Question: Does Epsom salt help to prevent or cure blossom end rot in tomatoes?
Answer: No – Epsom salt does not help to prevent or cure blossom end rot in tomatoes.
The reason: blossom end rot is caused by a lack of calcium in tomato fruit. This lack of calcium is caused by 1 or more of these 3 factors:
- lack of calcium in soil
- inability of tomato plant to absorb calcium from soil
- uneven watering
Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) will not solve any of these problems, since it contains no calcium, and it will not help with uneven watering.
In fact, Epsom salt can make blossom end rot even worse by competing with calcium for uptake by a plant’s roots!
Of course, Epsom salt does have its place in gardening, when used carefully and in the appropriate circumstances.
For example, Epsom salt can help to alleviate magnesium or sulfur deficiencies in soil.
You can learn more about Epsom salt and what to use it for in my article here.
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