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Is Epsom salt good for tomato plants? Epsom salt is often referred to as magnesium sulfate but despite its name, it is a completely different compound than table salt and it is also considered to be highly beneficial, it has been used for thousands of years as a healing agent and pain reliever.
Recently there has been lot’s of theories concerning the benefit of Epsom salts in tomatoes, it is known for providing wonderful benefits when growing tomatoes and being a natural compound that contains about 10 percent of magnesium and 13 percent of sulfur however there are recommended doses to be used in order not to hurt the tomato plants.
Tomatoes are easy to maintain plants but they do need the right balance of plant nutrients, good soil, precise watering and not to forget some simple tricks that gardeners recommend to prevent getting cracks and rather get a tasty full-sized tomato.
Tomatoes can be planted deeply and magnesium sulfate is known as a compound that can function as plant fertilizer to help with magnesium deficiency.
Epsom salts are beneficial to some plants and with the proper application, it can be used in improving the overall health of plants in some situations. The liberal use of Epsom salt has become increasingly popular and here is why it is being used for tomatoes.
Is Epsom salt good for tomatoes plants?
Yes, Epsom salts are good for tomatoes but only when used moderately and correctly, there is a recommended quantity to be added to the soil when growing your tomatoes, it can improve the health of the tomatoes by providing it with a good dose of magnesium and you can expect results such as:
- The tomatoes bear fruits longer
- It is less prone to problems
- Produces larger tomatoes
- Better seed germination and plant growth
- Improves chlorophyll production
- Ripening color is more attractive and redder than usual.
How much Epsom salt do you put on tomato plants?
Using Epsom salts is an ideal solution to prevent your tomatoes from turning yellow as a result of magnesium deficiency and the right dose is essential as well, 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt per foot of plant heights, if your tomato is two feet then you will be applying 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts and 1 tablespoon per gallon of water should be applied if you use Epsom salt more often than a month.
How often should you put Epsom salt on plants?
Too much Epsom can hurt your plants which is why how often you use it in your plants is important.
For more frequent watering every other week, use 1 tablespoon and for an infrequent watering, most plants can be misted with 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts.
To boost nutrients in plants, spray onto the leaves rather than the root, this is for maximum absorption and alternately add the salts directly to the soil.
Final Thoughts
It is important that you do not overuse Epsom salt as using more than the required dose can lead to serious and long term potassium deficient and blossom rot as well, this is essentially a fertilizer to your tomato plants hence it should be used with utmost care.
Different plants do have different needs so you will have to do a lot’s or research based on the crop you intend to grow and when it comes to using Epsom salts on tomatoes, you should know this could help promote soil toxicity which could cause ailments like blossom rot.
There is a lot of good theories behind adding Epsom salts to tomatoes however tomatoes are heavy feeders and if they are ailing, you should find out the cause of it before spraying with Epsom salts.
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