Hidden Dangers of EPSOM SALT in the Garden
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2024
- Using Epsom salts in the garden is a given...right? I mean it does so many things. Right? In this video I will break down the claims with science and show you which of these claims are false and if there is any reason to ever use Epsom salt in the garden.
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DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
01:06 - What are Epsom salts?
01:49 - How do I know if my plants have a magnesium deficiency?
02:19 - How do I know if my plants have a sulfur defeciency?
02:55 - Can I use epsom salt for blossom end rot?
04:09 - Can epsom salt be used as a weed killer?
04:43 - Epsom salt as pesticide or fertilizer
06:00 - Does epsom salt produce for fruit and foliage?
06:14 - Does epsom salt help seeds germinate faster?
06:52 - Does epsom salt increase chlorophyll production?
07:07 - Does using epsom salt allow you to use less fertilizer?
08:12 - How Epsom salt HARMS your garden...THE SCIENCE (studies listed below)
08:59 - Is epsom salt good for ANYTHING in the garden?
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES
Magnesium sulfate is a salt, and excessive levels can cause salt injury to plants (Abid et al. 2008; Ashutosh and Kukadia 2003; Kant et al. 2008; Ramoliya et al. 2004; Velichkova et al. 2011).
Unnecessary applications of magnesium will not increase plant growth (Babu et al. 2007) and might even make growth worse (Ford 1968; Kolukunde et al. 2014).
Excessive use of magnesium sulfate can cause plant deficiencies of boron (Hunter et al. 1986), iron and manganese (Finér 1992), potassium (Bull and Chapas 1956), and calcium (Azizi et al. 2011; Vafaie et al. 2013; Weber-Blaschke and Rehfuess 2002)
Overuse of magnesium sulfate has been linked to reduced root colonization of beneficial microbes such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Mazher et al. 2006) and mycorrhizal fungi (Gharineh et al. 2009).
Excessive amounts of soil magnesium can release aluminum from the soil, making this toxic metal available to plants and aquatic systems (Bigelow and Canham 2010; Weber-Blaschke and Rehfuess 2002).
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Hey Guys, I’m Brian from Next Level Gardening
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Epsom salts absolutely necessary Brian! After overworking yourself in the yard/garden….go in and take an hour long bath with a cup of Epsom salts dissolved in it. See?! It IS necessary! 😄
Yup!
😆😆😆
😂
Love that suggestion !!!😊🤗🤗🤩
😄
I’ve been gardening for over 60 years. I use homemade compost, it works fine. I save the Epsom salts for my bath or for treating sprained ankles. 💁🏻♀️
I'm forced to plant in pots and use Epsom salts twice a month n watering. Lime watering will stop BER. NO BER in the past three years.
Have never used, never been curious, never even thought about using epsom salt in my garden of all places. My rule of thumb with fifty years of gardening is to follow nature's lead: whatever comes out of the ground goes back in. Nature has been following this method for millions of years. It's worked great until human beings started interfering - ohhh, those chemical companies :( Thanks as always for your honest good ol' straight up information.
Epsom Salts - named after the horse-racing town of Epsom in Surrey, south west England. There was (still is?) a large deposit of Magnesium Sulphate near the town a few hundred years ago, so the town became famous and very popular as a spa town for a while. It's where the very first Derby race was run (named after the Earl of Derby), and it is still the premier flat race in the English racing calendar, and after which the Kentucky Derby was named and others around the world. Just saying ...😊
❤🙂👍
❤😊👍
I learned rose care by my late mentor. Once a year she does a 2 part feeding and conditioning. Using her method and formula I've garnered professional industy awards for them. Epson salt is included in the once a year soil conditioning formula. If you'd like, you can do a search of her name, Bea Grow, and find an article in the Orange County Register from about 15 years ago on her. In it she descibes how she does it. A marvelous person. I miss her. Once someone asked her what she does about the wild rabbits munching their way through local gardens. Her blue eyes twinkled as she softly replied, "Oh, I suppose there's enough for all". I wanna "Bea" her when I "Grow" up.
Roses are a well-known exception, as they zrequire more magnesium than most plants.
@@lauriesmith7517😂dont forget blueberry too. Rhododendron is another exception from the list
I have no clue about whether it's good or not. I've inherited 4 bags for the garden and have yet to use it.
I am SO looking forward to hearing this video!
Science!
I put it in the hole when I put my tomatoes in the ground because my step dad told me it made the tomatoes sweeter. I do put a lot of water in the hole
Well done Brian. I love it when people smash myths with science. So many myths in gardening!
