Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
Epsom salt is a fertilizer that is used to fertilize conifers and thuja, as these, like many other coniferous trees, often suffer from a magnesium deficiency. The soil conditions are very important when it comes to dosing, as this affects the amount of Epsom salt required. Magnesium sulphate, which was given its current name due to its bitter aroma, can also be used to lower the pH value in the soil.
Epsom salt
When is Epsom salt necessary?
Epsom salt is the colloquial term for magnesium sulphate heptahydrate, which can be obtained from a number of substances, but is now mostly produced synthetically. This is a mineral that, when ground, is perfect as a fertilizer and is used for coniferous trees, which are often found on acidic soils. trees of life (bot. Thuja) and others conifers (bot. Coniferales) often have to be supplied with Epsom salts in German gardens to avoid the following problematic symptoms.
- Needles turn yellowish, starting from the tip
- in the final stage brown
- poor growth
- more prone to disease
- In general, vitality suffers from a magnesium deficiency
Coniferous trees in the garden area
magnesium sulfate
Thuja and other conifers in particular need a lot of magnesium sulfate, as this enables the formation of leafy green, chlorophyll, which is essential for the majority of all plants. If your soil also has a too high pH value, you can lower it with magnesium sulphate, which will please thujas and coniferales. However, this should only be done if you are confident that the pH can be lowered. Here it depends on the dosage, so that the soil is not acidified.
Tip: A lack of iron and sulfur in the plants is shown by almost identical symptoms. The only difference is that the iron deficiency is only noticeable in the young needles, so you can easily determine whether you need to fertilize with Epsom salts.
Best time
The timing of fertilization is crucial to be able to treat the lack of magnesium in the long term. The fertilization times differ according to the severity of the deficiency.
In the event of a recognizable defect
If the plants are to be treated due to a sudden deficiency, this should be done immediately and once. The Epsom salt is absorbed very quickly and is absorbed by the trees of life within a short time, which has a beneficial effect on their metabolism.
Permanent application
To prevent magnesium deficiency, permanent fertilization is necessary if your soil does not provide a good basis for the conifers in the long term. This should be used in spring, preferably in April before the start of the growing season. With light soils it is necessary to fertilize again in summer. But check the health of the thuja beforehand, so as not to fertilize too much.
Epsom salts as a fertilizer for conifers
long-term fertilizer
Epsom salts are offered in combination with other minerals as a long-acting fertilizer and in this way only need to be fertilized once a year. April is also used here.
Stick to these timelines so as not to apply the fertilizer too early, because premature budding can occur if you fertilize too quickly. This could have a negative impact on the vitality of the plants, even if the genus is generally very robust.
Application Tips
10 tips on dosage and use
At first glance, using Epsom salt fertilizer seems quite simple, but there are many mistakes that can be made when it comes to dosing. This then acidifies the soil and in many cases high amounts of this fertilizer are not necessary to achieve the desired effect. The following 10 tips will help you use Epsom salts properly.
Thuja, tree of life
1st tip
The soil analysis. Before you even use the fertilizer, you should always have one soil analysis have it carried out. Since there can be other causes for the symptoms mentioned above in adult shoots and needles, the analysis has an enlightening effect and other measures must be applied.
The following causes can also be the reason for the deficiency symptoms:
- Aluminum blocks nutrient absorption due to a pH below 5
- Magnesium is insoluble in water because the pH is above 7
- did you fertilize with liquid manure or urea?
- both of these substances can impede the absorption of magnesium for short periods of time
If you have these problems, you should not fertilize with Epsom salt. You can either carry out soil analyzes with a soil analysis set or send the soil samples to a laboratory. Laboratory tests are valid for about five years.
2nd tip
You can also at the nature Your soil can detect if there is more or less magnesium present, which could necessitate fertilization with Epsom salts.
The following are the soil types and the amount of magnesium per 100 grams of soil:
- light soils (sand, sand with the addition of clay): 3 - 4 mg
- medium-heavy soils (loam with additions of sand or humus): 4 - 6 mg
- heavy soils (loam, clay): 6 - 9 mg
Apply Epsom salt under conifers
Of course, a soil analysis would be much more effective here, but you can use the soil types as a guide.
3rd tip
the dosage is crucial for the use of the fertilizer in thuja and other conifers. This depends on the type of soil, because the heavier the soil, the more Epsom salt has to be used. The reason for this lies in the nature of the soil. Light soil releases the magnesium to the plants faster, while medium and heavy soils store more magnesium after fertilization and release it to the plants over a longer period of time. For this reason, the initial magnesium content of the soil is important, because you can only find out from a test.
4th tip
Once you know the starting level, you can dose accordingly. Note that the starting salary not only contains the natural magnesium content of the soil, but also includes magnesium from previous fertilizer additions. The corresponding fertilizer dosages per m² based on the starting content and the soil type.
- very low initial content in light soils (1 - 2 mg): 20 - 30 g
- average starting content for light soils (3 - 4 mg): 15 g
- low starting content for medium-heavy soils (1 - 4 mg): 30 g
- average starting content for medium-heavy soils (5 - 10 mg): 15 - 20 g
- low starting content for heavy soils (1 - 8 mg): 30 g
- Average starting content for heavy soils (9 - 13 mg): 15 - 20 g
If you don't know what type of soil you have, you can also find out through soil analysis.
5th tip
From a certain amount magnesium you no longer have to add fertilizer to the soil.
These are:
- light soils: from 7 mg
- medium-heavy soils: from 10 mg
- heavy soils: from 15 mg
With these, you would only apply too much fertilizer, which would have a negative effect on the soil conditions. Don't fertilize too much!
Epsom salt for healthy conifers
6th tip
Do you have old thuja or conifers in the garden? Then you can give a little more fertilizer, because the necessary magnesium increases with each year, especially if it is a healthy conifer. Here you can fertilize twice or three times as much on average.
7th tip
The choice of Epsom salt is of course another important point. Here you need to pay attention, just that magnesium sulfate to be selected when there is insufficient magnesium in the soil. If other nutrients and trace elements are missing, you should use a multi-component fertilizer that contains the appropriate nutrients instead of the Epsom salt fertilizer.
8th tip
The spray solution. With the spray solution treat an acute deficiency directly and within a short period of time. To do this, dissolve 200 mg of Epsom salt in 10 liters of water and treat as described below.
- if it is dry, first hose down the conifers with a garden hose
- Treatment after a rain shower is particularly effective
- do not use in sunshine, otherwise the needles will burn
- now spray the needles of the conifers and the leaf scales of the thuja with the solution
- Don't forget the underside of the needles and leaf scales, because the solution is easily absorbed through them
- be sure to use just enough to keep the needles from dripping
This form of fertilization is not recommended for annual use.
9th tip
An annual fertilization. the annual fertilization in spring and if necessary in summer is not applied as a spray solution.
Epsom salt as a long-term fertilizer
Proceed as follows:
- if you use the salt neat, sprinkle it directly on the floor
- work this one into something
- if you are administering the Epsom salts over the irrigation water, dose the water according to the manufacturer's instructions
- then pour the fertilizer on the ground around the conifers and thuja
If you don't want to mix the irrigation water solution yourself, you can buy ready-made solutions in stores. However, the use of salt is usually more worthwhile for cost reasons.
10th tip
Give the fertilizer in large quantities No way direct on the root. This could lead to damage to the roots, especially if not watered enough and there is a lot of sunlight.