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Question about applying epsom salt

mega

mega

Greetings all,
Wondering if anyone can shed some light on how to apply epsom salt. Last year, I dissolved the proper amount of epsom in hot water, then sprayed it on my seedlings as a foliar spray. So far so good ... except the next day, the leaves were covered in whitish, grimy, salty gunk, which I then hand-washed off - it wasn't easy. Am I doing something fundamentally wrong, or are you supposed to just leave the whitish salty stuff on the leaves?
Thanks
 
All I ever did was sprinkle a bit at the base of the plants, then go about doing my normal watering. I dont think you can go wrong with doing it the way you've been doing it. Other than the fact that it does that to the leaves. Which, to MY knowledge, wont hurt the leaves.
 
queequeg152 said:
1 tsp per gallon is what most use.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's what I did. Warm water probably helps the Epsom salt to dissolve, and "hot" may be too high of a temperature and/or too big of a difference compared to ambient temperature for plants. I tend to use water not too far away from the actual temp, but adjust for extremes. Example: If it's burning hot outside, I use slightly cooler water; if it's freezing cold out, I use very, very warm water to the point of heavy steaming (often at night before covering to protect against frost). Can't remember the exact amount I put in water, but I think it was either one or two teaspoons. But it was per 1.2-liter watering can refill, if I remember right.
 
Epson Salt is SALT.

SALT is bad for plants.

I have never used Epson Salt. MgSO4

It makes no scientific sense to salt down plants.

I water all my plants with rain water because it contains no salt. Rain water is very soft and dissolves nutrients from the soil and makes it available to the roots of the plant. I use tons of compost. My plants get everything they need from the compost and the rain water.

Epson Salt is used in agriculture if the soil is deficient in Magnesium. Is your soil deficient in Magnesium? if so you need to get it tested for all minor elements. The SO4 forms Sulfuric acid by absorbing water from the air.

I say if your land is deficient in Mg then you need to go get some manure compost etc into the soil. You have depleted the soil. Adding SALT does not solve the problem with depleted soil. You need to add organics. You need to wash out all the salts.

Just my opinion from 40 years of gardening organically.
 
Yea,I till it right into my dirt before planting,along with bonemeal and 10-10-10. Its definitely a staple in my routine!
Kevin
 
Because it is a salt doesn't necessarily say anything about its effect on plants. You can look up what salt means in chemistry.

Epsom salt is approved for organic gardening.

If you have enough magnesium in your soil you may not need to use Epsom salt.
 
Tabby Basco said:
Epson Salt is SALT.

SALT is bad for plants.

I have never used Epson Salt. MgSO4

It makes no scientific sense to salt down plants.

I water all my plants with rain water because it contains no salt. Rain water is very soft and dissolves nutrients from the soil and makes it available to the roots of the plant. I use tons of compost. My plants get everything they need from the compost and the rain water.

Epson Salt is used in agriculture if the soil is deficient in Magnesium. Is your soil deficient in Magnesium? if so you need to get it tested for all minor elements. The SO4 forms Sulfuric acid by absorbing water from the air.

I say if your land is deficient in Mg then you need to go get some manure compost etc into the soil. You have depleted the soil. Adding SALT does not solve the problem with depleted soil. You need to add organics. You need to wash out all the salts.

Just my opinion from 40 years of gardening organically.
Click to expand...

Manure is loaded with salts. Salt isn't necessarily a bad thing in the right amount.
 
I am no organic gardener by any means. I grow exclusively in containers in a combination of compost, sand, and good potting mix. There are a couple of varieties I have noticed are Mg hungry (my T. Scorpions specifically)...leaves yellow without it...a little MgSO4 works wonders...as someone else above stated, I side dress with about a Tbsp Epsom salt per plant about once a month and when they get water, they get a little shot of Mg...

I don't like the white residue left on the leaves either so I rarely use a foliar spray even thought I know the plants take up the nutrients more efficiently and quicker than through the roots...when I do use a foliar spray, it is 1 Tbsp per gallon of water then sprayed sparingly all over the plant...
 
Tabby Basco said:
Epson Salt is SALT.

SALT is bad for plants.

I have never used Epson Salt. MgSO4

It makes no scientific sense to salt down plants.

I water all my plants with rain water because it contains no salt. Rain water is very soft and dissolves nutrients from the soil and makes it available to the roots of the plant. I use tons of compost. My plants get everything they need from the compost and the rain water.

Epson Salt is used in agriculture if the soil is deficient in Magnesium. Is your soil deficient in Magnesium? if so you need to get it tested for all minor elements. The SO4 forms Sulfuric acid by absorbing water from the air.

I say if your land is deficient in Mg then you need to go get some manure compost etc into the soil. You have depleted the soil. Adding SALT does not solve the problem with depleted soil. You need to add organics. You need to wash out all the salts.

Just my opinion from 40 years of gardening organically.
Click to expand...


Tabbys right too much salts is bad. So go sparingly. If you can afford it get your magnesium and calcium from good compost and manure.
 
Just because someone has been doing something for a long time, it doesnt make it right.
This year I had planned on toning down the usage of Epsom, but not completely taking it out of the equation. There is a reason why a LOT of people on this website use it....it works. Ive never had it kill anything, and it makes my plants absolutely beautiful.
I personally will continue to use Espom salt.
 
plants cannot live without salts. salts dissociate into ions and cations when dissolved into water, and without these charges roots would not be able to uptake nutrients. many people grow ONLY using salts and chelated minerals.
why all the salt hate? :(
 
The is a difference between sodium cloride which we normally call salt--which isn't particularly good for plants and salts-which are just mineral compounds like epson salts. All fertilizers are salts. They break down in water into their particular parts like N, P, Mg. Ph., etc which the plant feeds on and builds with.
 
It's probably because many associate the word salt with table salt.

Salts are composed of cations (positively charged ions) and anions (negative ions) so that the compound is electrically neutral (without a net charge).

Fertilizer salts form soluble ions in soil water. Increased concentration of ions increases osmotic pressure and decreases water potential, making it harder for plants to take up water. This is why plants affected by “fertilizer burn” look about the same as if they had been stricken by drought. They can’t get the water, because there’s too much salt in it.

Fertilizer doesn’t have to burn, though. It’s all a matter of dosage and balance. Plants can’t grow without salt, either. The nutrients they need are salts. The dissolved ions are exactly the form they take up. As long as the dosage is controlled, there is no harm applying a salt to the soil.
 
to me, the gist of this is that if your soil is properly maintained, you don't need to add any salts to it...am I reading this wrong?

IMO, because I grow in containers with (again MO) not the best soil around even though I make it myself...I need to add nutrients of all kind to it...not only NPK, but Ca, Mg, Fe, S, and other trace minerals...

I have been reading a lot about fish emulsion adding the required supplemental nutrients, but like the engineer I am, I want to add things separately so I know how much the plant is getting...well, that is available for the plant to get...
 
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