Magnesium Deficiency and the Use of Epsom Salt in Organic Gardening

Magnesium (Mg) is a macronutrient that must be replenished during the garden growing season. Plants with a magnesium deficiency are easy to find, just look at the foliage. Magnesium deficiency results in a plant’s leaves turning yellow at the edges, and reduced leaf numbers.

Magnesium can be leached through the soil especially if there is a calcium deficiency, and the only way to truly know if your soil is deficient in a nutrient is to have it tested. Epson salt is magnesium sulfur. The Cooperative Extension of Maricopa County suggests a fertilizer source with the word “magnesium” or Epsom salt as a way to help correct a magnesium deficiency.

This video below goes into whether Epsom salt is beneficial to organic gardens, which relies heavily on a good compost. While there are many sources that say Epsom salt is beneficial for organic gardening, the video below via Alberta Urban Gardening kind of debunks the Epsom salt myth in gardening with their tests. But, for gardeners that do not have access to, or have the opportunity to create, a good compost in the their own backyard, Epsom salt would be an easy way to amend the soil with a magnesium deficiency.