How to Use Epsom Salt for Roses and Other Plants

Smart gardeners have known for generations to use Epsom salt for roses for the biggest blooms and happiest plants.

I recently just started getting into roses, first with the white rose bush I planted two years ago next to the side porch stairs, and then last summer when I added another variety to the garden next to the back door. I’ve had rose bushes before, but they were just kind of there. They were inherited in the gardens of our past houses, and they weren’t my favorite. I realize now that I was interested in watching them grow and their fragrant flowering season, but I didn’t love them because their bloom colors were just too bright. But now that I’ve planted several varieties of white rose bushes? I’m absolutely hooked. My rose bushes are doing super well and are far outpacing my expectations in terms of their overall size, sturdy stems, dark green foliage, and the number of blooms they’ve been producing. I’d heard about using Epsom salt for roses in the past, so I decided to try using it on my new baby rose bushes just for fun. In general, Epsom salts are great for the health and strength of most plants, but they are also supposed to be particularly good for roses. I’ve had success using Epsom salt on other plants, but now that I’ve seen how much it helps my rose garden, Epsom salt application will be at the top of my gardening to-do list.

What is Epsom Salt?

Epsom salt is also sometimes known as magnesium-sulphate. Despite its name, Epsom salt is actually not related to regular table salt at all and is only called a “salt” because of its chemical structure as a compound of magnesium, sulfur, and oxygen.

You’ve probably heard of people soaking in an Epsom salt bath to soothe sore muscles and relieve aches and pains. Epsom salts are also commonly used in homemade bath products and paired with essential oils like lavender to help moisturize and exoliate skin.

Both of these remedies are useful to the modern gardener, but what they’ll probably be most excited about is how well water-soluble Epsom salt can work for plant growth in the garden.

Read next: How to Plant a Panicle Hydrangea

What Epsom Salt Can Do for Your Roses

The magnesium in Epsom salt increases chlorophyll production for overall strength and lush, dark green leaves. Who doesn’t love to see big, bright blooms standing out against those dark, dark green leaves at the peak of summer? Seasoned rose gardeners swear by epsom salt to increase the number and size of their blooms and have for countless years. I’m definitely hoping to be one of those seasoned rose gardeners one day!

The nutrients in Epsom salt have also been shown to have rejuvenating effects on garden soil if there is a magnesium mineral deficiency and increase the number of “bottom breaks”, which are the new canes or branches on your rose bush that originate right from the bottom of the plant. Anyone with a rose bush knows that those bottom breaks are the good stuff. They always show the strongest growth, shoot up to increase the overall size of your plant quickly, and they seem to have the biggest blooms.

Summer flower garden essential: How to Grow Beautiful Lavender

How to Apply Epsom Salt to Rose Bushes

The amazing thing about using Epsom salt for roses is that it works incredibly well, but it’s also super easy to apply as far as plant nutrition solutions go. It couldn’t be easier, really. The best method is actually to “top-dress” your rose bushes with the epsom salt, which basically means to sprinkle it around the plant and then move on.

You’ll want to use about one teaspoon of Epsom salt for each foot of height on your plant or about half a cup total for larger, more established plants. Sprinkle it around the base of the plant and on the ground over the root-zone area and under the area where your plant’s branches extend out to, which is where the roots are located underground. Work the epsom salt into the top layer of the soil a bit so it doesn’t blow away, and water it in well.

Beautiful companion plant for roses: How to Grow Blue Fescue Grass

When to Use Epsom Salt for Rose Bushes

There are three different times when you can use epsom salt for your roses. At planting, sprinkle about half a cup of epsom salt into the hole and work it into the soil a bit before you place your plant.

Each spring, preferably during the early-spring weeks, sprinkle about 1/2 a cup of epsom salt around each established plant to give it a good start to the year.

Once your plant starts blooming in the spring and summer, continue with a once-per-month application throughout the entire growing season as described above. If you only get around to doing the spring application though, that will still help your plants out a lot throughout the year. You’ll be amazed at the results and you’ll be hooked just like I am.

More garden help for roses: What to Do When You See Yellow Leaves on Roses

How to Use Epsom Salt for Plants Other Than Roses

Although I personally get the most exciting results from using Epsom salt on my rose bushes, it’s also a popular solution for increasing the strength and vitality of many other plants. Tomato plants and peppers, as well as other blooming shrubs like hydrangeas, are common plants in the vegetable patch and garden border to feed with Epsom salt. Herbaceous plants like perennials can benefit from Epsom salt as well.

For these plants, Epsom salt can be added to a watering can in a ratio of about 1 tablespoon of salt to 2 liters of water.

If you find yourself getting carried away and trying Epsom salt on many of your garden plants, just try to steer clear of beans and leafy vegetables, tropical plants, and coniferous trees, as they do not react as well to Epsom salts as other plantings do.

Do you use Epsom salt for your roses? What has been your favorite trick to get the most out of your rose bushes?

Read next: Growing Easy and Elegant Solomon’s Seal in Your Shade Garden