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Anyone know if epsom salts applied to a garden bed now before the cold weather sets in would have any value for your garden?~~~or perhaps just use to soak my sore muscles after shoveling snow? I use it in the Spring but I did read it can also deter slugs & voles. Would the plants benefit from it as nutrition taken into the roots or only of value when in a growing season?

According to what I just read, Epsom Salts are great at any time...even to soak in! I was curious about it, after I read your question and read up on it. It is Magnesium Sulfate and both chemicals are necessary for healthy seedlings and plants. There is no end to the benefits of this stuff!
I used epsom salts on my hostas a few years ago, cause I heard that it is great for lush, green growth. Don't use this on verigated hostas. I did and the hosta was a gorgeous and lush solid green! It was the healthiest looking hosta I had and the effects lasted for 6 months. When the effects were gone, it was a healthy "loyalist" hosta.
According to what I read, there is a benefit from the nutrition it would provide.
google 'epsom salts' and there are several articles on it.

Thanks for your reply Barb! I was wondering about now with the snow soon to arrive...if it would still be good for the plants...kinda like
how bulb fertilizer in Fall will give you beautiful blooms in the Spring.

Guess someone has to tell me how much or to dilute or something. Ruined roses I used it under one time. Probably too concentrated???

jmchab, i googled epsom salt for roses and this is part of what it says:
Epsom Salt for Roses
Rose growers, in particular, are strong advocates for using Epsom salts. They claim it not only makes the foliage greener and more lush, it produces more canes and more roses. The recommendation for applying to existing rose bushes, is to either mix ½ cup of Epsom salts into the soil around the rose bush and water well or dissolve ½ cup of the salts in water and use to water the rose bush. Do this in the spring, just as the bids are beginning to open.

For ongoing rose care, mix 1 tbsp of Epsom salts per gallon of water and apply as a foliar spray. You may need several gallons of water for larger rose bushes and climbers.

hope this helps!

If your soil is deficient in Magnesium then maybe, possibly, Epsom Salt might be of some benefit. However, at the usual dilution rate of 1 cup of the salt to 1 gallon of water you would most likely not be adding enough Magnesium to be of any benefit even if the Mg was in a form readily usable by the plant.
The people that sell Epsom Salt have done a very good job of telling us that this product does amazing things for which there is no supporting research except as a laxative. Perhaps this article would be of some interest,
http://saveyourself.ca/article...ecks/epsom-salts.php

What an interesting read. I have used Epsom salts on roses before....never thought to use it on anything else. I couldn't tell any noticable difference on the roses, maybe it's like Kimm said, there wasn't enough mineral in what I did to make a difference. Maybe I should try it again this next year as sort of an experiment, and I will definitely try it on Big Blue, the hosta.


ve

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vera ellen,

Since I've had soil tests done, I know that my soil doesn't need any magnesium. I don't use it! I actually have an over abundance of it in my soil.

Epsom Salts IS a valued additive....as a fertilizer, a soil energizer. It is recognized to advance the ripening of tomatoes that show a laziness of turning red near end of season.

If for nothing else, use it in the bath to relax you.

Plants need not be in soil that is deficient in a particular chemical analysis to do better given something that improves its growth factor.
Just because a soil test results in a reading which signifies no loss of magnesium does not nevertheless suggest that an increased amount given to a particular plant's system wont make it do better.
We commonly give our plants increased amounts of nitrogen to green up, bring about increased growth capacity and otherwise improve its health.
Some plants can make use of it by simply being able to take it right out of the air. (clover, for example)
Yet in spring we use volumes of it on our lawns, to feed our plants and otherwise to improve growth and greening up.

Some plants have an affinity to use magnesium and epsom salts is readily available.

Giving your plants too much of any nutrient can, and will, create more problems than it cures. It is well known, among knowledgeable people, that plants with and excess of Nitrogen are more attractive to Aphids and can reduce the blossoms those plants produce even though they look lush and green.
Plants need Magnesium to properly uitilize Calcium, and vice versa, but an excess of either one will interfere with the plants ability to use one or the other. All plants need trace amounts of Boron, but a little too much is toxic to them and will kill those plants. Nutrients need to be in balance, too much is not good for the plants and will cause pollution of our water supply, which is why some peoples wate ris unuseable because of high leves of nitrates.

quote:

Originally posted by Loonie:
Epsom Salts IS a valued additive....as a fertilizer, a soil energizer. It is recognized to advance the ripening of tomatoes that show a laziness of turning red near end of season.

If for nothing else, use it in the bath to relax you.

Plants need not be in soil that is deficient in a particular chemical analysis to do better given something that improves its growth factor.
Just because a soil test results in a reading which signifies no loss of magnesium does not nevertheless suggest that an increased amount given to a particular plant's system wont make it do better.
We commonly give our plants increased amounts of nitrogen to green up, bring about increased growth capacity and otherwise improve its health.
Some plants can make use of it by simply being able to take it right out of the air. (clover, for example)
Yet in spring we use volumes of it on our lawns, to feed our plants and otherwise to improve growth and greening up.

Some plants have an affinity to use magnesium and epsom salts is readily available.

Other than not making a lot of sense (in english) some of the info isn't correct either. Such as ALL plants collect nitrogen from the air. If you knew any biology or had attended a Master Gardener class you should have learned this. Some plants such as clover will "set" nigrogen in the soils.
Kimm is right, soils need the correct balance for plants to uptake the nutrients needed for proper growth. When that happens, the plants are more able to fight off harmful insects & diseases.
A reliable soil test will tell you whether or not you need to add magnesium to your soils.

