The problem
Once you tumble down a houseplant rabbit hole online, suddenly everything in your kitchen starts to look like fertiliser. Using oats and Epsom salts sounds wholesome, thrifty; breakfast for you, breakfast for your plants. But does it help?
The hack
The idea is that oats break down and enrich the soil, while Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) top up magnesium to keep leaves green and glossy. Social media says a spoonful of each will pep up tired plants without the need for proper feed.
The method
The hack says unpot your plant and mix the old soil with 1–2 tablespoons of dry oats, a sprinkle of Epsom salts and a bit of fresh compost. Then pop the plant back in the pot, firm it around the roots and water it in. Sounds simple enough.
The test
I tried it on one plant and left its twin with normal feed. Within a couple of weeks, the “breakfast” pot had developed a fuzzy white film on the surface, smelled off and was attracting fungus gnats. Growth wasn’t better. It was just messier.
The verdict
Oats rot, encouraging mould, gnats and sour smells long before they do anything remotely helpful. Epsom salts can be useful if you know there’s a magnesium deficiency, but throwing them in “just in case” risks salt buildup and knocks other nutrients out of balance. If you want to do something kind for your plants, stick to peat-free compost and a balanced liquid fertiliser – and leave TikTok “soil superfoods” in the kitchen cupboard.
