Home » Misc » Epsom salts for fertilizer

Epsom salts for fertilizer


How to fertilize with Epsom salts – according to experts |

(Image credit: Thompson & Morgan)

Looking for a simple but effective solution to healthy plants this summer? Knowing how to fertilize with Epsom salts is the best place to begin. While this ingredient is best associated with the bathroom (where it is used to soothe muscles and reduce aches in the bathtub), it is equally as beneficial beyond your four walls – and it has Bobby Berk's approval. 

Sharing this aptly-named 'salty trick' on the new season of Queer Eye, Bobby explained that this garden idea is an instant solution to fertilized plants – and you can experiment with the tip without any extra investment. 

'If you're looking for a quick and inexpensive way to fertilize your plants, you'll probably be surprised to know it's already under your bathroom sink,' Bobby says. 

If you're wondering how to fertilize with Epsom salts, the process is simple. Here's what the experts suggest.  

How to fertilize with Epsom salts – the effortless tip that experts love 

(Image credit: Annaick guitteny)

Fertilizing with Epsom salts is a great way to give your plants a boost of magnesium – an element that they need to grow and thrive. 'It is an essential nutrient that helps with photosynthesis and the overall health of the plant,' adds Rodger St. Hilaire, an expert from Gardening Boost . 

Without adequate magnesium levels in the soil, your plants will show signs of nutrient deficiency (such as yellowing or stunted growth). But what does the Epsom salt process involve? 

1. Using Epsom salts to fertilize your soil directly 

(Image credit: Mark Bolton/Future plc)

Firstly, Bobby Berk recommends taking a teaspoon of Epsom salt and placing it directly into your plant's soil. If you're applying the salt directly, then you should aim for one teaspoon of salt per foot of size approximately once every month. And while this tip is useful for gardens, it's also suitable for your best indoor plants too.  

2. Mixing Epsom salt with water

(Image credit: Pippa Blenkinsop)

Alternatively, you can take another teaspoon and mix it in a cup of water before 'lightly [spraying] it on the leaves.' If you don't have a sprayer [such as this spray gun on Amazon ] – and experiment with placing it directly into the soil in the meantime. 'It's as easy as that,' Bobby explains. Rodger suggests applying this solution to your plants every 2-4 weeks. 

The Epsom Salt Council also recommends using around 'two tablespoons per gallon of water' to feed house plants monthly. Meanwhile, you should use 'one tablespoon per nine square feet' on shrubs and evergreens every two to four weeks. 

3. Adding Epsom salt to your compost pile

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you're wondering how to make compost, and keep your pile healthy, then Epsom salt has the solution for that too. 

'The magnesium in Epsom salts helps to break down organic matter, making it easier for plants to access the nutrients they need,' Rodger says. The expert adds that the salts can also boost the magnesium level in your compost – to promote sustainable plant growth and prevent nutrient deficiencies for healthy plans throughout the summer. 

Is it time to bring this beloved bathroom idea into the garden? If Bobby Berk approves, who can surely disagree? 

Megan is the News and Trends Editor at Homes & Gardens. She first joined Future Plc as a News Writer across their interiors titles, including Livingetc and Real Homes. As the News Editor, she often focuses on emerging microtrends, sleep and wellbeing stories, and celebrity-focused pieces. Before joining Future, Megan worked as a News Explainer at The Telegraph, following her MA in International Journalism at the University of Leeds. During her BA in English Literature and Creative Writing, she gained writing experience in the US while studying in New York. Megan also focused on travel writing during her time living in Paris, where she produced content for a French travel site. She currently lives in London with her antique typewriter and an expansive collection of houseplants. 

Epsom Salts For Plants: This Is The Only Time It's A Good Idea

The logic behind using Epsom salts on plants.

Plants, like people, need magnesium to function. "Magnesium is one of the essential macronutrients a plant needs to photosynthesize," Summer Rayne Oakes, the plant authority behind Plant One on Me, tells mbg. "If you go back to biology days, you may recall that Mg is the central ion in chlorophyll, so plants need it to make food. It's also needed in RNA and DNA synthesis, binds with lots of important enzymes, and assimilates phosphorus, which is another vital macronutrient." The sulfur in Epsom salt is also beneficial, helping plants form important enzymes and proteins.

The healthiest and most resilient plants are the ones that are getting just the right amount of all the essential nutrients—from magnesium and sulfur to nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. That's why it's important to fertilize plants regularly, especially if their soil has any known deficiencies.

Epsom salt is not a complete fertilizer, so while it can boost the magnesium and sulfur count in soil, it won't add any of those other nutrients a plant needs to grow strong.

