Put a Tablespoon of Sugar Whenever You Plant Something…For this!

Suyash is a Master Gardener and the Editorial and Strategy Director at BalconyGardenWeb.com. With a focus on houseplant care, he combines over a decade of hands-on horticultural experience with editorial expertise to guide and educate plant enthusiasts.
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Want to give a great dose of boost in growth to your new plants? Put a Tablespoon of Sugar in Your Planting Hole and See This Happen!

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Do you know that a dose of sweet can do wonders for the growth of your plants? Put a Tablespoon of Sugar in Your Planting Hole and See This Happen!

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What Happens When You Add Sugar to the Planting Hole?

Adding sugar to the planting hole boosts microbial growth, benefiting the plants in the long run with overall growth. However, moderation is the key, as its excess can jeopardize the health of your soil and the life of your plant.

So, how to do it in the right way? Read ahead to find out!


Sugar Boosts the Microbial Activity in the Soil

To make sure the plants absorb essential nutrients fully, it is important that the growing medium must be rich with soil microbes such as bacteria and fungi, which act as metabolic machinery to mineralize organic forms of N, P, and K. These microbial nutrients transformations are key drivers of plant growth.

Extensive communication occurs between plants and microorganisms during different stages of plant development, which can confer a survival advantage to the plant and potentially limit or prevent diseases.

According to this study, amending the soil with low-molecular-weight organic compounds such as sugar can encourage an increase in microbial biomass, some cultural bacteria, and carbon mineralization.

All this increases the colonies of beneficial bacteria in plant roots, which, of course, promotes plant growth, nutrient cycling, soil structure, and energy flow. You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar crystals to the planting hole of any plant at the time of planting to help it benefit in the long term.

Caveat: Just try it on a couple of plants before doing this experiment extensively to observe how it helps!

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Some Claims That May or May Not Be a Myth

Here are some of the sugar use tricks you can follow. These have worked for some gardeners, while some say it didn’t. But there’s no harm in trying them!

1. Have Sweeter Tomatoes

A couple of spoons of sugar in the planting hole while growing tomatoes will produce sweeter tomatoes by increasing bacterial activity and making the soil rich. However, do make sure not to put more than 2 tablespoons in one planting hole.

2. Enjoy Sweeter Melons

Using sugar water on melons will give you sweeter fruits. A gardener tried this hack by putting 2 tablespoons of sugar in the planting hole and as a foliar spray on half the crop and nothing on the other half.  After the harvest, fruits with sugar water were sweeter.

Note: Mix 2 teaspoons of sugar in a liter of water and pour it into the planting hole.


Avoid this If…

If there are ants in your garden, then completely avoid using sugar, as it will result in a severe ant infestation, which can cause damage to the roots of crops.

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