Interesting!

Check this video of a Japanese guy growing his tomatoes with nigari (mostly Magnesium Chloride)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmXu4drR1S8

Other discussion
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0201395317331.html

I wonder if you could use rabbit food. Doesn't it have salt? Of course it might attract rabbits.

Remember the Romans salted the fields of Carthage so nothing would grow. Here in California the tap water that includes water from the Colorado River is already salty enough. I can see the salt buildup on the top edges of the pots I start plants in, and as it gets worse it eventually kills the seedling unless you can get a hold of some rainwater to dip the whole pot in to leach out the salt, but rainwater is a rare commodity in southern California. I managed to collect a 55 gallon drum full of rainwater that I plan to use to water my seedlings with.

I'm a hydro grower and our "nutrient solution" is made up of "salts". Actually, I brew my own, which is "organic" and self-buffering, but none the less, perhaps the "sea salt" dumped in the hole contained a high concentration of Magnesium and maybe even Calcium.

Tomatoes thrive on mag and cal in their diet!

As for "taste" all I can say is my grandfather used to dump salt on tomatoes when he'd eat them. Come to think of it, he dumped salt on everything he ate. Maybe that's why he's no longer around, eh?

If you Google Desert Sweet Tomatoes Israel you'll find that the effect of certain levels of salt, as in Nacl, can result in sweeter fruits.

it's long been known and exploited in Israel that using brackish waters for irrigation increases the Brix level of the fruits.

Brix levels measure soluble carbohydrates and only that and taste is much more than that as a recent thread here discussed.

Seeds are germinated in sweet water and the seedlings grown to maturity on brackish water/

Several different sizes of the tomatoes are exported to Europe and the US and demand premium prices.

Those tomatoes not attaining the proper Brix level are sold only within Israel.

other crops such as melons and peppers are also grown on brackish waters.

There's salt, as in Nacl and then there are salts meaning a combination of two components such as Mgsulfate ( Epsom Salts), Ca carbonate, etc.

The salt that is referred to with repsevt to the tomatoes is Nacl but the salinity levels are constantly being monitored.

I know that I, for one, would not just dump some Nacl into a planting hole, but that's me. ( smile)

Carolyn, who has tasted some Desert Sweet tomatoes and they really are good tasting. But not as good tasting as many others I've grown b'c the primary variable in taste is the actual genes that a particular variety might have.

I'd think you'd be safer sticking to good ol' Jersey Greensand, which i just learned has a fair amount of sodium in addition to the potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron i use it for, with no danger of OD'ing your plants.

I haven't done a good scientific side-by-side test, but anecdotally the toms from the areas I used greensand were definitely better tasting.

Here is a link that might be useful: greensand analysis

The Na might be a good ion carrier and allow additional bonding of sugars and some carbohydrates.

The press release says it might promote acid formation as well, as the sodium ion is positive, but Na is a stronger bond than H+ so who knows? Interesting nonetheless and merits watching. We will likely need to replace petrochemical fertilizers soon, so this might allow decent replacements.

Dan

Carolyn Quote:
"There's salt, as in Nacl and then there are salts meaning a combination of two components such as Mgsulfate ( Epsom Salts), Ca carbonate, etc."

I remember years ago at my old garden watering the tomatoes with Epsom Salts mixed in the water.....or did I mix it in the planting hole, can't remember.

You can mix Epsoms salt either in water or the hole. It is unusual in that it does not burn in high concentrations to the extent that other fertilizer salts might. It can also be taken up through the foliage so you can spray it onto the plant as well. It is very soluble so I don't know how long it stays in place if you put it in the hole. I generally toss it around the base of the plant and then water it in, and only then a little later in the season when the plant is really packing on new foliage. It helps the plant use its nitrogen more efficiently.

According to Wikipedia sea salt is chloride 55%, sodium 30.6%, sulfate 7.7%, magnesium 3.7%, calcium 1.2%, potassium 1.1%, .7% minor constituents.

Does the following carries over to in-ground plants?
From the Alberta, Canada Government Ag-info Centre:

"The Use of Sodium Chloride in Greenhouse Crops Management"

"3. There is evidence that sodium is less antagonistic than potassium to the uptake of both calcium and magnesium. It is known that tomato plant can maintain its uptake of potassium and restrict uptake of excess sodium and chloride when sodium chloride is added to the feed. Magnesium deficiency occurs quite commonly on early tomato crops during March and April when there is a heavy fruit load and root growth is weakened. Any improvement in magnesium uptake as a result of using sodium chloride is likely to be an advantage. It will also help to counter the adverse effect of increased conductivity level on magnesium uptake.
4. Higher calcium levels in fruit and less blossom end rot were recorded when sodium chloride was used to increase the electrical conductivity of feed solutions. This is a significant advantage because increased conductivity due to other methods tends to restrict calcium movement into developing fruit and increase the incidence of blossom end rot.

