It mainly influences cell wall construction in order to generate strong stems and healthy tissue throughout the leaf, flower, and fruit. It is most usual to notice a deficit while your plants are young and developing fast or when they are fruiting or blooming since these are the seasons when the plant needs the most calcium.
Symptoms of a deficiency include losing blooms, blossom end rot (as found in tomatoes and peppers), and bitter pit.
What Effect Will Calcium Fertilizers Have on My Soil?
Of course, the best approach to find out whether your soil has a calcium deficit is to do a professional soil test. This is also the best technique to determine which calcium fertilizer is optimal for the chemistry of your soil. The impact of liquid calcium fertilizer from various sources on pH and the quantity of calcium they contain varies.
The Calcium Carbonate Equivalent, or CCE, is used to calculate this number. CCE is a chemical analysis factor that is used to compare pure calcium carbonate. The greater the CCE, the more calcium is accessible to the plants.
The values of oyster shell flour, limestone, and dolomite are all around 100 CCE. The CCE of bone meal ranges from 20 to 30, depending on the source. Although gypsum and calcium 25 have readily accessible calcium, their chemistry is too different from that of calcium carbonate to be compared on the CCE scale.
• In addition to giving calcium to the soil, most calcium fertilizers raise the pH of the soil; with the exception of gypsum, applying a calcium fertilizer will “lime” the soil, making it more alkaline.
• This might be useful if your soil is already too acidic, but it can also be hazardous if it is already too basic.
• Some natural fertilizers have a faster effect on pH than others.
• Before choosing a calcium fertilizer, check your soil pH to see whether you should use a fast-acting organic fertilizer like limestone, a slow-release one like Oyster Shell Flour, or Gypsum to deliver calcium and sulfur without changing the pH at all.
Depending On the Source, Calcium May Be Combined With Other Nutrients
Some calcium fertilizers additionally provide extra nutrients to your plants. Depending on the chemistry of your soil, this may influence your selection. Before you fertilize, check the sulfur, magnesium, phosphorus, and trace mineral composition of your soil.
• Sulfur and calcium are required; gypsum will give these nutrients without changing the pH of your soil.
• Dolomite and magnesium are required.
• Use Azomite for trace minerals and calcium.
• Phosphorus and calcium are required; use Soft Rock Phosphate or bone meal.
How Do You Use Organic Fertilizer in My Garden?
Finally, consider how you will apply the calcium fertilizer when deciding which one to use. These organic fertilizers are often placed into the soil to deliver calcium over time. However, if your plants are suffering from an acute calcium deficit, you may need to give them a foliar calcium supplement.
• Use Limestone, Klezmer, or Gypsum as a foliar spray.
• Soil application—Utilize all other forms and work them into the soil.
When it comes to enriching your soil using calcium fertilizer, you have numerous options. You can make the best selection on which nutrients to utilize, as well as the technique and amount to administer, by assessing your soil’s nutrients before fertilizing.