THANK YOU ~
I have been telling people FOR YEARS that it did not make sense to use Epsom salt in our soil for plants we plan to eat. I thought it was excessive and could do harm. So many Google-researchers argued with me how they “read an article.”
You now have something for me to share that MAYBE they will believe, because being a grandson of farmers who has gardened since he was a teenager and for decades they felt I wasn’t a good enough source.
My experience... For blossom end rot, I make a solution of a tablespoon of vinegar into a quart jar and pour a little on each plant as a top dressing on tomatoes and peppers at first sign of end rot. It allows the plant to have better uptake of calcium. It's usually not a calcium deficiency, but a plant metabolism issue. The plant doesn't have the metabolics to properly regulate its cell profile. Usually I see blossom end rot after a heavy rain. Just my experience.
I used epsom salt mixed with white vinegar and Dawn dish soap sprayed on weeds on a sunny day. Worked great especially when small on sidewalk / driveway cracks or gravel. Apparently a company makes a commercial version you can buy at any home box store, now.
You can get the same results with just straight vinegar. I've tried mixing it with dish soap and other things, and find there's no difference between those formulas and straight vinegar, as long as it's applied a sunny day. It's cheaper too. ☺️
In Hawaii I have added epson salt to my pepper patches with incredible results! So many peppers I have to share now,even supply local Mex restaurant now! Highly recommend 🤙🏽
Did you grow few to compare without?
I have been trying to grow peppers here for the last 5 years and had little success,small plants have now gotten woody and turned into trees ha ha. I’m growing Carolina reapers,chocolate ghost,scorpions,and several other strains that increased yields immensely! My plants are literally covered having up to a couple hundred peppers on 1 bush,my most productive strains are going off non stop now. Sprinkle around base of plant or mix tablespoon in 2 gallon jug and hit em once a month! You will see increases in blossoms and green foliage which equals massive increases in yield. Thinking instead of this video being about the science, he should’ve done his own test, our nurseries also use it and growers at the farmers market. Well kept secret to those who know.
It is abundantly helpful in alkaline clay soil.
I live in Georgia and use epson salts on my gardenias. I have the fullest and most blooms in the neighborhood. I apply it early spring and this makes them go crazy. I have an area that i haven’t used it on the gardenia plants and guess what? The leaves are yellow, they look like they are struggling and not blooming. I don’t use it on any other plants, only my gardenias.
I sprinkle Epsom salt on plants to get rid of slugs. It works!
I had a lot of slugs last year. Do you sprinkle Epsom salts in a circle around the base of the plant or how to use the Epsom salt to get rid of slugs?
The Epsom salts absolutely melt slugs
I've never used Epsom Salt in the garden. I would admit to being slightly curious and open to information but tend to stick with specific, organic (as much as possible) Fertilizer. I'd say I'm on the fence about it, but I have definitely heard people recommend using it.
First year I used epsom salt and my tomatoes looked amazing. Second year I didn’t and some of them did NOT do well. This is my third year and I decided to do some again this year. We’ll see how it goes.
I use it every once in awhile when my cannabis plants show a magnesium deficiency. I either use cal-mag or a little bit of Epsom salt and top dress with some crushed egg shells or crushed sea shells. I grew my first plants in 1975. When it comes to gardening you can never have enough knowledge looking forward to your next video catch you on the flip side of my brother. ✌️
How do you tell if there is a mag deficiency?
@@TearDrop455 your plant will slow down on the growth and eventually stopped because it will stop taking up nutrients and initially the leaves will turn dark green the edges of your leaves turn brown and dry out your root growth will slow down and stop and later on you will start to get rust colored spots on your leaves I hope that answered your question. ✌️
@@scotttheoldfisherman6518
Thanks 👍
This was great, there’s so much wrong info out there in the garden world. Please do more like this!
Thank you for the education
Brian,
I'm disabled & have 2 dear friends that help me in the garden. Sometimes they can't tell the difference between a weed & something I planted (& don't even ask about the lovely ornamental fescue I planted that was repeatedly mowed to the ground till it gave up the ghost). Anyway, it would seem that epsom salt is smarter &/or more well educated than my to garden helpers. 😆
I've never used it in the garden but I have used it to soak my feet after a long day on a concrete floor. 🤭 It's definitely a necessity in a bath for aching muscles!
It doesn't do anything for your feet, muscles, sprained ankles, etc. Look it up.
I have never used Epsom salts in my garden and don't intend to. Thank you for that very comprehensive and informative video.
I had end rot in my tomatoes. I had some Costco magnesium/ calcium supplements so I shook up about 6 in a gallon of water. Applied it a few times and the rot stopped
Thank you - very informative!
