Epsom salt has long been used as a fertilizer by some gardeners, even though its effect in the garden has not been scientifically proven. Is Epsom salt a fertilizer useful for your plants? Let’s see some of the reasons of why the Epsom salt is the best natural fertilizer for your garden. The minerals in this salt have great effects on plant development and help them breed more, support gardeners using minerals as fertilizer. The effects are, however, easier to observe in some plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, and roses.
What does Epsom salt contain?
The minerals first discovered in Epsom, UK, are used today for muscle relaxation, exfoliation, but also for the treatment of constipation.
The main ingredient is magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, a chemical compound called “epsomite” or “bitter salt”. This salt of the sulfuric acid is rich in magnesium and sulfur.
Magnesium consists of 10% of the Epsom salt composition but is not a necessary element for many plants to grow. The role of magnesium is to strengthen cell walls to consume the necessary nutrients. Green salad and spinach do not need magnesium, but the deficiency of this element affects tomatoes, giving them a bitter taste.
Sulfur, in 13 percent, is an absolute necessity for the plant to function properly. Few areas have poor soil in sulfur, reaching the ground either by chemical fertilizers or by the fall of acid rain.
Even if it can have a beneficial effect on plants in your garden, the salt can not be used to compensate for a major magnesium deficiency in the soil.
Epsom salt in the vegetable garden
Vegetables that most appreciate the Epsom salt are tomatoes and peppers. Magnesium deficiency can be observed late in the summer when the leaves begin to become yellowish and production decreases.
When planting tomatoes and peppers, mix a teaspoon of the salt at the bottom of the hole made for planting. Use a spray to spray the plants with a solution obtained from a teaspoon of Epsom salt when developing the bobs and when the fruit begins to produce the best results.
The solution can also be used for watering every two weeks of the plant throughout the season. To find out if Epsom salt has the desired effects in your garden, use it only as part of your plant. If you notice a difference in the first year, you can turn it into a regularly used fertilizer.
Epsom Salt, a fertilizer for roses
Rose growers praise the effects of this salt on plants. The fertilizer would help roses develop more leaves and more stems with flowers.
You can use Epsom salt for roses in two ways. Half a cup of salt can be spread around the plant, which must then be watered generously. Epsom salt can also be dissolved in the water you will then use for watering the roses.
Gardeners recommend treating roses with this salt in the spring, just before the buds are opened. You can also use salt as a permanent treatment, dissolving a teaspoon of Epsom salt in four liters of water, then spraying on the foliage of the plant.
