Epsom Salts

Exactly what is the purpose of using epsom salts ?Nanadee

Epsom salts may have other benefits too which I'm sure someone else can comment on, but at the very least they are a good source of magnesium if your soil is deficient. And it can provide a slight reduction in soil pH--not the best amendment if you're trying to make a significant pH change, but if your soil is just slightly more alkaline than ideal then it can help bring it down a pinch.

The high magnsium in epsom salts can help knock down an excess of nitrogen in your soil.

Use it when your leaves are yellowing and you have no idea why. And at MY W/M, the ES in the gardening section costs more than the ES in the pharmacy. Hmmm... Don't you just love marketing?

brigidlily, How do you use the ES, what ratio to water or do you sprinkle it on the soil? I have a Wisterta in a pot waiting to be planted and it keeps turning yellow and dropping leaves.. I figured maybe over h2o and low Nitrogen maybe. Thankss, Nandee

I just sprinkle a small handfull around the base of the plant -- @ 6" or so away from the trunk -- and then water it. I don't know if this is the best way to apply it, but it seems to work, so... if it ain't broke...

I wrote to the Epsom Salt Industry Council and asked why it recomends the routinue use of Epsom Salts by gardeners when some soils (mine for instance) have too much magnesium. No answer yet.

EPIC recomendations on the horticultural use of magnesium sulfate are here:

http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/garden_usage_tips.htm

EPIC does say Epsom Salts cannot harm plants because the magnesium washes out of the soil. Very true. It does. That is how people with too much magnesium get rid of it. They apply gypsum (calcium sulfate). The magnesium in the soil replaces the calcium and forms magnesium sulfate (Epsom Salts) which leaches out.