What Kinds of Liquids Affect Plant Growth?

Water

• Water is essential to plant life, being that it is 90 percent of the plant. If there is no water in the soil for the roots to absorb, then the plant will start to wither and dry out. Some plants have storage material, like bulbs and rhizomes, in their roots that will hold water longer than simple roots. Other plants, like trees, have roots that extend deep into the ground and extract water from there. You need to know the physical structure of your plant's rooting system to know how best to apply water to the soil.

Liquid Fertilizer

• Since the life of a plant is supported by water, even though the plant is sitting in soil, without moisture, the soil will not release its nutrients. After time, the nutrients in the soil get depleted if they are not replenished with new soil or compost. Liquid fertilizer dissolves the nutrients and makes them available for the plant's roots immediately. The types of liquid fertilizer range from simple compost tea to commercial preparations with specific nutrients.

Baking Soda, Oil and Water Mixture

• A mixture of baking soda, oil and water is a simple fungicide and soil alkalinizer. When the baking soda clings to the plants with the help of the oil, it kills any fungus growing on the surface of the plant. Rain washes it from the leaves, so you need to reapply it regularly for it to be effective. There are a couple of other compounds that work even better but are not quite as available: ammonium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate. These also act as fertilizers for plants by supplying nitrogen and potassium as byproducts.

Epsom Salts/Water Mixture

• Epsom salts are a combination of magnesium and sulfur, or magnesium sulfate. The magnesium is an important nutrient for plants, while sulfur helps to acidify the soil. If you have citrus plants, roses or even tomatoes, the addition of some epsom salts dissolved in water will give them a growth boost in addition to their regular fertilizer.