Advertisement

Calcium (Ca)

Last updated: August 27, 2018

What Does Calcium (Ca) Mean?

Calcium (Ca) is a secondary plant nutrient and is a main ingredient in plant fertilizers. Crucial for plants, calcium prevents various types of deficiencies in plants while promoting healthy growth. It increases nutrient uptake and builds strong cell walls, which leads to sturdier crops with increased vitality.

Lime, a source of calcium, has been shown to keep issues such as club root at bay, while other forms of calcium are considered the best way to prevent problems like blossom-end rot in tomatoes.

Advertisement

Maximum Yield Explains Calcium (Ca)

Calcium is especially important for plants such as tomatoes, peppers, roses, brassicas, pears, and apples.

As far as large-scale agricultural plots are concerned, gardeners often run soil tests to determine the exact amount of calcium their plants need. Home tests can only measure macronutrients, not micronutrients. Consequently, gardeners need to take a soil sample to a professional company to determine the amount of calcium in their soil. This test can also reveal any calcium deficiency the plants might suffer from.

Limestone, especially ground limestone, is commonly used to boost calcium production in the soil. It should be applied at least a month before fertilizing your crops. When adding straight calcium to a soil garden, the average dose is around a handful of calcium carbonate or lime for every square meter of garden space. Other sources of calcium that can be added to soil as fertilizers include eggshells, bone meal, and gypsum.

In hydroponics, calcium supplementation is very important. Often sold as CalMag, calcium supplements are often mixed with magnesium, which helps plants absorb enough calcium.

Advertisement

Share this Term

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Related Reading

Tags

Plant NutritionPlant GrowthPlant Science

Trending Articles

Go back to top
Maximum Yield Logo

You must be 19 years of age or older to enter this site.

Please confirm your date of birth:

This feature requires cookies to be enabled