Will Baking Soda Make Your Tomato Plants Taste Sweeter? We Asked an Expert

Key Points

Baking soda does not make tomatoes sweeter and can harm plants if overused.

Tomato flavor depends most on the cultivar, not soil amendments or pH changes.

Cultivars prized for their sweetness include Sungold, Sweet Million, Cherokee Purple, and more.

If you’re on a mission to grow sweeter tomatoes this year, you’re not alone. Growing perfectly sweet, juicy tomatoes is every home gardener’s dream, with many resorting to home remedies like adding baking soda to the soil to help them achieve the perfect tomato. But does baking soda really help make tomatoes sweeter, or is this just another gardening myth that’s taken hold on the internet?

To find out, we spoke to a gardening and horticulture expert at Iowa State University, and they shared everything you need to know about growing sweet tomatoes at home like a pro.

Meet the Expert

Aaron Steil is a consumer horticulture specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University.

Does Baking Soda Help Grow Sweeter Tomatoes?

The theory that adding baking soda to the soil can make tomatoes sweeter has been gaining traction online for a couple of years now. The idea is that baking soda, which is naturally alkaline, can act as a soil amendment, raising the soil pH, which in turn reduces the acidity in the fruit itself, resulting in a sweeter harvest. So, is there any validity to this claim?

Aaron Steil, a consumer horticulture specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University, says that there is no research showing that baking soda affects tomato taste, and calls this home remedy a gardening myth.

“What allows these myths to persist is that they are based (very loosely) on some truth,” he says. “We know that when soil pH is ideal, the nutrients in the soil are most available to the tomato, allowing it to produce high-quality (and better-tasting) fruit.”

However, he says that a spoonful of baking soda at planting time will not have a notable effect on soil pH and that, even if your soil is too acidic to grow tomatoes, lime is the preferred soil amendment to increase alkalinity, not baking soda.

Steil points out that alkaline soils are often referred to as “sweet” in the gardening and agriculture worlds, a possible source of this gardening myth, but says this does not mean the fruit they produce is sweeter. Ultimately, these two things are unrelated.

The Risk of Baking Soda

Baking soda also poses a potential risk to plants if applied improperly. Remember: It’s often used as a DIY weed killer. Sodium bicarbonate is essentially a salt, and it can dry out or burn your plants if applied in excess.

How to Grow Sweeter Tomatoes

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So, if not baking soda, what can you do to grow sweeter tomatoes at home? Steil points to one major factor that influences the taste of tomatoes above all else, and it’s surprisingly simple: the tomato cultivar you grow.

While there are some growing conditions and qualities of the soil that have been scientifically proven to impact tomato flavor (slight drought stress, for example), Steil emphasizes that nothing impacts flavor more than the cultivar you choose to grow.

“If you are looking for a sweeter tomato, plant a cultivar that is known for its sweet taste. Changes in soil nutrient levels, pH, and water availability will never affect flavor to the degree that cultivar selection will,” he says.

Aim for Ideal Growing Conditions

In addition to choosing a tomato known for its sweet flavor, it’s important to provide your plants with ideal growing conditions to maximize taste (i.e., sweetness) and yield of the fruit. Tomato plants need several hours of direct sunlight, regular watering, and regular fertilization.

They also appreciate soil that is in the slightly acidic to neutral range. If you are worried that your soil pH needs adjusting, the best thing you can do is conduct a soil pH test. A soil test will give you the big picture of what’s going on in your soil, along with the best amendments to meet your long-term garden goals.

Best Tomato Cultivars for Sweetness

Credit: The Spruce / Steven Merkel

When it comes to sweet tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes are generally known for their sweeter flavor profiles. That said, several slicing and beefsteak cultivars are widely considered great options if sweetness is your goal.

Tomato varieties known for their sweet flavor include:

Sungold: A hybrid cherry tomato known for its orange color and incredible sweetness. Steil says this is his favorite.

Sweet Million: A classic, bright red cherry tomato known for producing large clusters of sweet fruit.

Rosada: Widely considered the sweetest baby plum variety you can grow.

Hillbilly: A large, bi-color, heirloom beefsteak tomato known for its mild and sweet flavor profile.

Read the original article on The Spruce