Is Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3) OK to Use instead of Epsom Salts?

realmeatdildo

realmeatdildo

Active Member
I have read of a nute/fert recipe which includes utilising a quarter of a teaspoon of Epsom Salts. But, being the world's laziest and stingiest tight-arse, (and since spending six bucks is a lot to me when I already have a 17 oz sack of 'Bath Salts' lying around), I thought I'd waste someone else's Google searching time and ask whether Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3) would be okay to use in place of the recommended Epsom Salts?
Thanks kindly for any responses.
 
mv400

mv400

Active Member
That Sodium Carbonate is called Soda Ash and it will most likely cause more harm than benefit in my opinion. I used to grow in soil and never used epsom salt. I currently use Ebb&Flow hydroponics and I am still not using it. In my opinion micro elements like Sodium, Magnesium and Calcium (and sulfate ions) are already available in the water we use daily and I believe spending extra money for those elements is just waste of money. If you want Epsom salt to adjust pH, use dolomite or limestone a bit or mix with soil but to be honest I have never needed those. I used organic fertilizers for my soil grow. Currently for my hydro I use Advanced Nutrients. I hope this helps a bit in answering your question. Happy growing :)
 
M

MajStoner

Member
i used the epsom salt 1 tsp/g water and my Mg def (rust spots) are now disappearing and greening up...the more you put into something the more you getback..i.e. buy the right shit
 
realmeatdildo

realmeatdildo

Active Member
Thank you both for the responses.

To Mv400-
I'd have to say I'd agree with you when it comes to going overboard with all of these 'specialist' nutes. I absolutely refuse to spend anything on any of these 'Magical Bud' type mixtures since after a fair bit of research they are often full of stuff you can buy at the farm supplies store for about a tenth of the price for about 10 times the quantity!
However, if people feel they want to benefit from the specialist research that goes into the formulation of these products then I don't begrudge them that right and I do believe that some (not all) of the companies creating them do spend a lot of time and dosh trying to get the exactly correct balanced chemical proportions to achieve optimal results for hoonah so they are probably worth it in those cases. I just can't get over the sotries I've encountered where people peel back the lid and sniff the contents and realise they've just paid $50.00 for a bottle of mollasses.
Happy growing to you too.

To MajStoner-
Thanks for the advice as I have been having a problem also with rust spots appearing on my Super Skunk plants.
I didn't and haven't yet tried to cure it with Epsom salts but will give it a shot next time if I have the problem again as I think I cured it when I gave them all a very heavy watering unlike anything they'd ever had before and afterwards the sickies seemed to uncrinkle a bit and it looked like it had started to clear up.
The problem is that I'm running them pretty much on a 12/12 from seed and have experimented using a lot of varying soil/perlite/vermiculite mixes to attempt to find the optimal one which leads to some plants thriving and some instantly getting too much or too little of what they need.
 
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