10/17/2007

Hi Everyone....

This Spring I came across the web site: Epsom Salt
Council. In it it states you can use a half a teaspoon of Epsom
salts in your houseplants, I tried it , it works , do it once a month.
I decided to use it on my Ponderosa Lemon tree. It has bloomed
four times since Spring. Here's the Epsom Salt Council site...Let me
know what you think ?


http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org


Cheers...Joe...

It is standard recommendation that for every 4 parts ammonium sulfate, you mix one part Epsom salt.

Lemons will bloom 4 or more time a year with or without Epsom salts. Lemons have their heaviest bloom in the spring, but bloom more or less continually throughout the year. The addition of magnesium is beneficial, but be careful of the amount added. When applying Epsom salts to citrus one must be careful not to upset the calcium/magnesium ratio. The proper ratio is 2:l calcium to magnesium. Applying Epsom salts randomly or continually, causing high levels of magnesium, inhibits the uptake of Potassium, Manganese and Calcium, especially in container culture. Over application of any nutrient affects many other nutrients. - Millet

Here is an experience I had two years ago. I had a large satsuma tree that bloomed every year for years and then shed the flowers with no fruit. This happenend repeatedly for several years in a row much to my dismay. Someone told me to try sprinkling Epsom salts around the roots of the tree. I bought a pound box of Epsom at the grocery store and went home and whitened the ground under the entire canopy of the tree. This was in early spring and the flower buds were already visible. When the flowers bloomed... just about every one of them made fruit and held on until harvest time. I was actually afraid the branches were going to break from the weight of the fruit! I would estimate the tree made 3 bushels the first year of production. This past spring, I repeated my little trick and Im glad to report, the tree has a sizable crop of fruit again in spite of a hard freeze in mid April! I have a friend who has a seedling keraji mandarin tree that has flowered for several years with no fruit. I told him about the Epsom salts discovery and he used it this past spring. He now has fruit for the first time! Im sure there are some skeptics out there, but I am sold on the stuff! I had so much fruit on my tree that I actually sold some of the excess!

I am a big believer in magnesium.Way back in 1979 Dr.Jasper Joiner taught us (at the University of Florida) that in general plants need more magnesium than phosphorus! He was a big supporter of the notion that if you are growing in relatively sterile sand (which we have a lot of in Florida ) using a 10-5-10-6 (NPKMg) ratio on just about any crop will give nearly optimal results.Epsom Salts (Magnesium sulfate) is very soluble-and unfortunately can leach away-but this is also the saving grace for gardeners who put super doses of it on crops that would make the experts fear soluble salt injury or getting the Calcium to Magnesium ratio out of kilter.Such fears are largely unfounded-

Quote:

Over the years, a significant amount of conversation and salesmanship has revolved around the concept of the ideal soil Ca:Mg ratio. Most of the claims for the ideal ratio range between 5:1 and 8:1. Some of the claims are that the correct soil Ca:Mg ratio will Improve soil structure. Reduce weed populations, especially foxtail and quackgrass, and improves forage quality. Reduce leaching of other plant nutrients. Generally improve the balance of most soil nutrients. According to Dr. Stanley Barber, Purdue Univ., "There is no research justification for the added expense of obtaining a definite Ca:Mg ratio in the soilResearch indicates that plant yield or quality is not appreciably affected over a wide range of Ca:Mg ratios in the soil."

Extreme high amounts of magnesium may induce a potassium deficiency-but this is rare.Magnesium is available for a slower release from Dolomitic Lime (which also gives Calcium of course )another good source is K-Mag which also supplies Potassium.

In relation to increased fruit sets, it can also increase number of blooms. I used it on my bananas and roses. With roses, I end up with more rose hips if I forget to cut the spent blooms.