Skip to main content

4 Epsom Salt Can Do For Tomato Plants

Tomato Plants



The horticultural world is full of tales of old wives and skeptical suggestions for magical remedies to cure any garden ailment. Sorting facts out of fiction can be a daunting task when there is so much conflicting information. This is not true anywhere other than Epsom salt and tomato plants. Epsom salt is the common name for a chemical compound called magnesium sulfate. It is widely recommended by gardeners for horticultural problems ranging from poor growth to pest control. This advice is often applied to tomato plants because they are called magnesium-hungry plants.


But does Epsom salt fulfill many of these promises? Or does it do more harm than good?


1. Blossom-end to prevent rot


Blossom end rot is a condition that affects the fruit of the tomato. When the plant is unable to take in enough calcium, it becomes deficient, and as a result parts of the fruit usually rot, which affects tomato gardeners. Gardeners will try anything to solve the problem - including Epsom salt. Unfortunately, the rotting problems at the end of the flower have nothing to do with magnesium. In fact, it has nothing to do with soil in general. The most common cause of the final rot of the flower is improper watering, which prevents adequate absorption of calcium. In soils rich in calcium or magnesium the plants may still flower and eventually rot.


To make matters worse, the use of Epsom salt for plants affected by the final rot disease of the flower can actually aggravate the problem. If the plant consumes too much magnesium, it will compete with calcium and cause less calcium absorption. When you are desperately trying to solve the problem with your tomatoes, that is the last thing you want - to avoid it altogether.

➤  Get rid of fruit flies naturally

➤  6 secrets to getting more flowers from your roses

2. Prevent pests


There are hundreds of natural pest control methods on the Internet. Each is labeled as a 'guarantee' to solve your problem immediately. Some claims may work, and some have no evidence to support them. Epsom salt is the latter.



Research on the effectiveness of Epsom salt as an insect repellent for caterpillars, locusts, flies, and many other insects has no evidence to support the claim. This also applies to tomato plant diseases. If you are looking for a solution to your pest problem, it is a good idea to use one of the approved methods.


3. Help the tomato seed to germinate


Tomato seeds are magical things. They are like tiny pockets of nutrients that contain everything you need to germinate and get started. That is, any use of additional micronutrients would, in a word, be ineffective - including magnesium added from Epsom salts.


When planting seedlings in magnesium-deficient soils, soil deficiency can be treated by adding a little Epsom salt to the planting hole. But when a seed germinates, it does not need the help of additional nutrients from gardeners to go.


4. Feed the plants adequately


Epsom salt is often recommended as a tomato fertilizer due to its magnesium content. At first glance, this may seem like a great idea, but the recommendation ignores two related factors.



First, as mentioned earlier, magnesium is a micronutrient. Tomato plants require only very small amounts of magnesium - much smaller than the amount of Epsom salt.


Second, the purpose of the fertilizer is to provide the various nutrients needed for plant growth or the nutrients needed for fruiting for a specific purpose (nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium).


Magnesium and sulfur alone do not provide enough nutrients to use as a complete fertilizer for your tomato plants. If your tomato plants are deficient in magnesium, you can add a small amount of Epsom salt to your fertilizer. But most general fertilizers contain everything the plant needs to grow effectively.


Epsom salt can be said to be an easily accessible, inexpensive solution to the plight of your tomato plants. Some claims are completely true (if you have a magnesium deficiency in your plant or soil), others may not give the results you expect, and may hurt your precious tomato plants in the long run.

   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

7 Big Impact Dwarf Flowering Shrubs

Scale with dwarf flowering shrubs Big gardens have a season in life, and we have unlimited energy to maintain perennial gardens and a quarter acre vegetable plot that produces enough food for the entire neighborhood. But if you're starting out with a three-story balcony garden or have a small garden, you can still use dwarf shrubs to create a beautiful outdoor living space. Dwarf shrubs are perfect for small space gardens When thoughtfully designed, a small space garden can be as visually appealing and emotionally pleasing as a sprawling yard. No need to sacrifice your favorite shrubs like roses and lilacs. You need to choose the right size varieties to match the size of the space. A short hedge or even a casket of flowering shrubs may be all you need to make your patio feel like "home." Dwarf flowering shrubs for your garden It's best to be selective when curating plant palettes for a small space. If the large shrubs you've seen at local nurseries ar...

Gardening Plants you can walk on

These tough little floor coverings can withstand occasional trampling Mulching the 3 acres of display and test gardens in my perennial nursery turned out to be expensive and time-consuming, so I decided to investigate ground covers that eliminated the need for mulch. As I experimented with several ground covers to complement my perennials and shrubs, I was struck by the plants that were strong enough to withstand the foot traffic of people strolling through my gardens and trampling pets. It was clear which ones were hardy enough to withstand the heat and humidity we experience each summer, stay evergreen, and display beautiful flowers for months. Here are my favorites. 1. Green carpet rupturewort: The toughest of the tough I often refer to Green Carpet Rapturewort as my "tractor-trailer" plant because even though stray vehicles sometimes make deep impacts in my garden, the rapture never turns yellow. Creeping stems of small, bright green leaves form a dense green...

10 Red Flowers for Big, Bold Color in Your Garden

Red flowers are a great way to draw attention Add a variety of eye-catching red flowers to your garden, and you’ll be delighted with the gorgeous color they add to your landscape. Red flowers are a great way to draw attention to a garden. Planting all red flowers can practically stop traffic! Red flowers, especially red roses, symbolize love, but scarlet flowers can symbolize strength, family bonds, good luck, protection, and prosperity, so adding this bold hue can bring many good things to your garden beyond beauty. A bouquet of freshly cut red flowers will brighten up a kitchen table or master bedroom nightstand in a way that no other color of flower can. Red flowers pair beautifully with orange, yellow, and white flowers. Read on to learn about some of our favorites to add to your garden. We’ve got everything you need to know to grow them and add color to your landscape. 1. Zinnia One of the best annual cut flowers, zinnias bloom in a wide range of colors. They don’t min...