August 29, 2014 by Permakulturnik

The importance of Calcium for health and proper functioning of the plant

Calcium is one of the elements, which are essential for plants. They need it in very large quantities – in Good soil, giving the highest value of fruits and vegetables, calcium is more than all the other necessary elements combined plants. It performs many functions in the plant (Calcium functions):

·         Regulates the absorption of other minerals by plants

·         It stimulates the correct elongation of plant cells

·         Strengthens the structure of the cell wall, which are responsible for the proper form and shape of plants

·         Participates in the process of enzymatic and hormonal

·         It helps to protect plants from heat stress

·         Protects the plant by diseases – many fungi and bacteria secretes enzymes, that attack the cell walls of plants. Strong and rich in calcium, cell walls are better able to resist the invasion of pathogens

·         Affects the quality of the fruit

·         It is needed for the proper functioning of stomata

 

 

"Stay at home" conditions may provide time for self-education and sharing of information.  

 

Attached and linked are some notes on Calcium, lime and gypsum in general, and some notes and chapters from Michael Astera and his book The Ideal Soil, A Handbook For the New Agriculture, and Graeme Sait's Blog 

https://blog.nutri-tech.com.au/king-calcium/

 

Calcium and Boron and other important plant nutrients are often neglected in commercial High NPK chemical fertilizers and common soil testing programs. 

 

Michael's comments from a recent soil test for a citrus growing property in Thailand:

"The problem is not the pH, the problem is a severe Calcium deficiency. One of the things Ca does is "flocculate" the soil. Ca pulls soil particles together into little clumps. That opens up channels for water drainage and for air to get to the roots, and to the soil life. I think there would be a lot less worry about wet roots if the soil could drain easily, and Ca is the easiest way to do that."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLaJawbMrT0&t=132s

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahlu0gVP42I

 

The soil testing and Rx recommendations for amendments that are done with "The Ideal Soil" program, is based on the CEC and mineral balancing:

 

"Cation Exchange Capacity is a measure of the negative static electric charge of the soil, which determines how much of Ca, Mg, K, and Na the soil can hold onto without it leaching/washing away." 

 

http://www.soilminerals.com/Cation_Exchange_Simplified.htm

There is a reason why many small scale farmers would crush up the chicken egg shells and put them in their compost or in the soil

18 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

There is a reason why many small scale farmers would crush up the chicken egg shells and put them in their compost or in the soil

Good point, but it takes a lot of egg shells to make a difference, and time. Agricultural lime and gypsum are cheap. 

 

https://www.growveg.com/guides/using-eggshells-in-the-garden/

Here is another article:  King Calcium from Graeme Sait.

https://blog.nutri-tech.com.au/king-calcium/

On 3/30/2020 at 7:16 PM, drtreelove said:

Good point, but it takes a lot of egg shells to make a difference, and time. Agricultural lime and gypsum are cheap. 

 

https://www.growveg.com/guides/using-eggshells-in-the-garden/

We go Through 30 - 40 eggs a week here and every shell is saved,  sun-dried and ground.  There is barely enough for the house garden little own 1500 productive mango trees.  I included the new trees at #2 orchard in that number as we have had 10 boxes of Ma Muang Mun Felun so in effect it's starting to cover our costs.