I was gonna buy it but now i saved my money. Thank you so much
In 2006, the very first year I was gardening. I read that epsom salt was supposed to be the jewel of the Nile. However, it actually killed my plants.
good to know. Thanks for the update 🙂
I haven't used Epsom salt but was wondering. Thanks for the information
I had heard that epsom salt was supposed to make strawberries sweeter but never had a chance to test it. I suspect it's the extra water that helped the fruit. I appreciate the effort you put into bringing us the science behind so many gardening claims saving us time and money.
I stopped using Epsom salt because of your teaching a while ago. Always appreciate your videos. Blessings. Epsom salt is now used as a bath soak for ME!
Best applied foliar, for sure
Perfect timing! I was going to buy some. Not now.
I see how salt kills plants along the roads that salt is used to melt snow so I stir clear of using salt. I'd rather use egg shells & the used coffee gounds to help my garden.
I use Cal-mag by General hydrophonics.
In some regions in my country the soil is deficient in Magnesium. Magnesium Sulfate is sold in fertilizer shops in 50-lb bags for $20 and is used as "medium" fertilizers. ("Large" are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, "medium" are magnesium, sulfur, calcium, and "small" are the remaining trace elements). We dissolve 1 or 2 grams per liter of water. Without Magnesium Sulfate leaves stay yellow and never turn green. No one here even argues about the importance of Magnesium Sulfate. You loose your plants without it. Magnesium is at the center of the chlorophyll molecule, similar to how iron is at the center of the hemoglobin molecule.
Thanks Brian. I’ve heard that epsom salts aren’t really needed. 💐💚🙃
Used Epsom Salts once, in a trial at our home in Southern Spain. Will never use it again. The trial showed that compost and rotted horse manure did way best on all counts.
I have use it sometimes.
I've used it fer years in my mators. Never had BER.
Now you tell me! I planted my seedlings out (especially tomatoes) just 3 days ago and for the first time threw a little epsom salts in the holes with the compost and fertilizer. Oh well, I won't do that again and hope I didn't damage anything using it this time. Thanks for the info.
I have never used epson salt before. I guess I was curious because I watched this video. You make sense so I am glad I have not used it.Thanks 😊
Thank you!
I have to say, for me, living in the southeast SC. I learned to use Epson salt. Humidity, with so much rain clay soil & mold. It well help if you use it at the right time.
I have cast iron bath tubs in my front yard with fire pits under them. I soak in them with epsom salt then drain it into my garlic patch. I hope its not hurting them. They grow huge bulbs on top that the hummingbirds love. The bulbs have cloves that are the size of my little fingernail and they are soooo good! I could eat them on or in anything. What a gift. I will have to pay more attention to my garlics.
Last year in our area, just south of St. Louis, MO. the weather/rain was very unpredictable to count on. It was very difficult to maintain consistent watering. Too much water results in blossom end rot, under watering results in stressed out plants.
I was told by old gardeners that the reason I had blossom end rot was due to overwatering. It wasn't me, it was MA Nature dumping way too much rain.
My husband always puts it in the planting hole of tomatoes and peppers. I've never heard him explain WHY ? I'm going to ask him and I already predict his thinking will be based in myth. I will do anything though to get rid of powdery mildew !
Question. I have Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms coming up in my raised bed garden with my squash and cucumbers Do you have any idea how I can get rid of them? Pull them out today and there’s lots more of them the next morning.
I love watching your program.
I use it at the beginning of the season to help establish and root after that I use compost
I tried them last year, I don’t see much changes to be honest. I did notice that my older beds after I constantly reworking on it for more than 2 years, adding fertilize, composts, verm tea, etc. They do make seedlings grow much faster than the new beds. But nothing to do with Epsom salts.
Well done! With citations to boot!
Hearing about for the first time
I was watering my seedlings with rain barrel water, kelp and fish emulsion. Wondered why they were pale green. I figured it was lack of calcium so i just put them in the garden. They're greening up well now. I ordered up some calmag to add to my seedling mix for the next rotation. Plenty of calcium and magnezium in my city water but dont like sitting it out to wait for the chlorine to burn off.
When in doubt to applying anything, in beginning less is always more.
I only use it when tomato seedlings show purple on the underside of leaves. It has worked very well for that - saved a couple of season’s worth of starts, in fact, but I have never needed it once the plants are in the ground
I use a salt based fertilizer once a year usually in the fall. In the spring i use compost made including chicken manure. I rarely feed my soil in between except if a plant shows some deficiency.
I’ve used it to prevent damping off for seedlings- there is another garden channel that uses it that way - have not seen anyone else mention it.
