dissolve in cold water; first you need to dilute it with hot water, and then dilute it with cold water and soak the cucumber seeds in this solution for a day.
2. After this time, the solution must be drained, the seeds must be washed in water, allowed to dry and can be planted in the garden bed.

Such treatment not only helps to overcome various diseases, but also increases germination and has a beneficial effect on the quantity and quality of the crop. Let's not forget that in the wild, cucumbers prefer slightly alkaline soils.

Expert opinion

Advice!

For preventive purposes, you can spray cucumber leaves with NaHCO3 solution. But it is necessary to avoid such treatment during the daytime, since under the scorching rays of the sun it can cause severe burns.

It is good to observe moderation in everything; excessively frequent use of soda solutions of various concentrations can lead to oversaturation with sodium bicarbonate and the plant will stop bearing fruit.

To combat barren flowers on your cucumbers, soda will provide emergency assistance. Using two tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in 10 liters of water, water the plants at the root, and the result will appear in the form of new fruit ovaries.

Using soda to feed cucumbers

There are two main schemes for fertilizing cucumbers with soda:

1. Fertilizing is applied three times: at the beginning and end of July, then in mid-August. Of course, you need to feed cucumbers with other fertilizers.
2. You can feed the crop for the first time two weeks after the seedlings are planted in a permanent place. Then wait 20 days and repeat feeding. Then skip another 10 days and fertilize a third time. If necessary, the event can be carried out further, maintaining an interval of 10 days. This option is useful if plants respond well to soda. Such fertilizing is especially necessary if cucumbers grow on clay soil.

There are several options for preparing a soda-based mixture:

• For spraying, prepare a 1% solution of soda in water.
• A 5% solution is suitable for watering.

Is it possible to grow cucumbers together with tomatoes (tomatoes) in open ground and in a greenhouse? Read on the portal Mister Summer Resident.

Features of feeding depending on the purpose

• To prevent barren flowers, you need to dissolve 1 tbsp in 5 liters of water. l. soda Then pour 2 liters of this mixture under the cucumber root. Treatment needs to be carried out quite often, once every three days.
• When the cucumbers begin to ripen, you can use the following recipe: dissolve a handful of wood ash, two tablespoons of soda and 40 g of crushed laundry soap in a bucket of water.
• For one-time use, the following composition is suitable: dissolve 2 tbsp in 3 liters of water. l. soda, 10 g of iodine and a little potassium permanganate. Add the latter until a faint lilac tint appears.

Read the article on how to make a greenhouse for cucumbers yourself, incl. made of polycarbonate.

Popular recipes

A classic solution based on baking soda to spray or water cucumbers is made from 3 tbsp. powder and 10 liters of water.

This amount is enough to periodically fertilize the plants in the garden, keeping the foliage and vegetables a healthy green color, as well as feeding the vegetable crop to give it the ability to set fruit.

With soap

To improve the quality of adhesion of the solution prepared on the basis of bicarbonate, crushed laundry soap (about 40-50 g) is mixed with baking soda and water. Do this immediately before use, thoroughly mixing the ingredients.

With potassium permanganate

Treating cucumbers with soda and potassium permanganate has a disinfecting effect. To do this, a pinch of manganese is added to the working fluid, which acquires a faint pink color.

Applications and recipes with soda for treating cucumber diseases

Thanks to its disinfectant properties, soda has proven itself well for medicinal purposes. The following diseases are especially treatable:

1. Common and downy mildew (perenospora).
2. Late blight.
3. Gray and white rot.

Read about cucumber diseases and methods of combating them.

It is necessary to take measures to save the crop immediately after detecting yellow spots on the leaves. Good results are achieved by folk remedies, which we will consider in the table.

Fertilizing with sodium carbonate

Proper feeding of cucumbers and tomatoes with soda helps to achieve a good harvest. The fruits become juicy and nutritious for the daily diet. In addition, their composition increases the level of mineral components that the human body needs.

How to properly water cucumbers with baking soda? It is recommended to carry out these manipulations early in the morning or late evening. The fact is that the sun's rays can cause severe burns of leaf plates.

In addition, heating sodium bicarbonate leads to a chemical reaction, during which dangerous types of compounds appear. They accumulate inside the plant crop and its fruits.

In closed ground, treatment is also carried out in the first half of the day. In greenhouse conditions, the temperature rises sharply, which can cause poisoning when working with liquid sodium bicarbonate.

The advantages of using liquid baking soda fertilizer are:

1. Preventing the appearance of gray, green, and blue rot. The fungal infection actively multiplies in the root system area. High humidity and lack of special treatment provokes the appearance of rotting processes;
2. Repels ringworms. These organisms cause significant damage to the root system of the cucumber crop.

Experts recommend preparing an alkaline solution before starting spraying and fertilizing. It is not recommended to store the liquid composition for a long time. The fact is that it loses its effectiveness and ability to fight pathogenic microorganisms.