So, like coffee grounds, the value of Epsom salt as a garden additive has been slightly exaggerated. Unless your soil is deficient in magnesium and sulfur, certified professional horticulturist and author Leslie F. Halleck, M.S., says that the salts won't do all that much. "And if you already have quite a bit of available magnesium in the soil," Oakes adds, "then it can cause complications for the uptake of other nutrients."

How to know if your plants could use it.

That being said, a small group of curious gardeners has tracked their experience using Epsom salts on plants and reported some success to the National Gardening Association. For soil with slightly low magnesium levels, a salty bath did seem to boost plant growth, flowering, and fruiting for roses, tomatoes, and peppers.

However, the cohort of six gardeners noted that "it's hard to find a direct link between a specific nutrient such as magnesium sulfate and increased yield or plant growth because of all the other variables in the soil, such as pH, calcium, and potassium content, and weather, that may affect the plants."

If you're curious enough to give Epsom salts a try on your plants (they are, after all, really cheap and easy to use), here's how to tell if your greenery could use the extra nutrients:

Advertisement

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

Outdoor plants:

Before applying Epsom salts in the garden, Halleck says, "It's always a good idea to have a soil test performed on your native garden soil or soil in your raised beds." Doing so will help you decide which nutrients may require supplementation. "If your soil test shows you need more magnesium or sulfur, or both, then Epsom salts may be a good addition to your fertilizer regimen. "

Indoor plants:

Getting the soil of every indoor potted plant professionally tested isn't worth the hassle. When deciding whether your indoor plants could use some Epsom salts, just look out for a visual sign of magnesium deficiency. Oakes says the most obvious one is splotchy yellowing between leaf veins, called interveinal chlorosis.

Advertisement

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

How to apply it.

  1. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts to a gallon of warm water, and shake to combine. (That National Gardening Association study concluded that a ratio higher than that won't be any more effective.) If you're working with houseplants, stick to the lower end of that range.
  2. Once every few months during growing season, use this slightly salinated mixture on your plants instead of water. You can either apply directly to the soil or spray the mixture onto your plants' leaves for faster absorption.
  3. Use a steady hand. "The amount of magnesium a plant needs is fairly minute, so it's also very easy to overdo it and 'overfertilize' plants," Oakes warns. Signs that you've overdone it include stunted growth and darker leaves.

Summary

Epsom salt is a popular DIY fertilizer for outdoor and indoor plants. And while it has been shown to boost the magnesium and sulfur content of soil, horticulture experts say it should only be used on plants with known deficiencies in those nutrients.

Advertisement

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

Epsom salt for the garden - what a curiosity?

Many will be surprised - they are used to seeing bags with the inscription epsom salt in pharmacies on packages with laxatives, in beauty salons during floating therapy procedures, or on the shelves of hardware stores as part of disinfectants. And what kind of bags of 25-30 kg with the same inscriptions are in garden centers?

Epsom salt – this season Europe has categorically proclaimed the new "King of Fertilizers". Epsom salt is recommended to feed lawns, flower beds and beds, regardless of the composition of the soil and promising that any plants will accelerate growth as a result, increase decorativeness and productivity, and improve the taste of fruits.

What is this newfangled fertilizer - Epsom salt, and does it really have such a miraculous effect on horticultural crops?

We think that experienced gardeners have already understood what we are talking about, and we will tell beginner summer residents.

Meet or remember - epsom salt, aka Epsom salt, aka bitter salt, aka magnesium sulfate, aka magnesia, aka magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, aka magnesium salt of sulfuric acid, aka magnesium sulfate heptahydrate with the chemical formula MgSO 4 ×7H 2 O.

This white crystalline substance, highly soluble in warm water, is indeed used very widely - in the food industry as an emulsifier additive (E518), in medicine in the manufacture of sedatives, antispasmodics and laxatives , in the production of paper and cement, for the manufacture of detergents and disinfectants, in leather tanning, for weighting textile materials, etc.

But now we are more interested in the advertised benefits of Epsom salts specifically for the garden and the garden - is there such a thing? Indeed there is.

Magnesium sulphate 7-aqueous is used as a "quick reaction" mineral fertilizer that does not pollute the soil for plants as a bioavailable source of magnesium and/or sulfur.

Why do plants need magnesium and sulfur?

Recall why horticultural and ornamental crops need these substances.

Magnesium , being a part of chlorophyll molecules, primarily contributes to the correct flow of the photosynthesis process of plants, thereby ensuring their normal growth and development. In addition, this element is involved in the synthesis of vegetable proteins and in the formation of carbohydrates, helps to stabilize cell membranes, normalizes water balance and enzyme activation, takes part in metabolism, helps to absorb phosphorus and calcium, plays a significant role in the accumulation of ascorbic acid, promotes the accumulation of fats. , essential oils and substances necessary for fruit ripening.

