For those of you growing peppers or tomatoes who have noticed yellowing in the leaves of your veggies, or simply are looking for a way to produce bigger fruit, look no further. The answer to your problems? Epsom salt.
Epsom salt, also known as Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), is commonly used as bath salts or for foot soaks, but it is also ideal for gardening. Magnesium is the central atom of chlorophyll, and therefore essential for its production in plants.
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| Molecular structure of chlorophyll |
If there is a lack of magnesium, the plant will begin to break down chlorophyll in the older leaves first, and transport the magnesium to the younger leaves, which have a greater demand for chlorophyll. When a plant is deficient in magnesium, yellowing will occur between the veins of older leaves first. A lack of magnesium will also cause fruits to be small, and woody.
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| Magnesium deficiency in a raspberry plant |
To use on your vegetables and fruits, Epsom salt can either be directly applied in the hole when planting veggies, or sprinkled around the plant at the base and re-applied every two weeks. Epsom salt can also be made into a solution and be sprayed directly onto the leaves of the plant (if you've noticed me spraying my peppers over in plot CE2, I've been applying an Epsom solution in hopes of bigger, better peppers!). While Epsom salt is great for peppers and tomatoes, it works great on pretty much any plant (including roses) and especially those in well-drained soils lacking in organic material (the magnesium in the soil quickly leaches out) or acidic soils.
If you need help identifying whether or not you have a magnesium deficiency in your plants, here's a link to a
blog post on nutrient deficiencies I posted a few weeks ago.
Stephanie Stiglmeier
Community Garden Intern
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