andGardeners have been using Epsom salts as a plant fertilizer for generations, but is there any evidence there's a real benefit to the plants? There is little research to prove conclusively that Epsom salts have any effect on plants, but many seasoned gardeners cite their own gardens as proof that Epsom salts help certain plants grow stronger and produce better
andEpsom salts contain hydrated magnesium sulfate, two elements crucial to plant growth.
•Sulfur (13%) is crucial to the inner workings of plants, but it is almost never lacking in the soil, thanks in part to synthetic fertilizers and acid rain.
•Magnesium (10%) can become scarce in soil, usually because of erosion or depletion of the top soil or a pH imbalance. Some plants, like lettuce and spinach, don't mind going without magnesium. Others may exhibit symptoms like leaf curling, stunted growth, that could be attributed to more than one cause. Magnesium deficiency has even been blamed as a cause for biter tomatoes.
Have you used Epsom Salt? What are your conclusions?Tomatoes and peppers may show signs of magnesium deficiency late in the season, when their leaves begin to yellow between the leaf veins and fruit production decreases. Whether you will get more and/or larger fruits will depend on many things in addition to using Epsom salts, but using them does seem to have some benefit.
Either mix in 1 T. of Epsom salts into the soil at the bottom of the planting hole when setting out transplants or mix the 1 T. in a gallon of water and water the seedling.
Follow-up with a foliar spray of 1T. per gallon of water when the plants start to flower and again when the young fruits start to form. Try it on a few plants and see if you can tell the difference as the season goes along.
Eric