Gardeners growing tomato plants can make them much sweeter with 65p Asda buy everyone has in their cupboards

The Sun

03-05-2025

A GARDENING hack has been revealed to make tomatoes sweeter with just one cheap household staple.
The warmer days ahead present the ideal conditions for doing some gardening and growing tomatoes.
1
And gardeners have one simple trick that can be done to make tomatoes you grow even tastier and jucier.
It is using one simple item that is probably already in your kitchen cupboard.
Not only are tomatoes used in a variety of different dishes and cuisines, they are also known to be easy produce to grow.
So as the summer arrives, you may be looking to add some juicy tomatoes to your salads, pastas, or stews.
This can be done without having to splurge specialised fertilisers or work hard around creating optimal conditions for the plants.
All you need is a sprinkle of baking soda, which can be added to the soil.
Baking soda is understood to reduce soil acidity, which thereby makes it easier for tomatoes to absorb nutrients.
On top of that, adding baking soda can also have the potential to control fungal diseases and weeds that grow around the plants.
It can prevent common fungal infections like powdered mildew.
Experts advise to sprinkle just a pinch of baking soda around each tomato plant once it beings to appear from the soil.
This should be repeated once more when they are half grown.
Grow your groceries - how to grow tomatoes from tomatoes!
Adding too much, though, could inadvertently poison the tomato plant, so it is important to control the amount.
And this hack will not cost you more than £1 from a grocery store.
Asda is selling their 200g pack of BAKE by ASDA Bicarbonate of Soda for just 65p.
Any leftovers can be used to do some baking of bread, cakes, muffins, or cookies for a light and fluffy texture, as well as provide a variety of health benefits.
Top gardening trends of 2025
Gardening experts at Barnsdale Gardens has shared the top gardening trends of 2025.
Matrix planting
It seems that a top planting trend for this year is going to be Matrix Planting.
In essence, planting in groups or blocks to give an effect of being wild whilst actually being carefully managed.
Selection of the plants is essential, to give year-round interest either with flowers, seed heads or frosted/snowy spent flower heads. Some recommend using plants that seed around, but this could make managing your matrix planting harder to keep under control.
Chrysanthemum comeback
I hope that the humble Chrysanthemum makes as much of a comeback this year as Dahlias have over recent years, because the simple single flowered types, such as 'Innocence' and 'Cottage Apricot' would be spectacular within a matrix scheme.
The hardy varieties are so easy to grow in a sunny spot and give such a valuable burst of late summer and autumn colour that would lift any dull- looking border.
Blended borders
For some time now we have been promoting the growing of veg within ornamental borders and I think this could really take off this year.
The choice of ornamental-looking varieties available in seed catalogues is phenomenal and, if managed correctly, visitors to your garden will not even realise that you have veg growing!
Must-have tool
My secret is out. I discovered the Hori Hori a couple of years ago and now it seems so is everyone else.
It is such a well-made, adaptable tool that can be used as a trowel or weeding tool in the garden that and everyone I speak to who have used it absolutely would not now be without it. Enough said!