When To Use Gypsum In Your Garden?

Luckily, there is an easy solution to this problem. You only need to look at a mineral that’s used to treat the soils even by commercial agricultural sites – gypsum.

It’s one of the best natural conditioners that has been used for hundreds of years to improve the growth of crops by farmers around the world – your garden can certainly benefit from it. 

Let’s dive deep into what gypsum is, which type of soil is it best suited for, as well as how and when you can use it in your garden. 

Gypsum is a naturally occurring mineral composed of calcium sulfate. You can find it all over the place: construction industry, art, cosmetics… For example, did you know it’s found in both drywall and chalk?

Most importantly, it’s used as a fertilizer.

This mineral is praised for its beneficial properties in different forms of soil. For instance, it can break up compact soil but it can also change the structure of heavy soils that have been negatively affected by factors such as flooding, heavy traffic, or overcropping. 

Perhaps, its most beneficial property is its ability to enrich the soil with calcium and remove excess sodium from the ground. Extra benefits include better percolation, making soils more workable, improving seedling emergence, better erosion control, and reduced crusting.

While we already hinted that gypsum is a powerhouse of fertilizer, it doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits-all solution for every type of garden. A lot depends on the type of your soil.

Since this mineral can drastically reduce salt levels in the ground, it is best suited for soil in coastal or arid regions.

That said, if this mineral is already abundant in the region where you’re located and you’re working with sandy soils, adding more gypsum would result in deposits of excess calcium. The same applies to areas with low salinity where using this mineral as fertilizer would leave the ground with severe salt deficiency.

Now that you are familiar with our friendly little mineral, let’s go into more detail about when it can be used.

Though it might not be the best solution in all cases, gypsum can enhance your garden if you encounter any of the following:

Calcium deficiency

Plants can’t develop properly without an ample amount of calcium, particularly when it comes to shoots and roots. Additionally, this mineral is an amazing balancing element and can help the plants take in other nutrients.

You can tell that your soil has a calcium deficiency by taking a better look at the state of the plants:

1. Dead root tips and buds
2. Discolored patches on the fruits
3. Premature shedding of buds and blossoms
4. Weak stems
5. Burnt tips on young leaves
6. An abnormal dark green hue on leaves

This can be a common problem in areas that have either high levels of rainfall or high levels of acid in the ground. For example, areas east of the Mississippi River and areas of the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascade mountains receive more than 40 inches of rainfall per year. As such calcium deficiency is a common issue in these parts of the US.

Salt damage

Salt is very harmful to plants, which means that coastal areas with a lot of excess sodium can benefit the most from adding a bit of gypsum. 

In these areas, excess salt can penetrate the ground and get absorbed by the plants through their roots. If you paid attention in science class, you know that salt absorbs water. This is bad news because all that sodium can dehydrate the plants. The chloride in salt is an additional problem because it can interfere with both photosynthesis and chlorophyll production.

All of the above can stunt the growth of the plants and stop them from growing leaves or flowers. You can usually recognize salt damage because the plants appear brown instead of that healthy green. 

By applying a calcium sulfate mineral you can reduce this damage as it’s going to replace the excess sodium, giving your plants a chance to recover. 

Compacted soil 

You can also use gypsum to break up heavily compacted clay soil. If the ground is tightly packed, it can cause the water to puddle or run on the surface instead of penetrating into the soil to be absorbed by the plants.

Our friendly mineral can transform tightly packed particles into larger pieces which makes the ground more porous. 

With this new soil structure, water, air, and other nutrients will enter the ground more easily which will also make your plants more healthy and encourage better development of the roots. 

Sulfur deficiency

Too much rainfall can not only cause low levels of calcium, but your soil could also develop a severe sulfur deficiency. 

This is a major problem as sulfur is required in photosynthesis and is essential for nodule formation on the roots of legumes. 

Here are some warning signs of a sulfur deficiency:

1. A delay in plant maturity and a slow growth rate
2. Young leaves are light green or yellowish
3. Plants are either too small or have a frail appearance

While sulfur is found naturally in the environment, the process can be too slow as the soil bacteria need to oxidize it first. By adding gypsum into the mix you can help your plants heal because the sulfur available in this mineral can be absorbed by the plants immediately. 

This mineral is available in different forms with the most common forms being granular, pulverized, and pelleted. It’s non-toxic and can be applied in yards, gardens, and lawns.

However, too much gypsum can actually harm your soil and plants. It can strip your ground of essential minerals and if your ground is already too low in salt, it can cause a critical salt deficiency.

This is why you should conduct a soil analysis first before you try adding anything that can impact the natural balance of the ground.

Gypsum is also not a permanent solution as you need to apply this treatment at least annually. This is due to the fact it doesn’t affect pH levels in the ground or soil fertility nor has the ability to change the permanent structure of the soil. Once you apply it, the effects will wear off and the soil will simply start reverting back to its natural state.

As an alternative, you can enrich your soil with organic matter. This option is cheaper and can improve the nutrient balance in your soil long-term along with promoting the healthy growth of your plants.

Still, if you’re looking for a quick fix in the scenarios we described above, gypsum is a good solution. Just don’t go overboard with its use, will you?