Also use it in hydroponics magnesium and sulfur are needed in that situation.
I used ES on my lawn of a house in McHenry County, Illinois. This was a house built on what had been farmland. The grass became noticeably greener after an application.
On the other hand, at my current house in upstate NY, an application of ES to the lawn did absolutely nothing. I suspect the soil here already has plenty of magnesium from the underlying dolomitic limestone.
I have 5 hydrangea plants. Two of them start out growing normally, after about a month the new leaves, just in certain areas, start to grow in a corkscrew or folded up pattern. I’ve tried to figure out what is happening without success. Please help
thank you for this. I have never believed all the hype around epsom salts.
I also use it for weed control with vinegar. That works well. The weeds I kill are not in the garden.
Though it should only be used in small amounts, We have extremely Sandy and alkaline soil with very little natural Organic matter. We must add everything: calcium and magnesium because they compete but the sulfur in epson salt also brings a somewhat neutral ph, Though sometimes I must add additional sulfur to get there. Admittedly our soil is very hard to grow anything in and most people won't need it except possibly in potted plants.
Yeah I thought that was strange. “Salt the earth” is synonymous with ruining land in many parts in the world, and this trend have only have popped up past decade or so.
I've been using ES on my lawn this year. My DIY fertilizer is beer ammonia club soda baby shampoo and Epsom salt. My lawn is doing better this year than last. But I think I will skip the Epsom salt from now on.
I have used half a cup around roses in spring ato encourage the formation of new canes...rose expert Ray Redell advises it. But I never tested that properly.
I’ve never heard all those claims, but I do know that many folks around here put a little in when planting a tomato.
I occasionally use a product called Masterblend and I was informed that it worked best with Magnesium Sulfate and Calcium Nitrate. Filling a 2 gallon jug only requires 1/2 a teaspoon of epsom salt ( dissolved) . I only use it when the plants look really rough. I’m not very scientific. The combo of the three seems to pep up my plants. I target tomatoes and peppers with the mixture. I don’t know if it’s epsom salt, but I do use it 🤷🏼♂️
I have used just plain table salt to get rid of slugs.
Have used Epsom salt on the GROUND around annuals and tomatoes, watered in carefully, to help with uptake of other nutrients like calcium. Seemed to work well...just don't sprinkle it ON your plants, and use it sparingly.
I always stir a tablespoon of epsom salts in the hole when I plant my tomatoes. I think my mother always did. I have very little trouble with blossom end rot. Don't know if it makes a difference. I get good crops with few problems. I only use containers and change out half the soil yearly. So who knows?
That's great my friend
I'm your new subscribe 😊
I've never used espon salts outside of the bathtub. I swear by a good organic fertilizer, compost, and regular watering.
The sulfar may be good to change the PH level of the soil to be more acid for Blueberries
I put epsom salt on the soil around my bell peppers 🫑 when I can find it without fragrance added lol. I haven’t been able to get much done in the garden because I hurt my back. Thankfully it’s been raining most every day 🌧️ 🙂✌🏻
I’ve been using liquid cal-mag with iron instead, so far it seems to be working
I treat epsom salt like a trace mineral, very small amounts. A lot of inland soils are deficient in magnesium, and I’ve had good luck with it. Usually use it only in my container garden, not so much in the garden beds. 1 tsp per 5 gallon pot.
Of course one doesn’t need to take advice from the producer of a product, they are just trying to sell ya something.
As mentioned before, epsom salt is great for soaking a sore body after working in the garden.
Brian,
My opinion:
1st--have a soil test done. 2nd--if...IF...your soil is deficient in magnesium, by all means, supplement sparingly... SPARINGLY...w/ some epsom salt. 3rd--if you soil is not deficient in magnesium, leave it alone!
We are trying to grow Carolina allspice, also known by several other names. We are working with past hay field. We get yellowed leaves if we get any at all, 3rd try to grow these bushes. So looked up on Google and it said it is a magnesium and potassium defiance. So I put Epsom for soil and potash plus a little green sand around the plants. They are greening up. We have already used manure compost plus our home grown compost . That being said, we have already put a fish immulsion and root stimulator on these plants. They appear to be getting better but are still small and only have a few leaves. We had previously grown sunflowers. So I have no clue if any of this will keep them alive. Time will tell.
I use Epsom salt on rare occasions, mostly in potted plants like tomatoes and peppers to boost potential chlorophyl production and to help with nutrient uptake in the plants and really nothing more. I've seen some benefits every now and again but not very consistent results.
Epsom salts are good for the gardener after a long day of working in the garden 🛀
I usually add the water I've been soaking my feet in to the ccompost pile.
