Grower’s Notebook – How Epsom Salts Can Help Grow Better Cannabis Plants

Whether you are an expert or an amateur cannabis grower, Epsom salts provide incredible and healthy benefits to your cannabis plants, stimulating a bountiful harvest all year round. In all honesty, there’s one simple truth about plants, regardless of your growing experience—healthy plants produce bountiful harvests.

To that end, you must meet all of your cannabis plants’ needs in order to harvest resin-laden, horny buds that are brimming with terpenes and cannabinoids. However, with so many factors to consider, how can one tell that cannabis plants will grow green, lush, and beautiful? The simple answer is Epsom salts, a natural dietary supplement used by animals and plants alike.

WHAT IS EPSOM SALT?

Epsom salt, as the name suggests, is a naturally occurring salt that was first discovered in the spring water of Epsom, a small town in England. However, at that time, farmers and townspeople only believed that they had encountered magical water with healing properties.

After discovering its healing properties, word spread far and wide and many began searching for the “magic” water. Remarkably, the salt extracted from the spring was a very powerful laxative, which was great news for society. After its discovery, Epsom salt became the drug of choice to treat constipation for the next 350 years.

While Epsom salt is widely known for its colon cleansing properties, many now find it in farms and gardens around the world. In fact, gardeners today generally consider Epsom salt to be the holy grail for a healthy plant and maximum yield. Why? Epsom salt is no ordinary salt. It is a compound that contains both sulfur and magnesium, two essential macronutrients needed by plants (including cannabis) for healthy growth

WHEN SHOULD EPSOM SALT BE USED?

While it’s tempting to administer Epsom salts to all of your cannabis plants, this really isn’t necessary if your plants are very healthy. However, if you practice outdoor cultivation in soil low in sulfur and/or magnesium, it is ideal to give some Epsom salts. In general, the yellowed fan leaves of cannabis plants are a very good way to tell if your plants are lacking in magnesium.

SULFUR, MAGNESIUM AND CANNABIS PLANTS

As previously mentioned, Epsom salt’s “magical” properties are rooted in its sulfur and magnesium compounds. Both compounds are actively working to improve the health of cannabis plants in a variety of ways!

Magnesium and cannabis plants

As an essential macronutrient, magnesium helps stimulate the absorption of other vital nutrients such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. In this way, cannabis plants benefit from many advantages such as remarkable size, sticker growth and great yields.

In most cases, you won’t need an additional magnesium supplement, especially if your soil contains a robust mix of essential macronutrients. But if not, you will face symptoms like yellowing of the fan leaves, which indicates magnesium deficiency. This symptom is usually first exhibited by the lower leaves and, if left untreated, gradually spreads to the rest of the plant.

sulfur and cannabis plants

Sulfur, similar to magnesium, also helps stimulate absorption of their viral nutrients. However, it also plays an important role in plant immunity and the production of amino acids, vitamins and enzymes. Sulfur primarily helps with moisture regulation in cannabis plants. This critical role of sulfur in plant life suggests that plants need it continuously over a very long period of time to cope with environmental stress and disease.

BENEFITS OF EPSOM SALT

Epsom salt offers many benefits to cannabis plants. Listed below are some of the main benefits that the magic salts provide to cannabis plants.

1. Inexpensive and environmentally friendly

Every cannabis grower must answer the cost question to determine if the investment is worth the return. Thanks to the low starting price of Epsom salts and the guaranteed bounty harvest it allows cannabis plants to grow, cannabis growers can be more confident of making a profit.

However, there is a need to avoid using Epsom salts for human consumption for cannabis, as most of the time it contains some additional additives that can be harmful to plants. Epsom salt is also good for the environment, so you don’t have to worry about soil contamination.

2. Stimulates the production of chlorophyll

Without chlorophyll, light absorption from sunlight by plants is not possible, and without light, photosynthesis cannot take place. Hence no buds, no leaves and basically no growth. Epsom salt, especially the magnesium compound, helps in the production of chlorophyll, thereby enhancing the process of photosynthesis and overall plant growth.

3. Maintains plant health and structure.

All cannabis growers want a well developed and healthy plant. Luckily, Epsom salt helps with this. By stimulating the absorption of other vital nutrients, Epsom salt helps promote photosynthesis, and the production of amino acids helps strengthen plant cell walls. Epsom salts combined with natural plant health greatly increase plant health and immunity.

How to use Epsom Salt

Perhaps the most important benefit of Epsom salt is its versatility and ease of use. In fact, a tiny amount of Epsom salts is enough to provide incredible benefits to cannabis plants in both hydroponics and soil culture.

In the ground

To achieve healthy germination and seedlings, one teaspoon of Epsom salts to five liters of water is generally recommended. However, the solution should not be applied directly, but sprayed with a spray bottle. The solution is then administered in the form of a mist once every 2 or 3 days. Also, make sure to spray with the lights off to avoid burns

Don’t forget that Epsom salts are most effective in magnesium-deficient soils. If your soil has a very high pH, ​​consider watering with Epsom salts to balance the nutrient levels.

At Hydro

Hydroponics should follow the same dosing recommendation as soil, but the solution should be applied using the foliar spray. Similar to floor construction, also make sure not to spray when lights are on to avoid light burn.

If you prefer to add Epsom salts directly to the hydroponic setup, two teaspoons of Epsom salts should be administered per five liters of water. To achieve an even consistency, it is best to first dissolve the Epsom salt in lukewarm water.

Conclusion

While the benefits of Epsom salts on cannabis plants are remarkably undeniable, one must be careful and not be too eager to overdose. Too much sulfur and magnesium is known to permanently damage plants and block the absorption of several essential nutrients. However, as long as you stick to the recommended dosage, everything should go smoothly. Indeed, when administered in the right dosage, Epsom salts become a holy grail for a healthy cannabis plant and bountiful harvest.

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