Signs of magnesium deficiency in plants most often appear in the second half of the growing season (although there may be exceptions). These are symptoms such as:

Magnesium deficiency is more common on light soils, poor in organic matter and / or overly acidic (high acidity prevents plants from fully absorbing magnesium). Also, magnesium deficiency can contribute to washing out the rains. In addition, if the soil contains a large amount of potassium, plants can absorb it instead of magnesium - this also leads to a lack of the latter.

Sulfur is also an essential element for plants (though in smaller quantities). It is an integral part of the process of protein synthesis and a number of other important biochemical reactions, actively participates in redox processes, is part of amino acids and enzymes, increases the level of nitrogen uptake from fertilizers and the atmosphere, as well as crop resistance to diseases and stress factors. Lack of sulfur also leads to a decrease in the amount of proteins, sugars and fats in fruits and seeds, and, in parallel, to an excessive accumulation of nitrates.

The taste and smell characteristic of onions and garlic are due to specific volatile sulfur compounds and are therefore enhanced when plants are grown in soils with a high sulfur content.

Signs of sulfur deficiency in plants are quite difficult to diagnose, because they may be similar to the symptoms of nitrogen starvation. First of all, these are:

Sulfur can only be taken up by plants from the soil solution in the form of sulfate. Sulfur deficiency is more common on light soils, poor in organic matter. Just like magnesium, sulfur can disappear from the soil as a result of leaching.

How and when to use Epsom salt for plants?

Plant requirements for magnesium, and especially sulfur, vary greatly among crops during the growing season and in different soil types.

For example, the highest need for sulfur is typical for cabbage, legumes and cereals, and for magnesium - for potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and root vegetables. Of the flower crops, roses react most sharply to a lack of magnesium and sulfur. Crops need magnesium most of all during the growth process and during dry periods, and sulfur in spring and late autumn (and most sulfates in the soil in summer). As we have already indicated, the higher the acidity of the soil and the poorer its organic composition, the stronger the need for plants in magnesium sulfate.

As we have already found out, it is magnesium sulfate, the same epsom salt, which contains about 17% MgO (magnesium oxide) and about 13% S (sulfur) that can eliminate the deficiency of magnesium and sulfur in the soil and help crops in these cases. For different manufacturers, this percentage may vary slightly. But in what quantities, how and when to apply fertilizer?

This is usually done in the spring when preparing the soil for seeding/planting (may be applied directly to the planting holes) or in the fall for plowing, and as an emergency intervention when plants show acute symptoms of magnesium and sulfur deficiency. Magnesium sulfate is used on all types of soils, but special attention should be paid to sandy and acidic soils.

Epsom salt can be used for both root and foliar plant nutrition throughout the growing season - in the spring together with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, the rest of the time on its own.

Fertilizer is used in the form of an aqueous solution - as a foliar top dressing, the plants are sprayed over the leaves, and as a root top dressing, the solution is applied simultaneously with watering or after rain (top dressing practically does not work in dry soil). It is best to dissolve magnesium sulfate granules in water at room temperature. The prepared solution is used immediately after preparation. If you are using a dry fertilizer, it must be applied shallowly into the soil - and again, be sure to keep it moist. Excessively acidic soils are recommended to be deoxidized with dolomite, wood ash, etc. before using this top dressing.

For acute symptoms of magnesium and/or sulfur deficiency, 2-3 Epsom salt treatments are recommended every 5-7 days. In order to prevent and stimulate the growth of crops on poor acidic soils, treatment is sufficient approximately once every three to four weeks - the first top dressing during the beginning of intensive growth with 4-8 first leaves, following after flowering. For berry bushes and fruit trees, a one-time annual spring root dressing with magnesium sulfate is carried out after flowering.

The rate of application of fertilizer depends on the crop and the type of soil and is in dry form 15-100 g per 1 sq.m. More fertilizer should be applied on sandy light soils, less on peat or heavy soils.

The concentration of solution for watering or spraying plants is 20-40 g of magnesia per 10 liters of water - about 0.5-1 liters of solution is spent per "unit" of vegetable, 2-3 liters for a berry or flower bush, 2-3 liters for a young tree - 5 l, for an adult tree - 10 l.

New and fashionable is often good and undeservedly forgotten old. The same situation is now with epsom salt in Europe. The use of magnesium sulfate (epsom salts), which has long been familiar to our gardeners, is not a panacea for all misfortunes when growing vegetables and flowers, but, undoubtedly, it really increases the yield, decorativeness and quality of fruits - especially on excessively acidic, light or depleted soils.

Epsom salt | Sadovoe obozrenie/Garden review

The people were stunned, well, really! You read what they write about “unique” means for lush flowering or giant harvests, and you involuntarily feel like Professor Preobrazhensky.

