In article ,
" wrote:

On Thursday, May 30, 2013 7:22:26 PM UTC-4, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Billy wrote:

In article ,

" wrote:



What is the best way to use Epsom? As a spray for the foliage or

sprinkle it around the base of the plants?



MJ





Epsom salts has been used to relieve magnesium defi ciency found

during intensive cropping of many fruit and vegetable species

worldwide. Th ese include commonly grown North American crops such as

alfalfa, apple, beets, carrots, citrus, cauliflower, cotton, grains,

hops, kale, nuts, okra, peppers, plums, potatoes, snap beans, sugar

beets, sweet potatoes, tobacco, tomatoes, watermelon, and wine

grapes, as well as more exotic species including banana, cacao, coff

ee, rubber, Swedish turnips, and tea.



Among the diverse plant materials that have been studied under

treatment with Epsom salts, there are two commonalities: all are

intensively produced crops and all were suffering from magnesium

deficiency.



There are two primary causes of magnesium defi ciency in plants:

an actual lack of soil magnesium, or an imposed defi ciency caused by

mineral imbalances in the soil or plant. Magnesium deficiencies most

commonly occur in soils described as light, sandy, and/or acid, though

occasionally clay soils under intensive production can show

magnesium defi ciency as well.



Regardless of type, soils heavily leached by rainfall or irrigation

are more likely to exhibit magnesium defi ciency. Thus, soil addition

of highly soluble Epsom salts under leaching conditions does not

benefit magnesium-deficient plants but does increase mineral

contamination of water passing through.



To restore magnesium, buy some Epsom salts at the drugstore and add

about one tablespoon to an empty spray bottle. Then fill the bottle

with lukewarm water, shake it up so the Epsom salts dissolve and

spray the solution on the leaves and blossoms of your pepper plants.



Epsom salt solutions have been sprayed on foliage, resulting in leaf

scorch; inclusion of a wetting agent can relieve this. A teeny bit of

detergent maybe? Commercial wetting agents look pricy.



As well as all this keep in mind that a foliar spray is a quick fix not a

long term solution and it doesn't last long. Unless you want to do it
every

few weeks study your soil and see what needs to be done to provide a long

term balance of minerals.



D

Everything is fertilized with 10 10 10. The peppers (bell) do not have very
thick walls and I thought I had read that this would help. There is a lot of
irrigation to the garden, so am I wasting my time and effort? The burning
issue concerns me too. Would early morning be enough to combat that?
MJ

Of course I recommend that you go organic. That said, I can only
recommend you try different pepper cultivars, and find the ones that
best like your garden. Watering at levels above what is needed can
create cultivation problems (root rot), and dilute flavor in the fruits,
and vegetables.
======
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Girl

Early Girl is well suited to a technique known as "dry farming".[4]

Researchers at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems
at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are among those who have
described the technique: not watering tomatoes after transplanting,
forcing the roots to grow deeper to seek out moisture, producing more
"concentrated flavor," and saving water.[5]

Dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes have a cult following, and aficionados
claim the taste of dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes rival those of the
best-regarded heirloom tomatoes.[6][7][8]

Dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes are popular in farmers markets in the San
Francisco Bay Area. The variety is also popular with home gardeners in
that region, where it thrives despite the area's cool and often overcast
summers.[9][10][11]

Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters is a fan of the Early Girl tomato,
telling an interviewer "[O]ne of the best tomatoes I¹ve ever had was an
Early Girl that was dry-farmed up in Napa at a friend¹s house."
======

The problem with burning is the concentration of salts in a droplet of
water. Wetting agents let the water spread out in a sheet, rather that
let the surface tension hold it together in a droplet.

Try a drop of detergent per bottle, and then spray a leaf. If droplets
persist add another drop. I wouldn't go above 10 drops (1/2 ml), but
more than that may be OK, depending on the size of the sprayer bottle.
--
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http://www.rachelcorrie.org/

Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg