Most succulents are not particularly heavy feeders. Most fertilisers contain appropriate levels of magnesium sulphate, or equivalent, already. For any large greedy succulents planted in the ground you may get a good response, depending on your soil. In a pot, there seems little point adding Epsom salts separately, you would need to add fertiliser anyway so why add the magnesium sulphate twice.

here is an interesting recipe for c&s that contains epsom salts. (thanks Becky)

Fast-Aging Cactus Fertilizer
1 12-ounce can or bottle of beer
1 cup of Epsom salts
1/2 cup of ammonia
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of molasses

mix and store in bottle, no need to refrig. 1tsp per gal when you water.

to read the whole conversation:
http://www.epiforums.com/showthread.php?t=321&highlight=beer+fert

it works,
-Ethan

Hi Ethan,
I tried it but not with the molasses and not on succs. What I did try it on loved it and I believe Becky said it was originally sold as a cactus fertilizer so succs should like it. I only use it during spring and summer. Actually for all practical purposes it is pretty much spring for my indoor plants, lots of things begin to stir in Feb. for me. Longer days and brighter sun.

I'd advise against it, I think it's more for houseplants & outdoor plants.

One very experienced C&S grower who no longer posts here mentioned a couple of yrs. ago that she applied ES to her Sansevierias, but she overdid it & ended up damaging her plants & regretted it. Better safe than sorry!

Ammonia is in the recipe? That's surprising.

What if a very small amount of Epsom Salt was put in per gallon of water? A teaspoon?

The reason I ask is because I was wondering if this is one technique to help fatten up jade trunks. I read about some of it from this site.

Dragon,

Really, I wouldn't do this. Pls. read the numerous threads on wacking back Jades (Crassulas), & you'll likely see the common advice throught all that is a combination of serious pruning & time to thicken those trunks!

Fred Grow had told me about this recipe (well, one that's pretty similar) and my plants have really perked up from it. I don't really have much to stand on since I've only used the mixture a few times, but it really made a difference in some of my hoyas that were failing on me. I also read that it is great for cacti/succs (helps them grow 250% faster). If you only want to use epsom salt and not the whole mixture, I don't see why that's a problem...as long as you use very little (that's just my opinion though...I'm no expert). Maybe mix 1 cup of epsom salt with 2 cups hot water (so it melts), then store that mixture and add a teaspoon to a gallon of water (that way you're using the above recipe minus the other ingredients)...but I would still use cacti/succ fertilizer for the other necessary ingredients (maybe switch off every month).

I saw a similar recipe somewhere else online. The only difference was that the person did not use molasses and used a shot of liquor instead of beer.

I'm going to try it sometime this spring.

Amany : Are you going to drink it ? Or put it on the plants. Try both !!!!!!!
LOU

Gabro : Good thinking !

DS,

It could be a cool series of blog entries where you chart the progress and show your results.

Well, it is Friday....

So why not drink? The thing is that if I start drinking the poor plants won't get any! ;-)

Yes, I am against this, for the reason stated above, but also that for many succulents, plant food & fertilizers ae not recommended, or if they are, it's infrequent applications only. In the wild, many succulents grow in crappy, bad soil, some in mineral rocks, sand, etc. from which they might gets some minerals & some nutrients from plant & animal debris, but not much.

I grow a lot of succulents & only fertilize them once, maybe twice a year in their most active growing season. When I do, I also give them succulent specific fertilizers which are in proper nutrient balance so as not to make for overly lush foliage.

Epsom Salts do well for Schlumbergeras. And I will agree that while there may be some initial good results, I would be careful as I recall a specialist in Insrael mentioning the bad effects on his pithaya from overdosage of it. All the bags of Epsom Salt I have seen in the stores come always tag on the message "works great on plants" without ever talking about the dosage. Simply bad marketing.

mrbrownthumb - That's a good idea.

I have jade plants and schlumbergeras. I don't have what sansevierias or pitahayas. I don't have a big collection of succulents because my interest is mostly in jade plants.

I have used succulent fertilizers on my jade plants but saw no results. I'm just looking around now and realized that no one has said anything about using them on jade plants.

Thanks Lou :)

Dragonstone,
I think that's a great idea to experiment on some of your jade clippings. Maybe use nothing but water on some cuttings and the epsom salt mixture on the others and see what happens. But I don't think I'd just pour the salt into the water pitcher....dissolve it first like explained above. Let us know your results!

Gabi

So why not drink?

Well the Ammonia is one reason that comes to mind :)

Apply to your plants if you feel you can afford to lose them, but definitely don't drink this stuff!

Did anyone go ahead and try this? I was feeling too lazy to go out for epsom salt, so I fertilized a few of my succulents with some house plant fertilizer at quarter strength. I think I'm done with fertilizing them until next year, since I don't want to overdo it.

I'm hoping that those of you that try this recipe on your succulents will share your results.

I made the fertilizer and used it on a few of my jade plants on the 1st of March. So far, I haven't seen anything bad yet and plan to water them again in a day or two.

