Epsom Salt

[DWCgrower]

What is the best application of Epsom Salt and what is it for?

Someone told me that it is good to use 1gram per gallon starting the flowing stage.

I am using a DWC Under Current System.

 

[LittleDabbie]

Epsom salt = magnesium sulfate

its a fertilizer used to improve deficiencys, Do your plants suffer from a magnesium deficiency?

 

[DWCgrower]

They are not suffering, I was told that it was good during the flowering cycle

 

[LittleDabbie]

Well My mom uses it on her roses .. I cant really say it makes much of a difference or not tho..

Someone will chime in soon im sure :D

 

[cephalopod]

Epsom salt = magnesium sulfate

its a fertilizer used to improve deficiencys, Do your plants suffer from a magnesium deficiency?

I think you nailed it right here Dabbie along with added sulfur. Magnesium for chlorophyll production and sulfur a micro also helps make chlorophyll among other functions. I some times start to see deficiencies around week 3-4 of flower after you've run things a few times you'll know when to start to kick things up. Leaves will start to fade between the veins, cupping praying for mg and being a mobile element look for this to happen first on your lower leaves. You can do a foliar spray and/or add it to your recipe.
I know this isn't specific, but it'll still helps to better understand mobile and immobile elements which will go a long way when you're trying to figure out your deficiency is.
http://npk.okstate.edu/presentations/4-11/Identification of Nutrient DeficienciesNE.pdf

 

[DWCgrower]

I think you nailed it right here Dabbie along with added sulfur. Magnesium for chlorophyll production and sulfur a micro also helps make chlorophyll among other functions. I some times start to see deficiencies around week 3-4 of flower after you've run things a few times you'll know when to start to kick things up. Leaves will start to fade between the veins, cupping praying for mg and being a mobile element look for this to happen first on your lower leaves. You can do a foliar spray and/or add it to your recipe.
I know this isn't specific, but it'll still helps to better understand mobile and immobile elements which will go a long way when you're trying to figure out your deficiency is.
http://npk.okstate.edu/presentations/4-11/Identification of Nutrient DeficienciesNE.pdf

Thank you for your reply. I have another question? Do you think 1 gram per gallon X (365 gallons) is not too much of a dose?

 

[cephalopod]

It helps to know where your solution is at, there are some free calculators out there that are nice. According to the premix calculator from cannastats 1 gram of epsom to one gallon of water - the volme of water that gram of salt displaces gives you 25.5ppm mg and 33.7ppm sulfur. Personally I'm using 3-4 ml Botanicare Cal/Mag .25g epsom/gallon. Until you know your profile for your particular recipe, plus account for your starting water, you're kinda playing a big guessing game.

 

[squiggly]

Mg, S, and Ca are considered secondary elements in plant nutrition, as compared with N, P, and K for macro elements and Fe, B, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Mo as micro elements. You want to be supplementing an appreciable amount of Mg and S, but you should be careful not to overdo it.

Sulfur certainly is helpful in flower (especially if you want to produce terpenoids and isoprenoids), it is a common deficiency that goes un-noticed because damage/burn only starts to show when S is VERY deficient.

Mg is very prone to deficiency, but the effects of it show more quickly (Mg is an essential component of many metalloenzymes as well as chlorophyll which is ubiquitous throughout leaf tissues--and is also a mobile nutrient by comparison to S).

 

[cephalopod]

Good point Squiggs, secondary elements would be a better descriptions. The tissue analysis I've seen have Mg Ca and S highest on the charts next to NPK, along with dis-spelling the high phosphorus in flowering myth. Best advice I can give you is slow and steady, less is more and learn to let your girls tell you how they're doing, what they're wanting.

 

[way2green]

@DWCgrower
Epsom salt is a great source for deficiencies listed above. You should definitely check the nutes you are currently using. Many flowering nutes already contain all of the micro and macro nutrients that you will ever use. Tiger Bloom for an example looks like a Friggin chemistry experiment! Works great... I cannot imagine using epsom salt following a Tiger Bloom experiment.
Just remember that epsom salt applications became popular many years ago when home farmers or gardeners were looking for anything that they could find that was also quite prevalent as well as inexpensive..... If you were trying to cultivate in poor dirt then I am sure epsom salt was quite the miracle!

 

[squiggly]

Elemental composition of cell is something along the order:

H>C>N>P>O>S

With H:C ratios >2.5 or so being typical
C:N ratios >35 or more (why we are called "carbon based life")
N:P ratios >3 being typical
O:S ratios >1 being typical, but varying wildly based on cell type.

These elements make up the majority of structural components in life. Other elements play structural roles but not necessarily as pervasively (often leaning towards ionic bond character over covalent bond).

So you likely DO need more phosphorus in flower, it's just a question of HOW the plant needs it.

Perhaps it can kick up it's ability to take up phosphorus and compensate for the new need without actually requiring net input of nutrients relative to earlier feedings.

More phosphorus is certainly needed for new growth, but it's not always as simple as the plant takes what you give it. It actually ends up being more of a statistical distribution relative to the current surface area of root mass I think we'd probably find if we dug into this. The plant needs more later, but it can also take more from the same supply.

 

[DWCgrower]

It helps to know where your solution is at, there are some free calculators out there that are nice. According to the premix calculator from cannastats 1 gram of epsom to one gallon of water - the volme of water that gram of salt displaces gives you 25.5ppm mg and 33.7ppm sulfur. Personally I'm using 3-4 ml Botanicare Cal/Mag .25g epsom/gallon. Until you know your profile for your particular recipe, plus account for your starting water, you're kinda playing a big guessing game.

Cephalopod: so you saying that based on my system size which is 365gal I should based on your calculations need to add 1,095ml of CalMag during my feedings not to have a Mag deficiency?

 

[VERMONTSKUNKS]

carbon based lifeforms.............damnit jim im just a doctor! A doctor who uses Epsom salts!

 

[cephalopod]

Cephalopod: so you saying that based on my system size which is 365gal I should based on your calculations need to add 1,095ml of CalMag during my feedings not to have a Mag deficiency?

You might not have to supplement depending on your base nutes/recipe. That's why it's important imo to use the calcs and have clean 0-5ppm water to start with. It would be more economical to do a foliar feed if needed. Try to have a good nute profile and I wouldn't try to correct any deficiencies I wasn't experiencing. Learn you plants , listen to what they tell you'll find out they are going to have different preferences/needs strain by strain.

 

[squiggly]

I would always supplement sulfur in a soil mix and make sure its a component of nutrient regimen in hydro.

No need to necessarily add more if you're not showing deficiencies, but it should definitely be in there.

 

[DWCgrower]

I would always supplement sulfur in a soil mix and make sure its a component of nutrient regimen in hydro.

No need to necessarily add more if you're not showing deficiencies, but it should definitely be in there.

So i ran 3 days of sulfur burn and i still have the white dust on the bottom of my plan and on some leafs as well. What is it and how can I cure it?

 

[squiggly]

It sounds like mold to me (PM probably).

Pics?

 

[DWCgrower]

It sounds like mold to me (PM probably).

Pics?

 

[DWCgrower]

View attachment 454481
View attachment 454482

and this is AFTER i burned sulfur for past 3 days for 4hrs each

 

[DWCgrower]

and this is AFTER i burned sulfur for past 3 days for 4hrs each

How do I fix this?