Not only are epsom salt something you should keep in your kitchen, they are also a miracle worker for gardening enthusiasts. Adding epsom salt to your garden can enrich your soil with additional nutrients (like magnesium), increase your vegetable output, and speed up your plant growth. There are so many benefits to adding this salt to your gardening routine.
Want to know more about the ways you can use Epsom salt in your home garden? Keep reading.
1. Produce abundant nightshades
Many people enjoy growing plants from the nightshade family such as peppers tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes. All nightshades need a lot of magnesium, so that they produce greater yields. Epsom salt also helps improve the flavor of nightshades. To ensure the nightshades you grow in your home garden are abundant and tasty, try adding 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of Epsom salt to your peppers and tomatoes by sprinkling it around the base of the plant. If you want the salt to dissolve more quickly, add it to a gallon (3.8 liters) of water and water the plants with the mixture. You should continue to add the Epsom salt to your plants every two weeks.
2. Cultivate better flowers and stronger blooms
Experienced gardeners swear that adding epsom salt to their flower gardens benefits the plants. They cite that the added nutrients make their plants healthier, grow stronger flowers and feature blossoms with improved color and texture. Start by adding the Epsom salt to the soil when planting new flower-bearing plants, and after that treat the plants with a liquid solution (same method mentioned in #3) every two to three weeks.
3. Nix garden pests
Garden pests are the worst. You spend a significant amount of time planting something that you enjoy, and the next thing you know, it’s ruined. Luckily, Epsom salt can help with this problem. Epsom salt won’t make snails and slugs wither away like table salt, but it does irritate them. Epsom salt works much like diatomaceous earth to keep unwanted pests at bay. The only caveat about using Epsom salt to deter pests is that it is water soluble, so you will need to continuously reapply it.
4. Make fruit sweeter
Epsom salt, when added to trees, bushes and vines that produce fruit, boosts the chlorophyll inside the plant. When plants have more chlorophyll, they have more energy. When they have more energy, they produce more sugar. More sugar means sweeter fruit for you to enjoy.
5. Keep leaves green
When plants don’t get their recommended daily amount of magnesium, their leaves start turning yellow. To remedy this common occurrence, feed your plants Epsom salt. Try feeding your plants 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the mineral per 12 inches (30 cm) of height one time a month.
6. Stop transplant shock
When you start plants indoors for outdoor planting later on or move established potted plants to larger pots, sometimes the plants will get shocked and start to die on you. This phenomenon is known as transplant shock and happens because the plants’ roots were likely damaged during the transportation process. Epsom salt can help plants overcome transplant shock. If your plants are experiencing transplant shock, feed Epsom salt to them either by sprinkling on the topsoil near the base of the plant and then watering or putting a little salt into the hole or planter you will be planting your plant. Next, cover the salt with a little dirt before planting your plant on top.
7. Annihilate pesky weeds
Only masochists like weeding their gardens. To cut down on weeding time, incorporate Epsom salt into your garden maintenance schedule. You can kill weeds by mixing a couple of cups of the mineral with a gallon (3.8 liters) of vinegar and some liquid dish detergent. Put the mixture in a spray bottle and go to town on any weeds you see. In no time at all, the weeds will die. Be careful not to spray any of this powerful stuff on plants you want to keep, or they will die.
8. Lush lawn fertilizer
If your lawn isn’t lush and beautiful, it probably needs a little magnesium in its life. To perk up grass, add 3 pounds (1.35 kg) of Epsom salt to every 1,250 square feet (116 square meters) of grass and then watering your lawn.
9. Tree stump remover
Tree stump removal can be costly, but if you don’t have the money to get a stump removed, let Epsom salt come to your rescue. Drill holes into the stump and filling in the holes with Epsom salt. In weeks, the stump will begin rotting.
10. Splinter removal power
Splinters are inevitable when you are gardening. Epsom salt can help with that. If you get a splinter when gardening, soak the area that has the splinter in it in 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of Epsom salt and water. That should make the splinter pop out of your skin on its own.
11. Cure leaf curling
Leaf curling is a sure sign of a lack of magnesium in a plant. If the leaves on your plant are curled, amend the plant’s soil with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of Epsom salt.
12. Perky potted plants
Plants in containers go magnesium-deficient faster than in-the-ground plants. To remedy this issue, the site recommends adding 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of Epsom salt to the surrounding soil once a month.
13. Increase nutrient uptake
Epsom salt, when added to the soil around plants, helps them absorb other nutrients more efficiently. In fact, most commercial fertilizers have large amounts of magnesium. By adding plain Epsom salt, you won’t have to bother with so much fertilizer.
