Whether you're an expert or amateur cannabis grower, Epsom salts offer incredible and healthy benefits to your weed plants, stimulating high-yield harvest all year round. Frankly, one simple truth exists about plants regardless of your cultivation experience — healthy plants produce bountiful harvests.
To this end, you must meet every one of your cannabis plants' needs to reap resin-laden, dank buds gushing with terpenes and cannabinoids. However, with a lot of factors to consider, how can one then ascertain that cannabis plants grow green, lush, and beautiful? The simple answer is Epsom salts, a natural supplement that is used by animals and plants alike.
WHAT IS EPSOM SALT?
Epsom salt, as the name implies, is a naturally occurring salt that was first discovered in the spring water of Epsom, a small town in England. Although at that time, farmers and townsfolk only believed they had stumbled on magical water with healing properties.
After discovering its healing properties, words spread far and wide and many began to seek after the 'magical' water. Remarkably, the salt retrieved from the spring was a very strong laxative which was great news for the society. Following the discovery, Epsom salt became the go-to medication for the treatment of constipation for the next 350 years.
While Epsom salt is widely known for its bowel-cleansing properties, many now find its use in farms and gardens across the globe. In fact, gardeners generally now consider Epsom salt as the holy grail to a healthy plant and maximum harvest. Why? This is because Epsom salt is no ordinary salt. It is a compound that contains both sulphur and magnesium, two essential macronutrients needed by plants (cannabis inclusive) for healthy growth
WHEN TO USE EPSOM SALT
While it's tempting to administer Epsom salts to all of your cannabis plants, it is truly not required if your plants are very healthy. But, if you're practicing outdoor cultivation in soil low in sulphur and/or magnesium, then it will be ideal to administer some Epsom salts. Generally, a very good way to know if your plants are lacking magnesium is the yellowing fan leaves of cannabis plants.
SULPHUR, MAGNESIUM, AND CANNABIS PLANTS
As mentioned earlier, the 'magical' qualities of Epsom salts are rooted in their sulphur and magnesium compounds. Both compounds actively work to boost the health of cannabis plants in lots of ways!
Magnesium and Cannabis plants
Being an essential macronutrient, Magnesium helps to stimulate the uptake of other vital nutrients like potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. By doing this, cannabis plants gain a lot of benefits like remarkable size, sticker growth, and great yields.
In most cases, you wouldn't need an extra magnesium supplement especially if your soil has a robust mix of essential macronutrients. But if not, you will be presented with symptoms such as yellowing of fan leaves which indicates magnesium deficiency. This symptom is usually first exhibited by the lower leaves and if not addressed, it gradually spreads to the rest of the plant.
Sulphur and Cannabis plants
Sulphur, similar to magnesium, also helps to stimulate the uptake of their viral nutrients. However, it also plays a vital role in plants' immunity, and the production of amino acids, vitamins, and enzymes. Above all, sulphur helps in moisture regulation in cannabis plants. These crucial roles of sulphur in plants' lives suggest that plants constantly need it for a very long time to deal with environmental stress and diseases.
ADVANTAGES OF EPSOM SALT
Epsom salts offer a lot of advantages to cannabis plants. Below are some of the primary benefits the magical salts offer cannabis plants.
1. Cheap and Environmentally Friendly
Every cannabis grower must answer the question of cost to determine if the investment is worth the returns. Thanks to the initial price of Epsom salt being cheap and the guaranteed bountiful harvest it facilitates in cannabis plants, cannabis growers are more assured of making profits.
However, there's the need to avoid the use of Epsom salt intended for human use for cannabis as it mostly contains some additional additives which may be harmful to plants. Epsom salts are also good for the environment, so there's no need to worry about soil contamination.
2. Stimulates the production of Chlorophyll
Absence of chlorophyll, light absorption from sunlight won't be possible by plants, and without light, photosynthesis cannot occur. Hence, no buds, no leaves, and basically no growth. Epsom salt, especially the magnesium compound, helps in the production of chlorophyll, improving the process of photosynthesis and overall plant growth in the process.
3. Maintains Plants' health and structure.
All cannabis growers want a well-developed and healthy plant. Fortunately, Epsom salts help to achieve this. By stimulating the uptake of other vital nutrients, Epsom salts help to encourage photosynthesis, and the production of amino acids helps strengthen plant cell walls. Epsom salts together with the natural plant process health exceptionally boost plant health and immunity.
How to make use of Epsom Salts
Perhaps the most crucial advantage Epsom salt offers is its versatility and its straightforward usage. In fact, a minute quantity of Epsom salt is enough to offer incredible benefits to cannabis plants both in hydroponic and soil culture.
In Soil
To achieve healthy germination and seedlings, one teaspoon of Epsom salt per five liters of water is generally recommended. Although, the solution should not be applied directly but instead diffused using a spray bottle. The solution is then administered in the form of mist once every 2 or 3 days. Also, ensure that spraying is done when lights are off to avoid burn
Don't forget that Epsom salt is most effective in soils that lack magnesium. If your soil has a very high pH, you should consider watering with Epsom salt to balance the nutrient level.
In Hydro
As regards hydroponics, the same dosage recommendation as that of soil should be followed but the solution should be applied using the foliar spray. Similar to the soil setup, also ensure that spraying is not done when the lights are on to prevent light burn.
Although, if you prefer to apply Epsom salts directly into the hydroponic setup, two teaspoons of Epsom salt per five liters of water should be administered. To achieve even consistency, it is best if the Epsom salt is first dissolved in lukewarm water.
Conclusion
While the benefits of Epsom salt on cannabis plants are remarkably undeniable, one must be careful and not be too eager to administer too much. Too much sulphur and magnesium are known to cause lasting damage to plants, blocking the uptake of several essential nutrients. However, as long as you stick to the recommended dosage, everything should go smoothly. When administered in the right dosage, Epsom salt indeed becomes a holy grail for a healthy cannabis plant and bountiful harvest.
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