Applications and recipes with soda against cucumber pests

It is best to carry out such treatments even before the ovaries appear. In this case, the pests will not have time to settle on the plant. This is an excellent way of prevention. If you miss this time, you will have to use chemicals later.

Baking soda can remove aphids from cucumbers. In this case, it is better to treat the bushes in the evening, since the product will act until the morning. The procedures should be repeated every three days.

Additional tips for caring for cucumbers

It is impossible to achieve great success in your garden with baking soda alone.

For high yields and high-quality fruits, you need to know and use the following care recommendations:

• you need to start loosening the soil from the very first day of sunrise;
• It is necessary to establish optimal watering of cucumber plantings. These plants are 95% water, so watering should be done 5-6 times a week. During rainy periods of summer, this period should be shortened, and during dry periods, increased;
• watch the antennae, as their excessive amount takes away a lot of nutrients;
• plan your feeding wisely. They should consist of complex organic and mineral fertilizers;
• Early removal of weeds can significantly increase the quantity and quality of fruit. Excess weed takes many useful macro- and microelements from the soil;
• Harvest on time, otherwise the bush will not have enough nutrients for the growth of new cucumbers.

Did you know? Cucumbers were considered sacred vegetables in Egypt.
During archaeological excavations, cucumbers were found in some of the tombs of the pharaohs. As you can see, sodium carbonate can be beneficial not only in culinary matters. Use it in your cucumber beds, just follow the rules given in this article so as not to harm the cucumbers.

Mr. Summer resident advises: precautions

Baking soda has a good effect, but if used incorrectly it can be harmful. We offer some useful tips from our portal https://mrdachnik.com:

1. An overdose will lead to oversaturation of the soil with sodium. This may cause deformation of the fruits; they will be small and twisted.
2. Before feeding with soda solution, be sure to spill the plant with plain water.
3. Excessively concentrated solutions can lead to the death of the plant.
4. It is necessary to alternate soda feeding and spraying with other methods. An infusion of onion peels works well.
5. The soil should not be oversaturated with soda.

Useful article: how to feed cucumbers with milk.

Useful properties for vegetables

Baking soda can be found in any housewife's kitchen. But most often it is used only for culinary purposes. It can also be used for the garden. Using baking soda you can feed cucumbers, cure diseases and get rid of insects.

Why else do you need soda? Baking soda can be used as a disinfectant for seeds. Soak the seeds in a soda solution for 20 minutes. Then they are dried and planted in the soil.

Benefits of spraying cucumbers with soda:

• Protects cucumbers from the appearance of microbes and fungal diseases;
• Disinfects seeds;
• Can be used as fertilizer;
• Improves the taste of vegetables;
• Acts as an insect repellent. The product helps get rid of aphids, powdery mildew, downy mildew and caterpillars.

You can spray cucumbers with soda solution at any time as a preventive measure. But overfeeding plants is also undesirable. An increased sodium content in a garden plot can cause fruiting to stop. In some cases, this can lead to the fruit being “hooked” in shape.

When irrigating, it is advisable to use a spray bottle so that the product gets evenly onto all parts of the plant. Spray not only the foliage, but also the stems, inflorescences and fruits.

Seed disinfection

Gardeners identify several reasons why you need to use baking soda for cucumbers. For the first time, this product is used in the pre-sowing preparation of plants. The use of sodium bicarbonate solution for seed treatment increases the germination of the material by 30% and reduces the risk of infection of the first shoots.

Dilute the solution

To soak the seeds you will need one liter of clean water and 10 grams of baking soda. Before lowering the planting material, you must wait until the main ingredient is completely dissolved. The specified proportion is considered optimal for processing vegetable crops.

Grain processing technology

The seeds are first wrapped in soft cloth. Gauze is suitable for this. Then a small amount of the prepared solution is applied to the fabric. It is recommended to keep the seeds in such conditions for 12-24 hours. At the end, the planting material is dried on a napkin and sown in the prepared soil.

It is not recommended to treat granulated and pelleted seeds using the described method, since the soda solution washes off the protective layer.

Pros and cons of alkaline composition

Using soda to spray cucumbers can increase the fruiting of the crop and prolong its growing season. Treatment must be carried out at the stage of seed germination. Thus, a thin film of an alkaline composition appears on the surface of the seed coat, which is not to the taste of many pests and fungi.

A properly prepared composition has a positive effect on the condition of cucumber vines. In this way, it is possible to prevent the development of late blight, get rid of powdery mildew and spider mites.

Spraying cucumbers with baking soda should be carried out at the stage of first shoots. The fact is that young plants are vulnerable to attack by pathogenic microflora and sucking insect species. This list includes:

Sodium bicarbonate stimulates the development of immunity in vegetable crops. Thanks to this, the harvest volumes double and the number of cucumber ovaries triples. However, when processing, you must adhere to a certain schedule.

It is not recommended to water or spray cucumber vines with an alkaline solution. The fact is that a large amount of alkali accumulates in the soil, which negatively affects the growth rate of any plant.