The great thing about epsom salts is that after a long day of working in the garden you can add a cup or two to a hot bath and soak all your aches and pains away. I'm always amazed at how great I feel the day after an epsom salts bath. Most of us in the US have a diet that's deficient in magnesium and soaking in epsom salts allows you to absorb it very efficiently. We need it much more than our plants do!

Here's a link in case you're interested in more opinions about it:

Here is a link that might be useful: epsom salts bath testimonial

One time I got the Springtime coughing and it wouldn't go away. Went to doctor for antibiotics, etc. My neighbor said in the old days they put as much epsom salts as you could hold on a dime in a glass of water and drink it every day for a few to "clean" out the system. I tried it and did not upset my stomach. However, I have found that tupelo honey is the best tonic in the Spring when the pollen is out. A tablespoon cures you, and if that doesn't do it, another tablespoon the next day surely with heal any sinus, or lung problem.

Sorry- I forgot to add that my plants are all doing very well, with some thanks to my epsom salts regimen, which I feed my plants every 2-3 weeks. Thanks again.
Peace,
kenya1

Another BIG hint - if you like to save money and are cheap like me - don't buy your epsom salts in the garden center, buy them in the bath and beauty section. In WalMart, KMart, Target, etc., the epsom salts in the garden center run $1-2 more per bag than the same exact size bag in with the deoderant, razor blades and shampoo!

I am glad I found this string. Does anyone know if about putting epsom salts around caladiums? I am battling snails and slugs with beer. But I have been wondering about sprinkling epsom salts around or diluting it and watering with it. Would this help? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!
Tracy, Pelham, AL

Question for anyone: can you add epsom salts in addition to regular fertilizer (I currently use Osmocote and, on some plants, when blooming, super bloom). Newbie question. Thanks.

I can attest that the epsom salt may be a slug deterent. I sprinkled some around my lilies and they came up whole and are big strong plants. Normally they get eaten down by slugs as they come up. I don't think I used slug bait and it's a very sluggy area. I am sprinkling the epsom salt around my new seedlings in the vegie garden and it seems to be keeping the slugs away too. In fact, better than the slug bait is doing. But I have to reapply after a heavy rain.

Can I put the water with Epsom salt that I have soaked my feet in around the vegetables in the garden? How about the roses and other flowers?

I was wondering if I could use it on a potted lemon tree? I do use it in my vegtable garden and it has always helped there.

I also use epsom salt on my plants. I put it on all plants lol. Just mix 1 tbsp per gallon with warm water and mix well to dissolve it all. Then you can add your other water fertilizer solution as well. Works like a charm to green up leaves and the plants really seem to like it. I do it about once a month. Too much of any one element can cause an imbalance in other nutrients.

I have several roses that are here from previous owner they are looking pretty worn lately. Will epson salt help even at this part of the year or do I need to cut them back and plan the salt next spring?

Epsom salts is a great, cheap source of magnesium. Use it with care, though. As with any fertilizer, the best way to determine magnesium needs is to have your soil tested. A safe, lower tech approach is to use a good fertilizer with micronutrients (or minor elements) that includes magnesium. Alternatively, apply epsom salts in moderation with your N-P-K applications. I have seen reports that too much magnesium can inhibit a plant's ability to absorb potassium from the soil resulting in a postassium deficiency. Like any fertilizer salt, an excess of epsom salts can damage roots.

I have been told that epsom salt helps the plant take up
and use other nutritients in the soil. More useful uptake
of fertilizer, iron, etc.

I just learned about Epsom salts recently and put about 1/2 a cup in a gallon of water and soaked the pot holding a dying Madagascar palm which had some kind of black rot in the growing crown preventing all new growth and slowly killing the plant. I had given up hope but three days after giving it Epsom salts it is starting to put out new healthy green growth from the crown! I had re-potted the plant into new potting mix twice after washing the roots and sterilizing the pot. But nothing worked until I used the Epsom salts.

I also gave some to my healthy Madagascar palm in a pot as well as my fishtail palms in the garden. The fishtails had been getting yellow steaks and the ends of the older leaves were dying too fast. Hopefully the Epsom salts will fix those problems.

I'm going to try soaking steel wool in water to make rust to feed the palms with too.

I'm not a southerner, but I just got some advice about epsom salts on a different thread, and I thought I would reply to this thread to "resurrect" it to the top of the list since it seems to have a lot of good info, and even a note about tupelo honey, which any Van Morrison fan will appreciate!

how much epsom salt to use on boston fern if using it in dry form as a top dressing?

