Epsom salt is a crystal form naturally occurring mineral compound, composed of magnesium-sulfur-oxygen, widely used for health, beauty and Gardening. Epsom salt is not a fertiliser or any important amendments like compost, but you need this Epsom salt in your garden stocks. Do you know why?
Epsom salt is used in long-term container gardening to boost growth, absorb nutrients, and reduce plant stress during replanting. And giving magnesium an essential for energy production and sulfur helps in protein synthesis. You might have this question why are gardeners on social media hyping this Epsom Salt over 100s of fertilizer? Let’s decode these.
What is Epsom salt in gardening?
Epsom Salt is beneficial and addictive and helps along the plant’s health journey. I don’t say you won’t survive without this Epsom salt. But it boosts faster growth and better yield and it’s easy to use fertilizer in an affordable price range.
Epsom salt improves nutrient uptake with magnesium & sulfur. Magnesium boosts chlorophyll production and foliage growth. You can fix interveinal chlorosis with Epsom salt a quick fix. Let’s explore more benefits in detail and how to use Epsom salt.
EPSOM SALT BENEFITS FOR PLANTS
Epsom salt is a needed booster for potted plants, sometimes potted plants struggle to absorb the sunlight and produce energy. It happens for plants in indirect sunlight areas, Epsom salt helps these plants absorb the sunlight and boosts the chlorophyll and protein production in the photosynthesis process. It results from the greener foliage in houseplants.
How did Epsom salt help with nutrient absorption?
Epsom salt provides magnesium, a central component of chlorophyll the molecule that drives photosynthesis. This photosynthesis process enables plants to produce energy to utilize nutrients and absorb the energy throughout the plant.
Sulfur in Epsom salt aids the synthesis of amino acids and proteins important nutrients for the overall metabolism process. Epsom salt keeps this process of energy intake (eating food) and metabolism (digesting the food) process clear without any malfunctions. Epsom salt is also used along with NPK fertilizers to better absorption of fertilizers.
How to fix magnesium deficiency in plants
You might notice the signs of magnesium deficiency in plants like yellowing leaves, weal stems and faded colours in leaves. Interveinal chlorosis is a yellowing in the veins, the leaf’s curling and purple tints.
Using Epsom salt and other fertilisers helps treat magnesium deficiencies faster and recover the plants faster than usual. You can fix all the magnesium deficiency by adding Epsom salt as a foliar spray and soil application once a month with a minimum quantity of 1 tsp.
HOW TO USE EPSOM SALT IN GARDENING
Sometimes you identify the need for a fertilizer or any soil amendments for plants, after a few years of gardening or after buying a few plants. Not all fertilizer and soil amendments can be easily added after planting the advantage of Epsom salt is you can add this in various planting stages such as soil application and foliar spray.
How to mix Epsom salt for soil application
For the soil application method, you can apply Epsom salt in various planting stages. You can add Epsom salt as a potting mix amendment along with other potting mixtures before planting, or you can add this after planting as a topsoil dressing fertilizer and gently mix it with a hand rake and water it after benefits.
Adding along with the potting mix gives instant results and quick access to magnesium and sulfur. Topdressing is ideal for slow-release and consistent magnesium supply to plants ideal method to avoid over-fertilization burns. The frequency of Epsom salt use depends on the plant type.
Best practices for Epsom salt foliar spray application
The first and foremost question in any gardener’s mind after knowing the benefits of Epsom salt foliar spray for garden plants is how to make Epsom salt foliar spray for plants. Let’s decode both, the benefit of Epsom salt foliar spray is providing magnesium & sulfur for better foliage in plants.
The ratio of Epsom salt foliar spray is 1 gallon (2 litres) of water with 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt. Let the salt dissolve in water and transfer the solution into the sprayer, for lush foliage and pest resilience spray it on leaves. Apply it in the early morning to avoid evaporation. To fix yellowing leaves this foliar spray are quick remedy and you can expect fast results. For routine fertilising frequency keep it once a month.
Along with these methods you can use the root soak method to avoid transplanting shock of a plant. Soaking the root ball or planting hole in 1spoon of Epsom salt with 3 litres of water solution for 30 minutes, and soaking potting mix in this water mix overnight and letting them dry and use for plants improves plant structure and better nutrient absorption.
Specific plants that benefit from Epsom salt
PLANT TYPE | BENEFITS OF EPSOM SALT | RATIO | FREQUENCY |
Vegetable plants | improves size & flavour and enhances nutrient uptake | 1 tbsp per 2 litres | for soil every2-4 weeks, for foliar once a month |
Promotes lush and aroma | 1 tsp per 2 litres | 4-6 weeks | |
Leafy greens | Promotes chlorophyll and foliage growth | 1 tbsp for 2 litres | 3-4 weeks once |
Flowering plants | Larger & vibrant bloom | 1 tbsp for 2 litres 1tbsp per 1kg soil | 4-6 weeks |
Houseplants | Promotes foliage and strong root | 1 tsp for 2 litres or 1 tsp for 2kg soil | Once a month |
Succulents | Fleshy leaves | ½ tsp for 2 litres or ½ tsp for 1kg | 1-2 months during spring & summer |
Cacti | Improves nutrient uptake | ½ tsp per 2 litres | 2-3 months once |
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS AND PRECAUTIONS
Epsom salt is not a unique fertiliser or potting component, I can’t say you can do gardening only with these fertilisers like compost. It is just an add-on to boost growth and improve better nutrient uptake. Epsom salt doesn’t contain NPK-like cell growth-promoting nutrients but it’s the booster that fixes some garden issues very well.
Is Epsom salt bad for plants?
This is doubt raised by gardeners after knowing the above thing. To understand this, you must have clarity about Epsom salt. There are myths about Epsom salt around the internet. Like it’s a magical cure for plants, not only Epsom salt but any kind of boosters or fertilizers can’t do the magic fix for any plant because plants are also like a human body, it takes time to recover and grow so they need the right medicine (fertilizer) to recover.
Epsom salt can boost flowering and fruiting by providing magnesium which is a needed component for photosynthesis. Also, Epsom salt temporarily dehydrates slugs and pests it’s not a permanent solution like pesticide. To wrap around Epsom salt is not bad for plants but overfeeding might affect the plant.
Can too much Epsom salt harm plants?
To note, any kind of fertilizer even if it is organic overfeeding it to plants especially potted plants harms the roots and entire plant. Feeding Epsom salt means feeding too much magnesium & sulfur it creates an imbalance of nutrients in the potting mix. Especially it affects the calcium and potassium nutrients generated in soil. Also, adding too much salt creates soil toxicity.
CONCLUSION
In this blog, you learn about the role of Epsom salt and how to apply it to plants. With the plant booster, you can get better foliage, flowering and fruiting. Using the recommended ratio that I mentioned below and limited usage avoid fertilization burns in plants. After knowing the benefits of Epsom salt, you might understand how and when to use this.
You can check other fertilizer facts in category pages, and learn about other container gardening facts in mypotsgarden.com
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