Didn't read the piece.
But first & foremost is to choose a plant with known resistance, whether you're choosing a new rose to plant or looking for a replacement for a sickly one.

Homemade baking soda sprays are toxic to soils?? Really? First time I ever heard that!

The counter ion in normal baking soda is a sodium ion.

"Sodium ion
The roots of a plant can absorb sodium ion and transport it to the plant's leaves. From there, the sodium has nowhere else to go and typically accumulates. For some species, this accumulation of sodium causes no obvious symptoms. For others, especially such woody plants as azaleas, camellias, roses, and stone fruits, necrosis of leaves is a common result. Typically, this manifests as marginal scorching of the leaves or abscission (dropping) of the leaves.

Many species of plants also absorb sodium directly through their leaves, from water present on the leaves (resulting either from rainfall or from sprinkled irrigation water). If a plant absorbs more sodium by this pathway than it can tolerate, abscission of leaves is a common result."

Above quote taken from link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link for above