Is Coke Good for Plants? (Explained)

There is a lot to think about when you are taking care of your houseplants.

You may have read that coffee grounds, eggshells, and even soda are good for plants.

Well, first, the idea of adding those things to your garden seems strange.

And if you’re reading this, you’ve probably looked into whether coke is good for plants.

The question “is coke good for plants?” has been asked many times in our local communities, especially during the pandemic.

And I am here to let you know the answer to that question based on the experiments and research and the science that went into it.

As a general rule, coke is not good for plants because of the chemicals it contains. The high amount of sugar in coke will kill almost all plants when you use it to substitute water for your plants.

Continue reading to learn why coke is bad for your plants, as we will go into detail on why.

Does Coke Benefit Plants?

The simple answer to that question is no. Watering plants with coke does not benefit them in general. This is because coke has so much sugar in it that it will make plants unable to absorb water into their systems.

You might think that watering plants with coke will be the same as watering plants with soda water.

This is because you have probably read somewhere on the internet that soda water might help your plants grow.

However, you need to remember that coke is not the same as regular unsweetened soda water.

The regular Coca-Cola that we encounter has an enormous amount of sugar in it.

In fact, regular coke has 39 grams of sugar in a regular 300ml can. This amount is way too much for your plants to handle.

I will explain:

As we know, plants will do photosynthesis in order to live.

As a result of this process, they will produce their own sugar.

When we add sugar to the plants, we not only give them more sugar than they need, but we also affect their ability to absorb water from the soil.

We will talk more about it below in this article. Keep on reading.

What Happens If You Water Plants with Coke?

One thing will happen if you water your plants with coke. It will die from having too much sugar in its environment, which will make your plants unable to absorb water from their roots.

As previously mentioned, plants can make their own sugar naturally.

So, watering your plants with coke will give them additional sugar that they might not need.

In fact, watering plants with coke can actually cause harm to plants due to the fact that the sugar draws in pests like insects, pests, and fungi that will feed on the plant.

Also, putting sugar in the soil of your plants will stop them from being able to take in water.

This is because the osmosis process, which is the main way plants get water from the soil, can’t happen.

The sugar in the coke will act as a barrier, preventing water from reaching the plant’s roots.

Also, because plants won’t be able to drink up water from the soil anymore, your soil will stay wet for a longer time.

This will make our plants get all kinds of other diseases, like root rot.

Put another way:

Your plants will die if you water them with coke. So you don’t want to use coke on your plants or any other houseplants.

Even though there have been reports on the internet that some acid-loving plants enjoy being watered with coke, I would not recommend using it on your plants because it is hazardous to them.

Also read: Does Sprite Help Plants Growth? (Revealed)

Can Coke be used as a Pesticide?

This is an intriguing question.

Yes, coke can be used as a pesticide in your garden. However, please keep in mind that you are not using coke as a pesticide by watering it onto your plants’ soil.

Using coke as a pesticide in your garden to combat pests, insects, and other fungi is actually a smart move.

As we have talked about before, coke has an enormous amount of sugar content in it.

Based on a lot of reports, we also know how insects, pests, and other nasty animals usually found in gardens are attracted to sugar.

See the connection?

You can use coke to attract these pests or insects, and then when they eat up all the sugar in coke, they are going to die. This is why coke is used as a pesticide.

You can use coke as a pesticide in order to attract pests and insects away from your plants but into the sugar content in the coke itself.

You can start by placing a bowl of coke in your garden overnight.

The high amount of sugar in the coke will start attracting pests like slugs, mealybugs, and even wasps to the bowl.

When pests eat up all the sugar and acid in the coke, they will die from it.

To be honest, I have never tried this coke-as-pesticide method.

But from what I hear from expert gardeners, it has been proven to work for them.

Again, please do not water your plants with coke thinking that it might be a good pesticide for them.

Conclusion

So there you have it.

We know now that coke is not good for plants due to its high sugar content. The sugar in coke will make our plants unable to absorb water and will lead to a lot more problems and diseases for our plants, which will eventually kill our plants.

Based on that reason alone, it is safe to say you do not want to use coke as a substitute for plain water to water your plant.

Although you can use coke as a pesticide to fend off pests and insects from your garden, you do not want the sugary liquid poured out on your plants’ soil.

Now, I’d love to hear from you:

Have you ever met someone who grows their plants with coke? How different were their results?

Please share your experience by commenting down below.

And don’t forget to check out our houseplant care guide for beginners if you want to learn how to take care of your indoor plants.

Until then, happy gardening.