Here's a pic of my grugs on epsom salt.
{{gwi:534267}}

'On Epsom Salts' - sounds like a 12 step program.

An interesting & informative thread. Bought a bag of epsom salt today in Wally World, near the drug section. Then I find this thread tonight. What about using epsom salt on orchids?

MY Bathtub is outside in my yard and drains into the ground. I was worried about using epson salt and having it drain into the ground. I use the water in my garden. Now I find out it is a definite plus YEAAAAA!!! One note, I was rooting a double pink brug cutting and I dropped a few grains in to the cutting water and the brug cutting wilted and the stem turned to mush very quickly. the same day I put some grains in the brugs growing out side and they are fine. Interesting about the tomatoes. I am having some problems with blossom drop. I will apply some ES.

Hi. This may seem a strange question, but has anyone with reptiles tried this? I have large tortoises roaming my yard and I am very careful what I use. Thank you.

I have been putting it on all of my plants -- about a tablespoon sprinkled at the base every other week, then watered in. With our extreme heat, the more the merrier to give the plants a boost.

I also have used epson salt on plants greens up ferns quickly.But i am thrilled to hear that it may deter those pesky voles.If anyone know of any thin else to get rid of those awful critters I will be right on it. I so far have vibrating rods in the ground. Came home one day and beautiful fatsia was cut off at the ground.
Hope this was not too long.

On a recent episode of the Volunteer Gardener program that is on NPT (Nashville Public Television), they had a "recipe" to amend the hole when planting Tomatoes:
1 cup Bone Meal, 1 cup Greensand, 1 tablespoon Epsom Salts, and 1 tablespoon Blood Meal. Mix the 4 ingredients, and then mix with the garden soil in the hole when planting. (use the entire recipe for ONE tomato plant)

The next time I plant Tomatoes, I am going to test that on a few plants, to see if I observe a noticeable difference.

The chemical composition of salt is NaCl and MgSO4 is magnesium sulphate or Epsom Salts, 2 very different compounds. I understand some NaCl salts are used to prevent growth of vegetation, so I would be very sure you know what type of salt is used in your pool before you start sprinkling it on your garden.

Wow..got to know soo much about Epsom Salt but please can any one tell me where do we get this? like in which stores?
I want to use them on my rose, tomato, pepper and other flowering plants.
Thanks,
MSVK

MSVK, you can buy epsom salt in one to four pound containers at drug stores or the drug section of grocery stores where it is sold as a bath salt. A good soak in epsom salts is thought to be good for sore muscles.

Or for agricultural use you can get a feed store to order it in 50 lb. bags for less than $20.

At this point my pepper plants are seedlings in very small pots.

Would someone please suggest at what point epsom salt should be added to promote growth.

Thanx guys.

It is easy: if your soil is magnesium-deficient, Epsom salts help greatly, since without magnesium chlorophyll can't form - its synthesis requires an atom of magnesium to every chlorophyll geme ring. That said, required amounts of magnesium are still very low compared say to N-P-K. A soil has to be fairly depleted to come to a magnesium deficit. Iron and sulfur are also a must to complete the photosynthetic electron transfer chain, but their required levels are even lower and hardly ever absent from average fertile soil. With sulfur, unlike most other "micronutrients", a risk of overdosage also exists.

I work in a kitchen and I save my egg shells. I go through about 6 cases a week (13doz per case). When I have a stinky stockpile of shell, I roast them off 500F until you cant take the smell anymore. Believe me you are making manerur. Then I smash them down. It helps break them up because the roasting makes them brittle. I also save my wood chips from the smoker and charcoal from the bbq's. I read somewhere that this is really good for nitrogen. Believe me. This stuff works. My garden, the greenhouse at work, and everyone that I gave "the goods" too have been shocked at how well they are doing... Add in some bat guana and worm casing... some nightcrawlers from my local bait and tackle store...and we are in buisness. I have been struggling with one gardenia plant in particular. A lot of unopened buds, and a ton of yellow leaves. I am about to try the Epsom salt treatmeant in the morning. I have been adding my coffee grounds and old coffee for the past few days and now I have more flowers open at one time than ever before and more than just one or two. There is still some yellow but not as bad. Hopefully the 1gal to 1 T ratio will work. Thanks for the heads up.

My saga palms love it!!! I use 2 tablespoons dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water.