I just use compost and organic fertilizer. I’ve never used Epsom salts in the garden.
I do swear by epsom salt, for my sore back in the bath.
What about for smaller potted plants and with high draining soil, lots of stuff wash away? Thanks!
And not everyone can get "aged manure".
I've never used it. I use compost and occasional smelly organic liquid fertilizer.
Thank you for the information. Very interesting.
Unrelated to this video but you know everything. How do you sterilize cloth grow bags? I always do my plastic buckets before I reuse them and want to the cloth ones also. Thanks so much!!
I don't know that this necessarily sterilizes my grow bags, but it does get them clean. I put 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 cup of baking soda in a five gallon bucket then fill about 3/4 full of water (to leave room for the addition of your grow bags). Stir well to dissolve the baking soda then add your bags. Then I let them soak for a couple of hours checking on them occasionally to push the bags down into the water and agitate them a little. The baking soda and H2O2 should take care of a lot of fungal or bacterial issues and once they have soaked, take them out of the bucket and rinse thoroughly with the hose. Sometimes I squish them around in a bucket of clean water before I hose them off because the original soaking water will be very dirty. Then just lay them in the sun to dry. Hope this helps.
@@melodyrhodes3306 Thank you so much! Sounds perfect.
Tomatoes and potatoes are native to South America. The soil there has a higher magnesium content than in North America. I use a little (1 teaspoon in a gallon of water) when tomatoes are producing fruit and when potatoes are producing tubers once every 2 weeks. Epsom salts are also a salt. Too much messes up the Ph of the soil and requires more water for that soil after harvest. This is not a problem with hydroponics where you can completely replace the water.
i use Epsom salt to make my coffee water - does that count? (food grade in laxistive section)
Epsom salts depends on the type of soil you have, plus its PH rating. In specific soils, epsom salts don't work, others work, or others will burn the soil. You need to make sure what soil type you have, and if epsom salts are viable or not.
I was told it was good to rid slugs
One of your videos transplanting tomatoes says to put a handful in the hole before planting it.
He addressed that in the video. Used to, won’t be in the future.
I only used it once to help an old pecan tree up in Virginia.
😂I don’t add Epsom salt to everything. But I do add them when my blueberry leaves turn red. Yes, I put in acidifier, sulfur, and everything you can think about adding to blueberry(mulch, etc.) FYI, sulfur takes time to acid the soil(up to a year, depending on the temp). Another reason why blueberry leaves turn red is the temperature in the soil. I can't say the temp is high here, and this is a zone 6b near zone 6a. The average temp is 12-13C at night. I know, it is MAY. Anyway, if you know what you are doing, don't be afraid to use Epsom salt.
Epsom salts can be used to make hydrangeas blue or pink, one of them.
I never did hear you address filling your beds with mulch. ;)
Thank you for daring to blast a myth. The other thing I like is that there's no need to spend the extra money for Epsom salts. The best thing Epsom salts are good for is a nice hot soak in the tub. Wonderful....
It explains why no fertiliser contains epsom salts!
Wow! I must be out of touch, cause I haven't heard all that stuff you named about Epsom Salt in the garden. To not get "Blossom End Rot," I spray my tomato leaves and fruit with a little calcium water made from egg shells, or a calcium tablet. WORKS LIKE A CHARM! 🍅🍅
How do these things get started and gain traction? Sometimes I think people hear tgings like this and can't help themselves, spreading this as true just for the sake of making a comment.
It's like every video that features honey and shows someone dipping a metal spoon into it. People start screaming, "you just deactivated all the enzymes in the honey!" What?????? Stainless steel is non reactive to foods and is food safe. Plus, the equipment to process honey is stainless steel. I will bet 99 percent of these people heard it elsewhere and now consider themselves "experts" and just feel compelled to add their 2 cents.
I need help, I had healthy seedlings that I Planted. My tomatoes in one bed got destroyed. Pinched off at the little tops and loss of some leaves. Now it's happening to my peppers. Any tips?
Try putting some diatomaceous earth (DE) around each transplant to protect it from things like pillbugs, earwigs, etc. I had the same problem when I transplanted some cucumbers. All the leaves were eaten, but with my next transplant, I added some DE, and now they're fruiting.
Might be bugs or deer. Cutworms will cut down young seedlings like they are trees. You will know by the cut piece lying on top.
If it’s deer, plant some lavender in your garden. They hate really smelly plants. I plant onion and garlic everywhere and they don’t go near the beds. I had a tear chomp the top off my jalapeño plant one year. It was totally stunted bc of it.