Epson
salt is a recognized source of magnesium... snip ..They started off great
though
using epson salt sprayed on the plant and in the soil and using
calcium tablets. And they've been hit by cabbage worms and
couple other things. I left for a week and when I came back
all their leaves had turned brown. I chopped off the leaves
and some of their stems are turning brown, in fact I chopped
off some stems as well. Now some leaves are growing back
and they are hanging in there.
This is way too much Epsom salts. You want to apply it once in the spring and
that is it. I give to roses but never to tomatoes.
Some of my problems are that one particular tomato plant is
in full sun (90 degree F temps +) 9 hours (++) each day, so
it needs watering a couple times a day. Even when the plant
is in the shade at later parts of the day, it's getting a lot of sun
because the sun is reflecting off of white stepping stones.
Unless you have extremely sandy soil or are watering way too little at a time
you are watering too often. My tomatoes are in full sun in 100+ temps and I
water them only every third day. These are BIG plants.
When the temps are below 90 I water once a week. You need to apply some
organic mulch around the roots and water longer and more deeply and less often.
It's been a month since I've given the plant calcium and epson
salt and it's growing very very slowly now.
I don't know if it has blossom end rot or not. The leaves are
coming in very green, but some of the stems are turning brown
around the very ends of the tips.
Could be burn from all the salts
I suggest you not worry about BER until you get fruit. It may not even have
been a problem for you. Usually BER is a result of inconsistent water rather
than lack of calcium in the soil. Plants only nedd smal amounts of calcium and
magnesium.
I'm currently testing out some 1-2-1 fertilizer with trace amounts
of other minerals, and have stopped with the calcium and epson
salt.
Good , but forget the fertilizer also. I have never fertilized a tomato plant
in 20 years
--
Jim Carlock
http://www.votetoimpeach.org/
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Emilie
NorCal