Karen, if you're going to quote something said by a contributor, then at least, copy it....and bring it forth...
I DID NOT say ALL PLANTS CAN USE NITROGEN OUT OF THE AIR...that would make no sense...
so I'll copy here what I said...
quote: Some plants can make use of it by simply being able to take it right out of the air. (clover, for example) unquote
There are other plants that have that ability.

And we all agree that "too much is too much"...if such amount causes harm to the plant system.
But, sometimes, even when a soil is said to contain ***, it may be deficient in the area of the plant that we give assistance to.

Flowering annuals are notorious for producing bloom throughout the season and can use increased amounts of phosphurus.
Do we say "the soil is deficient in this element"....certainly not.
But, we know that phosphurus is necessary for the advancement of roots and flowering and thus we give it without hesitation in the hope it will improve the plants' performance.
The manufacturers of fertilizer --"the experts"..the "scientists".....know this to be true and thus bring to the market what will bring this about.
Scotts...a well known company advertises greatly what their Miracle Gro product does and produces it in the ratio of 15 parts nitrogen, 30 parts phosphurus and 15 parts potash.
Is Scotts saying "the soil of our Earth contains enough phosphurus...but we think it can use more and we think flowering plants can use it efficiently.
The Earth does contain volumes of this element...and phosphurus can do damage--especially when it involves our water courses.
But home gardeners would be greatly disappointed if they couldn't give their plants this necessary boost. Necessary..??...yes, necessary...because without it plants would wither, they would get sick and could infect the soil for other plants.

This whole argument about fertilizer is --in my opinion...silly.
Those that know its value will continue to buy and spread it....those that think its a waste of money have free choice.

Oh, I do, I do. I'm seriously thinking of investing in a company that says it can remove all the air --including the bad air, from our environment and turn it into fertilizer.
But only gardeners who rely on feeding their plants will get to use it.

You all non-believers will wear a breathing apparatus--you know, hang a tank around your necks, breathe from that. 'Course, we'll sell you the air in the tanks once you breathe it out.

quote:

Originally posted by muddyshoes:
Anyone know if epsom salts applied to a garden bed now before the cold weather sets in would have any value for your garden?~~~or perhaps just use to soak my sore muscles after shoveling snow? I use it in the Spring but I did read it can also deter slugs & voles. Would the plants benefit from it as nutrition taken into the roots or only of value when in a growing season?

The answer to your original question as to whether plants can take up nutrition other than during the growing season is that the colder it gets the less they are able to take up nutrients. I've read that below 40F this ability falls off greatly. I don't fertilize after August 15th so that plants don't put out tender shoots that will be affected by frost. I do continue to add compost and mulch in the fall tho as the nutrients in compost won't be utilized for awhile anyhow.

IMO one uses epsom salts and any minerals judiciously and very lightly unless the soil is definitely deficient. I've used it on my roses along with alfalfa tea but don't do it regularly. I only use about 1 tbsp per 5 gallons which is a very weak solution. I've used more than that on my maples which tend to chlorosis and lack of magnesium is one theory on the cause of that. The jury is still out as to whether it's helping. Takes a long time to show improvement sometimes with that.

A very good use for epsom salts is in a bath and you can use one or two cupfuls per full bath tub of hot water. Very healthy and great for sore muscles after gardening or shoveling snow!

The only reason a gardener would use Epsom Salts in the garden is if they believe the hype the Espon Salt Council, a manufacturers propaganda machine, produces.

Loonie is a loonie alright. No, not all plants take N from the air. For the most part, only legumes, soybeans and clover will take airborne N and convert it back into the soil (soil science 101).

As for Mg, it can be added at anytime to the soil, but in trace amounts - like a tsp per gallon. Some plants like tomatoes can take more like a tsp spread around each plant. Mg helps in the takeup of calcium and more.

Magnesium is a macro (large) nutrient that plants need to help them utilize Calcium and many other nutrients. Magnesium needs to be in balance with Calcium, however, and adding a very small amount (like 1 teaspoon per gallon of water) will do very little anything.except waste your money.

Well, its all in what one believes. And the world is full of the other side of the question, especially when one suggests something that one might have got good results from. A noted garden author has repeatedly advised people who grow tomatoes, when they just wont ripen on the vine, give the soil a dusting of epsom salts and the problem will clear up.

Most of us realize at times we are maybe wasting a buck or two on what our heads say to do....and we still do it.
After all, when something isn't done, and the results are not what we'd like to see...we think back....

Its like somebody coming in here and saying, "without fertilizer she gets wonderful blooms"...then somebody suggests if she had fed the plant just imagine how much better they would have been.

See....believe and you will be forever in somebody's good books.


and then somebody suggests

I have yet to talk with a Horticulturist or Botanist, ie. people that actually know something about plant nutrition, that would suggest spraying or watering with Epsom Salts since that will not do anything for the plants. The only people I hear or read suggesting that a gardener should be spraying or watering Epsom Salts around are those that are involved in selling that product.
If a gardener has a good, reliable soil test done and makes the soil the plants will be growing in into a good, healthy soil then these folklore things will be unnecessary. If the soil is not made into a good, healthy soil then none of the folklore remedies will do anything to help. It really has nothing to do with what you believe because good, solid research has found that to not be of any help.