Good morning everyone. Was poking around for info on Epsom salts and ran into a little article about it, nothing great, but a response/comment to it deserved a copy and paste to the 600, I think. Just FYI.
I did an experiment with Epsom salts and several identical potted plants. I increased the salt concentration from zero in the first pot to a very high concentration in the last intended to kill the plants. I controlled the experiment for about three weeks. I did separate experiments on peas and beans. A bit of epsom salts increased growth over plain potting soil. However, it rapidly became toxic in higher concentrations. The peas were more resistant than the beans. So, my comment is… a little helps, but too much can kill, so err on the side of too little rather than too much.
Here's another forums post that follows up well with this.
06-15-2006, 10:21 PM
Spanishfly
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Costa Blanca, Spain on a Temporary Ban from the City
Posts: 2,654
Epsom Salts
I feel I should say a few words about the use of Epsom Salts in cannabis cultivation.
All green plants produce their own food from water, CO2, and light, by a process named photosynthesis. The chlorophyll molecule, which is essential to photosynthesis, is coloured green and contains one atom of magnesium. So adequate magnesium is absolutely vital to the growth of green plants.
If there is a shortage of magnesium in the plant´s nutritional intake, an early indication is the yellowing of leaves. It is easy to remedy any deficiency by feeding a dilute solution of Epsom salts, MgSO4, in a concentration of about a teaspoon to a gallon, two or three times in the growing season; a little goes a long way.
Magnesium deficiency is distressingly common, many commercial soils contain little or none of the element, and many ferts only contain tiny amounts of magnesium, if they contain any at all. And growers do not always appreciate its importance.
But magnesium deficiency is not the only cause of leaf yellowing - a shortage of nitrogen can have similar symptoms, but this is MUCH less common as most of us routinely feed nitrogen-containing ferts. Some pests, such as red spider mite, can cause leaf yellowing, as can a whole host of viruses to which your ladies are susceptible. And don´t forget it is normal for the lowest leaves on the plant to yellow and die. They have done their job, and your buds are now being fed by the products of the photosynthesis being carried out by the fan leaves.
But if you do have a problem, I do recommend that you try some Epsom salts in the first instance. It may well not be the answer for your problem, but it very often is.
Dsourman likes this.
Last edited by Spanishfly; 06-16-2006 at 06:49 PM.