5. Increased conductivity reduces fruit size and increases dry matter, soluble sugar content and titra[ta]ble acidity through the reduced uptake of water. Adding sodium chloride rather than extra nutrients to achieve the same conductivity level tends to improve the soluble sugar concentration and reduce the titratable acidity of the fruit juices. Addition of chloride also decreases the nitrate uptake of the tomatoes thereby reducing detinning in storage cans significantly. This is of benefit to processing tomatoes."

Here is a link that might be useful: The Use of Sodium Chloride

Having used Nigari in commercial soy tofu production here are some thoughts on the Japanese tiny, yet sweet tomato production linked in a video above.
(Nigari is made from sea water, yet most sodium chloride is separated out. The principal ratios by weight are approximately: 10 Mg:1 Na, 5 Mg:1 K, 2.5Mg:1 Ca, 40,000 Mg:1 + trace minerals. Actually there is 5+/- times the volume of Magnesium to Calcium, but Magnesium being relatively light it's weight ratio is less than 3 times greater. So Nigari is a distinct technique than western greenhouse salt useage.)
What reduced the fruit size?
Increased conductivity can account for miniaturization, as well as fruit's elevated sugar content (as referenced above).
What improves conductivity without upsetting plant physiology?
Magnesium's double charged ions, with itself being so relatively light in weight brings many counter-ions. The ions buffer & apparently keep pH within plants criteria.
Nigari is mostly Magnesium salts of chloride (MgCl2) & sulfate (MgSO4) ; with additionally: MgCO3+ (a bicarbonate), MgCO (a carbonate), MgBOH4+ (a borate), MgOH4+ (a hydroxide) & MgF+ ( a flouride)
Is Nigari fed to tomatoes developing leaves & roots?
No, as chloride impedes nitrate uptake & nitrogen is important at this stage.
When would Nigari first be beneficial?
At fruit set the dynamic of Calcium, Magnesium & Potassium are important. It is Magnesium that aids plant utilization of Calcium ions, keeping it from precipitating out & so boosting level of circulating Calcium. It, Ca+, is driven by water to the cells' membranes & inside for critical cell division. (Build up of Calcium is desirable, yet when fertilize too heavily with Phosphorus &/or Potassium the Ca+ can be present but actually unusable. In effect when P &/or K high total dissolved solids raise the electrical conductivity it is different than Nigari's ionic effect.)
What other tactic is interesting?
In addition to Nigari the grower stressed rice straw mulch to dry his soil & showed an arid handful. This water limitation would lower leaf transpiration & there is less water demanded by foliage; so, Ca+ being water driven accumulates in the fruit. Also, compounding this redirection of Calcium is the fact that increased conductivity reduces water uptake; once again keeping the fruit from plumping to normal size, even though the tomato seed used was of a standard variety. The practical result is more fruit cell division indicating better productivity in quantitative yield & of course no blossom end rot from calcium deficiency.
Can Epsom salts do the same thing?
Apparently not, even though it is a practical Magnesium source. (Although Epsom salts can be used to coagulate soy milk it does not produce the same structural & flavor tofu as Nigari.)
How much Nigari should be used?
If some one can calculate that please tell us.

Omission correction:
line 4 above... ratio is "40,000 Mg: 1 Iodine" , plus trace minerals ...

i had some freshwater aquarium salt i decided to discard, i meant to put it on my asparagus to help keep the weeds down. instead i mistook it for my bag of epsom salts and put it on my tomatoes. i scraped most of it away from the garden bed, but according to that article, will this kill or possibly help my tomatoes?

help!

i had some freshwater aquarium salt i decided to discard, i meant to put it on my asparagus to help keep the weeds down. instead i mistook it for my bag of epsom salts and put it on my tomatoes. i scraped most of it away from the garden bed, but according to that article, will this kill or possibly help my tomatoes?

help!

I'm doing a simple, two plant trial of sea salt at 1-2 tsps/5gal versus plain tap water on indeterminate variety "Boxcar Willie", a backyard taste test winner of 3 years ago.

So far, in this deplorably cool wet summer (from the tomato's point of view), the salt-added plant is growing better than the plain water one. It's another a poor season and I don't know how it will turn out. I don't expect to eat any ripe tomatoes 'till the end of August.

In the past (I've been growing between 6 and 9 varieties of heirloom tomatoes for about 10 years) I've had somewhat variable, but generally negative taste tests with only a single example of one of the Brandywine look-alikes that produced a really good tasting tomato. That was the first year I started a new garden in Thousand Oaks, CA. The following year a plant started from the same package was insipid. Now I'm beginning to think that the soil got washed out during the first year and became salt-depleted.

Obviously, here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon the soils are naturally depleted of soluble salts and it's possible that the special fertilizer I use to counter our natural excess of potassium doesn't provide enough salts of other varieties.

Frank,
who still remembers the great taste of farmstand South Jersey Beefsteaks, 5" in diameter that made a great sandwich with one 1/2" slice. Salt and mayo, please.