Pirate girl,

If I remember right the grower you mentioned dumped what was left of a ES foot bath on her plant. Which is way more than the recipe above. I've tried the recipe and it works, however I wouldn't use it during dormancy. I suggest using hot water or else you'll have ES crystals on the bottom of your mix. You can use it as a foliar spray also. I use about 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water which is about 1/4 the strength recommended. It works very well for my orchids, Rhipsalis, Epiphyllums, and Schlumbergeras. Jades grow like weeds anyway so I've never fed it to them. I also use it on my citrus whenever they look like they are going to droop or yellow.

Any other follow up on this? I finally mixed up a batch and tried it today. I'll report back in about a month. I used it on some of my kalanchoes, my agave/aloe (I never really identified it), my wandering jew, my arrowhead syngonium, my Christmas cactus. In the coming weeks I'll try it on some sux that haven't been fertilized this season and some other house plants.

Magnesium is an important nutrient for many tropical species, being a requirement for fast leaf growth; epsom salt is highly soluble and most of it is washed away pretty quickly so even if it is used it needs to be frequent, I would limit it to stem succulents with non-succulent leaves that are watered freely during warm weather - something like Adenium and some Euphorbia...cactus and leaf succulents probably utilize this mineral at relatively low levels.

Yes, I've used ES on my succulents. One mild dose per year...every year. IMHO, this is *all* that they need for maximum growth (and safety). It is my understanding (and experience) that ES does NOT help blooming...but man, oh man, it DOES cause green growth! Hence, one dose at the beginning of the growth cycle is all *I want or need*.
I urge you NOT to use it for regular feedings.
Jo
ps - Molasses is also super and I apply it once a yr right along with the ES.

Also, depending on what type of succulents you have, green growth spurts may not be desired - for example, if you are trying to duplicate the compact growth habits particularly of certain small cactus or mesembs.

As a general rule of thumb, large and/or quick-growing succulents stand to benefit more from increased fertilizer/ micro-nutrient regimes while slow-growing/ dwarf species can lose their character and health under the same circumstances.

@sjv78736

I totally agree with you. I've used Epsom salts on my all-green Spider plants, Pothos, Orchids, Thanksgiving cactus, Kalanchoes, succulents and my one and only cactus! OMYGOD the BEAUTIFUL dark green color and growth is amazing!! I will use 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water, make sure the crystals are completely dissolved, and I use this once or twice a year for my succulents, and since I don't use regular fertilizers, once every other month for my houseplants! "Find what works for you" is my motto and it definitely works for me! Experimenting with a cutting or two is definitely recommended before anything!🤗

http://www.uvm.edu/pss/ppp/articles/myths.html

FYI, next to last comment on this thread is from 2007; doubtful any of those folks are still around.

Thanks Jenn for the Myth-busting link.

The value of Epsom salts for plant growth is one of the most pernicious and persistent of all garden myths!! Other than address a possible magnesium deficiency - rare for most plants and certainly for containerized ones with ordinary fertilization - it has scientifically been proven to do nothing to "improve growth" or increase flowering.

Myth of Epsom salts.

Magnesium issues can be a problem on some plants and a cause of chlorosis on unfertilized or underfertilized ones occasionally and hardly a myth, but certainly quite uncommon. You can look up the symptoms online, but as a general rule, any time plant leaves start to yellow, it's time to do some digging (so to speak!)

So I keep a small bag around and have for the last decade, but I can absolutely state I've used about five ounces out of it in that decade, including the entire property of 12,000 square feet total.

If you're using most versions of Miracle-Gro to fertilize, Mg shortages shouldn't be much of an issue, nor should any lack of green leaves. But still, underfertilization may occasionally rear its ugly head.

As a general rule, low nitrogen, iron, or magnesium problems can all be a cause of yellowing leaves (among many others, but those tend to be the primary resource-related ones, in that order), so definitely go investigate if these are showing up on your plants.

But never, never blindly toss Epsom salts or any other resource on plants just to cure a problem that isn't there. Magnesium can cause tightening of soils, even very loose and sandy ones, and that's the last thing you want in a succulent pot or any other soil. Too much magnesium also make it harder for the plant to absorb some other resources if amounts rise too high due to simple resource antagonism.

I tend to follow the "feed weakly, weekly" method on most plants during their growing seasons because simply put, it works and maintains a constant regular flow of nutrients. If the plant doesn't want it, it has ways of letting you know. If it does want it, it also has ways of letting you know--usually by not growing and turning funny colors. I'd rather avoid that, thanks.

But I also tend to avoid that on anything but N, P, and K and only allow maintenance levels of anything else to avoid some of the discussed problems above. So you can walk a fine line over the years even feeding regularly. That's why regular repotting is recommended--and why some of us do some organic feeding even in our pots.

'If you're using most versions of Miracle-Gro to fertilize, Mg shortages shouldn't be much of an issue'

Just an FYI, Miracle Gro fertilizer made for the US (at least this part of the US), doesn't have Magnesium at all.

Everywhere I checked on the web, said that MG has magnesium in the form of Magnesium oxide so your plants don't need extra in the form of epsom salts.

Then I noticed the only label I could find for that product that had magnesium oxide in it, is made in the UK, for the UK. https://www.lovethegarden.com/sites/default/files/content/products/documents/pack_label/UK_012231_MG_PL.pdf

My 5 lb package (US) label below: