Has anyone ever used Epsom salts in their garden?

[Ruth n Jersey]

This is my first year growing egg plants. After gardening for so many years I don't why I haven't tried them.
They are coming along nicely after a slow start because we had some very cool days at the beginning of spring.
Several sites that I read recommended using Epson salts for fertilizer. Has anyone done this? Can you see a difference in plant growth?
I know to much nitrogen produces all plant and not much fruit. I don't even have to fertilize my tomatoes because my garden soil is so rich after many years of adding organic materials. Besides tomatoes love New Jersey.
I also read that egg plants have to be staked. Do you stake yours if you grow them?
I picked up a packet of Black Beauty seeds and started mine in the house.

 

[debodun]

I used it to kill weeds.

 

[Keesha]

I’m certainly no expert but I think adding Epsom salts to plants to get the magnesium is a bit risky. It’s salt after all and salt can burn the roots and cause plants to die. If your plants are growing healthy from adding compost to it each year, then I would not mess with a good thing. That doesn’t mean I’m right though. It means I’m unsure and wouldn’t risk it. I’ve never grown egg plants but have grown other vine plants and it makes a LOT of sense to grow them vertical. Squash , pumpkin and zuchinni take up a lot of space growing horizontally. So much so that I had to occasionally move the vines to mow the lawn since they overgrew in the garden.

 

[Keesha]

I used it to kill weeds.

So do I and I had that written in my answer but didnt want to scare you. ( Ruth ) I use salt, vinegar, water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid to kill the weeds on our driveway.

 

[bingo]

I have heard of using magnesium ..

 

[debodun]

Maybe a garden center has some preparation to put whatever you need into the soil.

 

[Kaila]

I thought I remembered using it, for a few veggie plants, that needed something in particular.
Other than adding magnesium, does it shift the PH of the soil, slightly?

I truly cant remember the details, so I would definitely have to research it all over again, before I "risked it" as was said above.
But I do think I did use it, at one time, for something in the veggie garden, with either positive results or at least, no harm..

Probably not needed though, with that healthy soil you describe!

My eggplant plants always grew strong and healthy, as long as I put some cover over them, during chilly or windy spells, here up North. I do not remember them needing to be staked.
Unless perhaps later on, if the eggplants themselves, start to grow large and weighty. You wouldn't want them against the ground.

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

@Keesha and @debodun Thanks,it seems to me if it kills weeds I don't think the egg plants would do well unless very diluted.
@bingo ,magnesium is what is in the Epson salts.
I'll stick to putting it on my achy knees. lol
I'm not all that sure they need anything at all. The internet is so full of info and much of it contradicts itself.

 

[Keesha]

I'm not all that sure they need anything at all. The internet is so full of info and much of it contradicts itself.

My thoughts exactly. It’s great for aching muscles and joints due to the magnesium and most information is so contradictory . I’d stick with what works. You are a great gardener. Trust your instincts.

 

[Warrigal]

I've never grown egg plants but I do know about Epsom salts. I've bolded key points

It a salt (magnesium sulfate - MgSO4) but very different to the salt we sprinkle on our food which is sodium chloride (NaCl). You can use both to kill weeds by sprinkling either one on the leaves of broad leaved plants such as clover on a hot, dry day. The salts extract water from the leaves and the plant shrivels and dies from dehydration. Only then do you water the salt into the ground.

Common table salt should never be used for weeding because it poisons the soil but epsom salts does not. In reasonable amounts it does act as a fertiliser and encourages the other plants like grass to grow more vigorously, thus reducing the space for new weeds to grow.

There are better fertilisers and better ways to deal with weeds. Currently I am dealing with a few stray weeds in the garden beds using boiling water. Get them early and this is very easy.

Note - Magnesium sulfate is a weakly acidic salt but if used sparingly it should not be much of a problem.