I was recently asked how I feel about Epsom salt . How?! Good. Only I will not buy fertilizer with that name. Why pay 10 times more if the same fertilizer is sold at every step for mere pennies.

I decided to find out where this interest in Epsom salt comes from. I read aspirated revelations about Epsom salt (as Epsom salt was called in pre-revolutionary books). And what smart English gardeners, how skillfully they use this very salt. .. Not like us, Russian summer residents...

Guys, don't drive the blizzard! Both our mothers and fathers, and our grandparents knew and knew how to use Epsom salts. Yes, and today it is sold in every garden center - take it and use it! Only it is called magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulfate. Yes, yes, this is the same magnesia, the injections of which in the ass are so painful!

Benefits

Let's take a look at the benefits of magnesium sulfate and how to use it in the garden.

Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) contains 16% magnesium and 13% sulfur. These elements help plants absorb phosphorus and calcium. As a result, plants actively develop, successfully winter, and their fruits accumulate ascorbic acid. It is noticed that fertilizing with magnesium sulfate improves the quality and taste of vegetables.

Agronomic science claims that top dressing with this fertilizer is the most effective apple and cherry trees, berry bushes and strawberries, peppers and eggplants, all kinds of cabbages, legumes and beets, garlic and onions, cucumbers and pumpkins . They have a beneficial effect on the taste of tomatoes, potatoes and cucumbers, enhance the flowering of ornamental plants.

By the way, magnesium sulfate is widely used for growing cereals, vegetables and herbs for the production of children's and sports nutrition and medicines just because this fertilizer helps to enrich plants with vitamins and minerals.

Important clarification. If you are using dolomite flour in the garden, then fertilizing with magnesium sulfate should be applied with caution, using half doses. At the same time, you should know that fertilizing with magnesium sulfate on acidic soils is meaningless - magnesium simply will not be absorbed by plants. Therefore, liming acidic soils is the key to the effectiveness of most agricultural practices.

General rule: Watering and spraying the plants with magnesium sulfate solution is possible only after sunset or in cloudy weather, so as not to cause leaf burns!

And two more points:

NEVER overdose!

Fertilize at a temperature not lower than +20°C.

First of all, you need to learn how to determine in which cases magnesium sulfate will really help plants.

In case of magnesium deficiency plants are observed:

chlorosis in the form of marble patterns on the leaves;

browning and shrinking of the leaf edge;

leaves fall prematurely, and the fruits do not ripen in time.

Sulfur deficiency is expressed in:

yellowing of the leaves, first old, and then young;

brightening of leaves against a background of green veins;

growth slowdown.

But even without such obvious signs, magnesium sulfate can be used as a top dressing.

How to use Epsom salts in the garden

In autumn, 15 g of magnesium sulfate per 1 sq.m. is applied for digging.0003

Under root: 25 g per 10 liters of water per 5 sq.m.

Every other day the plants are sprayed on the leaves: 15 g per 10 liters of water per 5 sq. m. landings.

To increase fruit formation and sugars in fruits, tomatoes are sprayed with a solution of magnesium sulfate 2 times in 2 weeks from the moment of flowering until fruit ripening:

2 tbsp. spoons without a hill of fertilizer for 5 liters of water.

For good development of pepper and increase in yield before flowering, 1 tbsp. spoonful of magnesium sulfate. Such top dressing of hot pepper causes an increase in the pungency of the fruit.

By the way, with the mass appearance of slugs, narrow paths of magnesium sulfate can be poured along the edges of the beds.

Pepper, Tomato and Eggplant Seedlings

Use Magnesium Sulfate to improve the nutrition of seedlings during periods of low light. During the growing of seedlings, it is enough to water the plants 2 times with a solution: 15 g of magnesium sulfate per 10 liters of warm water.

In the orchard

Before flowering, after flowering and at the beginning of fruiting, apply 2 tbsp. spoons of magnesium sulfate. I recommend doing this in holes at a distance of 65-75 cm from the trunk.

It is also recommended to add magnesium sulfate when planting in water for irrigation (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).

If berry bushes or fruit trees begin to curl leaves, it is recommended to irrigate 2-3 times with a solution of magnesium sulfate (15 g per 10 liters of water).

Emerald Lawn

Spray lawn in May and late July immediately after watering with magnesium sulfate solution: 4 tbsp. spoons for 10 liters of water. Lightly water the lawn again immediately after spraying.

Houseplant Nutrition

Epsom Salt provides beneficial magnesium and sulfur nutrients to help support the health of houseplants that lack light to produce chlorophyll.

Both root and foliar applications are effective. During the flowering season, plants are fed 3 times. To do this, 10 g of magnesium sulfate is dissolved in 5 liters of warm water and either watered under the root, or a spray solution is used on the leaves.

Learn more