Calcium is the fifth most abundant nutrient on the planet. Learn more about how calcium deficiency affects plants.
Plants, like humans and animals, can suffer from calcium insufficiency. Calcium and good soil are inextricably related. Water is required to transport calcium in the same way as fluids are required to transport nutrients—a calcium-deficient plant results from a lack of water. True calcium deficiency in plants infrequently occurs in rich, fertile soils.
When all of the calcium in your plant’s growth media is depleted, your plant has no other means of producing or absorbing calcium. But how to tell if your plant is deficient in calcium, being overwatered, or being overfertilized? After all, they are all responsible for fading leaves. In this blog, you’ll learn more about this nutrient deficit so you can go to the ‘core’ of the problem and make your plant look and feel its best.
The Effects of Calcium on Plants
Calcium is one of the many vital elements found in soil. It is required not just for the formation of strong cell walls that keep the plant upright but also for the transfer of other minerals. It may also be effective against alkali salts and organic acids. A calcium-deficient plant has limited development in new leaves and tissues. Brown patches may emerge around the margins of the leaves and spread to the center. Blossom end rots in tomatoes and peppers, black heart in celery, and internal tip burn in cabbages are all indicators that calcium should be added to the soil.
What Plants are More Affected by Calcium Deficiency?
Calcium insufficiency is mainly caused by the plant’s inability to transport enough calcium to the damaged area. Blackheart in celery, tip-burn in lettuce, cabbage and blossom end rot in tomato are just a few examples. Here are some most affected plants by calcium deficiency;
- Tomato blossom-end rot is a classic indication of calcium insufficiency. Mix the shell meal or broken eggshells straight into the soil approximately 6 or 7 inches deep before planting your tomatoes to make natural calcium for plants.
- Blossom end rot, which appears on immature fruits as they develop, is a telltale indicator that your bell pepper plant is deficient in calcium. In the long run, adding eggshells, modest amounts of lime, gypsum, or bone meal to the soil will assist boost calcium levels and prevent subsequent pepper blossom end rot.
Causes of Calcium Deficiency
Check the Ph Level
There is an optimal pH range for each nutrient where the plant can easily absorb the nutrient from the soil. This range varies by nutrient, but 5.5 to 6.5 is a decent overall range to strive for (slightly acidic). The plant will have trouble absorbing some nutrients if the pH of the soil is either low or too high.
When the pH of the soil is less than 6.0, the availability of calcium begins to diminish quickly. When the pH of the soil rises over 8.5, the same thing happens. So, if your soil pH is too low or too high, your plants may experience nutrient deficiency. Before you add calcium to your garden, check the pH of your soil.
Extreme Weather Conditions
For the same reason, high humidity might produce the same issue. A plant’s rate of transpiration reduces when temperatures are low, or humidity is high. Transpiration is the process through which a plant transports water from its roots to its leaves, where it evaporates. Calcium absorption decreases when this process slows since calcium must be absorbed through the water.
Water Intake
Your plants may suffer a calcium deficiency if they don’t get enough water because the plant receives calcium through the water. As a result, if there isn’t enough water, calcium will not be absorbed if your soil is frequently dry; water early in the morning when the temperature is lower and the sun is less intense. Before adding more water, place it towards the ground and let it sink.
Nutrient Level
You make sure there is enough supply of each nutrient in the soil, but you must also consider the nutrient ratio. Excess magnesium in the soil, for example, might inhibit a plant’s capacity to absorb calcium. Excess potassium in your soil can also inhibit a plant’s ability to absorb calcium. Testing your soil is the greatest approach to determine if your nutrient levels are balanced. A soil sample can be sent to a local agricultural extension for testing, or a soil test kit can be purchased online or at a garden shop.
Signs and Symptoms of Calcium Deficiency
When plants do not have enough calcium, their new growth curls. Some gardeners call this the development of “parachute leaves.” If you find fresh leaves curling in on themselves, check whether a calcium deficiency is to blame.
The rot on young leaves, fruits, and flowers might indicate a calcium deficit. In fact, if you observe blossom end rot above ground, it’s probable that there’s root rot below ground as well. Take action right away to avoid needless necrosis.
Calcium-deficient plants develop slowly. Whether your plants are taking an unusually long time to mature, you should inspect your soil to determine if you have calcium or nutritional shortage in general. Even if this is not the case, ruling it out will help you get to the bottom of the problem.
Brown areas of tip burn on leaf edges, as well as yellowy chlorosis throughout your leaves, might indicate a calcium deficit. If you let this go uncontrolled, your leaves may turn necrotic. However, there are several additional causes of plant discoloration; therefore, you should do a soil test to assist in discovering what your plant is lacking.
The symptoms usually occur within a week or two after the first spots appear on the elder leaves. The spots normally begin as little, light brown specks that gradually grow in size. After two weeks, the older leaves develop increasingly large spots, which frequently occur at the leaf’s edge, similar to the signs of a potassium deficit or scorch. The blossoming process is likewise hampered and delayed.
Fixing Calcium Problems
- To begin, make sure you’re using a calcium source that’s water-soluble, like calcium nitrate, so the nutrient can pass through the plants. Calcium supplements can be utilized while growing in soil. Keep in mind, however, that this may alter your pH or provide additional nutrients in addition to calcium.
- When growing in hydroponics, you don’t want to overfeed your plants with other nutrients, so use a calcium-only supplement. If you’re going to utilize hard water for your plants, bear in mind that it usually contains a lot of dissolved calcium and other nutrients.
- Calcium must be obtained through the use of water. Plants will be unable to acquire this nutrient if it is not present. To avoid a calcium deficit, be sure to water your plants on a regular basis.
- Transpiration rates will be poor whether you’re growing outdoors or in a grow house, resulting in a calcium deficiency in the plant.
- Low transpiration rates might be caused by high humidity levels in your greenhouse. Add fans to increase airflow and assist the plant in transpiration. Keep an eye on and regulate the conditions in your greenhouse.
- The healing time is determined by the severity and duration of the calcium deficit. In most cases, the plant will recover sufficiently within one week to allow fresh growth to start.
How to Correctly Add Calcium to Soil
Water transports calcium from the root tips to the leaves of the plant. This is why it’s vital to keep your soil wet once you’ve added this fertilizer. Because you diluted fertilizer in water, to begin with, you’ll already have this step handled if you pick fertilizer. After burying the gypsum and crab meal in the soil mix, you’ll need to add water. You’ll be relieved to learn that once calcium reaches fresh and young tissue or tips, it will remain there, causing part of the yellow coloring to fade. Make sure;
- Your fertigation system is up and running.
- Reservoirs have stable solution levels.
- Verify that the fertilizer stock solution is kept in several tanks.
- Your crops are receiving all of the nutrients in a balanced manner.
Take Away
When it comes to maintaining good crop health, prevention is far simpler than treatment. Your plants require a variety of macronutrients and micronutrients, making a single nutrient shortage difficult to assess. It’s very probable that your plants are suffering from a variety of nutritional shortages at the same time. In order to guarantee that your plants thrive rather than merely survive, remember to examine the essential factors of plant health on a frequent basis during your plant growth journey.
Now that you know almost everything about calcium, you understand how critical it is to correct any imbalances! You may help your plants recover from the negative effects of a calcium deficiency by improving environmental conditions and selecting soluble calcium sources.