I use 1 tablespoon of Epson Salts mixed with a high nitrogen fertilizer every time I feed my palms.

I have used epsom salt in Sc around my roses for 30 years. I just dig about 1 inch down and around the rose buses and put alot of epsom salt in, and cover with dirt, then wood chips. never lost a rose, do this about twice a year.as far as slugs and cut worms, i had them bad around my dihlias, started putting dried out crumbled egg shells, no more problems. this apparently cuts the worms and slugs as they crawl over, and they die. also have found that non stop begonias love used coffee grounds, and egg shells applied to the soil. they have bloomed more beautiful and fuller this year than ever.

also, epsom salt is cheap. you can buy a box of it at any dollar store for a buck, goes a long way, and its awesome to take a bath in too. to take out soreness of muscles. mportant thing most ppl dont realize is, this is not like regular salt !!!!!!!!! I put it on everything !!!!!! and i have huge flower beds, and vegetable gardens. Ive had better results with this than miracle grow (which i loved !!!!!).

Bumping this.

And if you guys remember while shopping at Walmart, go to the health and beauty section for Epsom salt. There is a 2lb carton for sale in that section for 88 cents. It is blue and green. Fantastic deal! :)

Carole457

Castor Oil will make the voles (and moles) leave your garden. Gardens Alive has a dry product that you scatter around, I think they advertize it for moles, but the voles left when I used it. I pour a little liquid castor oil in any hole I found, and sprinkled it on any plant they had attacked. (I will do that from now on)

I currently have no apparent voles. You can spray with castor oil adding a bit of dish detergent to the bottle to make it stick.

kay

I would like to know is Epsom salt good to remove pests from the red currant Plant and fruit or does anyone know what else works

does it work on succulents and agave attenuata?

No more than 1.5 tablespoons per gallon of water is using as a foliar feed. Dissolve well and apply early morning on entire plant, including stems, top & bottom of leaves, and roots.

I find adding 3 tablespoons of molasses and liquid fish fertilizer to the solution works best.

Use two tablespoons straight in a planting hole at transplant time for tomatoes and follow instructions for application around the roots. Since you're fairly new to using epsom salts, spend the extra $2 and buy it from any garden center. The application instructions are worth the investment.

As with all good gardening habits, building & sustaining the soil food web with organic matter is the best way to nourish your plants. Premium compost, leaves, grass clippings, straw, manures, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, green manure, cover cropping, compost teas....all on an a consistent basis....this will create the ideal plant environment.

not all soil is created equal.
its very possible YOUR soil is either magnesium or sulfur saturated.
some clay soils are, especially in central USA with Mag

if you need iron, use humic acid, or better, fulvic acid.
its very beneficial to the plants at the same time as giving it the iron.
its a 2 fer.

if your soil has a lot of calcium, and is low on magnesium, epsom salt can make a big difference.
1 tablespoon per gallon of water has been the general recommendation.

if you soil is low in calcium, and high in Mag, then, you will be further locking out the calcium, creating a bigger problem.

soil test...

I read something by the Auburn University Horticultural school about a study in which they fed 1 cup Epson salt sprinkled around the base of a large roses once per month resulting in stronger shrubs and less leaf loss during the first year. After the first year not as much benefit,

Will Epsom salt help Meyer lemon tree that's all yellow leaves & folwers falling after blooming, why?

Get a soil test before using Epsom salts. My "clay of the blackbelt" soil is high in magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium. I use garden sulfur or liquid iron on my plants if they have yellow leaves because my soil is also alkaline. Yellow leaves usually mean iron deficiency. Iron will also help your plants utilize nitrogen better. Get a $7 soil test from your local cooperative extension. Then you will know what you need.

I Saved a trashed sago Palm fr. Trash at store but 1 yr.& Epsom salt & only one frawn what else can I do to get more Frawns to grow?

Sago Palms are a very slow growing plant. I don't know of anything to speed up their growth.

It hasn't grown but one frawn in 2 yrs. I think that's to long? I dug up roots & they look good? Any Ida for sago palm ?

I mixed 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salt into my watering can (1 1/2 gallon) and poured around "somewhat" newly planted hydrangea bushes. The largest of these bushes now appears to be drooping a bit. I just soaked the soil heavily and am wondering if I should dig it up and move it. Does anyone have any suggestions. #soiltestfromnowon

I would also ask this on the rose forum. I don't grow roses so I am no help.

Twenty minutes after the good soaking....it was back to normal!