12 Genius Epsom Salt Garden Hacks

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I love hacks! I can’t get enough. When I first read about Epsom salt and how gardeners use it, I was super excited. I did some research and found some amazing Epsom salt garden hacks. I’m eager to share them with you!

If you love hacks the way I do, you have to take a peek at these laundry hacks, cleaning hacks and organizing hacks.

Epsom Salt Garden Hacks
via The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener

Epsom Salt Garden Hacks

Always do a soil test first to be sure the Epsom salt isn’t going to have any sort of adverse effect.

Sweeter, Larger Tomatoes

You may already know that tomatoes need magnesium to grow big and strong. To make sure they get enough, Epsom salt to the rescue!

When you’re planting, put 1 tablespoon of the salt in the bottom of the hole and put a thin layer of dirt over it. Drop the seedling in the hole.

Mix 1 TBSP Epsom salt in a gallon of warm water. Every two weeks, water the plants with this mixture.

Delicious Peppers

Just like tomatoes, all sorts of peppers respond beautifully to the same treatment. They’ll grow bigger and more flavorful.

More Colorful Roses

Soak the roots of new rose bushes in Epsom salt and water. Sprinkle the roots of each rose bush with Epsom salt once a month.

Stunning Azaleas

Stunning Azaleas

Every two weeks, mix  1 TBSP in a gallon of warm water and spray the ground beneath the flowers.

Sweeter Apples

Dissolve Epsom salt in water and put it around the base of the tree. Works on other fruit trees and bushes as well.

Yellow Leaves on Plants

Sprinkle Epsom salt around the base of the plant. It’s amazing how well it works!

Leaf Curling

When leaves of a plant begin to curl, it may be a magnesium deficiency. 1 TBSP per gallon of water is the perfect solution to soak the soil.

Ferns

Use the standard 1 TBSP per gallon of water mixture to feed your ferns to get beautiful, healthy green leaves.

Beautiful Lawn

Put Epsom salt in a seed spreader and distribute it on the lawn. For every 1200 square feet, use about 3 pounds of salt.

Epsom Salt Garden Hacks

Get Rid of Pests

Snails (and other creepy crawlies) really hate the way salt feels. Sprinkle it over your garden to keep them out.

Weed Killer

Mix 2 cups of the salt in one gallon of plain, white vinegar. Add some dishwashing liquid. Shake it up and spray directly on weeds. Be careful though. It will kill other plants it gets to, so be mindful as to where you use it.

Help to Remove Tree Stumps

Drill lots of holes in the stump, about 3 inches apart. Pour salt directly in the holes and fill with water. Repeat as often as needed to make the stump begin to dry out and become more brittle. It’ll make it easier to get the stump out.

Those are all the Epsom salt garden hacks I have for you today.

Are you a talented gardener with a green thumb? What hacks do you have for me? I’d be so, so grateful if you’d share!

Epsom Salt for Garden
image via Alternative Energy Gardening

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10 comments on “12 Genius Epsom Salt Garden Hacks”

  1. You start your article by warning readers to do a soil test for any “adverse effects.”   Can you suggest how to do that?   The only test I can think of is to try your methods and see if they kill my plants or not.    Or I guess I could have a duplicate garden with the same plants and same conditions and do a comparison, but this seems rather unwieldy.   Suggestions? 

  2. New soil will need to be built up with compost. To kill off grass or weeds that are coming up is to get hot compost and spread it on the tilled soil. cover it with black plastic for a few weeks. This should cook the soil and deprive the weeds of sunlight. (each week add some water to keep it moist but not soggy.) When you get ready to plant you can keep the plastic on and transplant seedlings by cutting into the plastic and planting in a weed free bed. If you are growing tomatoes you should use red plastic to improve the productivity of the plant. The ancient method of planting symbiotic plants together Called the Three sisters (Corn, Beans and Squash) this helps build the soil nutrients and balances the soil. Marigolds are a good pest prevention plant Also in your yard plant a section of flowering plants to attract pollenating critters. There are several natural gardening resources available on line ( I like Mother Earth News among others)

  3. Jennifer Collins

    I’m a newbie at gardening. I had my yard tilted 2 week’s ago.i go out try pull grass up as I see it. What should I plant that is good for a new gardener. What not to plant next to each other. My husband’s wants to spray weed killer on it I won’t let him. Any advice would soo grateful much appreciated.

  4. tina guerriero

    if you can figure out a way to kill ants with Epsom salts let me know. I have 4 different kinds of ants and they are getting in the house

    1. You can kill ants with quick grits around the mound. I have kids ans this is what I use. they take it right to the queen and when she eats it it swells and kills her and then they die