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Cool trick

AndrejX

AndrejX

I've heard quite easy trick to detect calcium deficiency in soil:
grab a little soil to plastic or glass container and carefully pour with small quantity of Hydrochloric acid ( HCl which is available in supermarkets as bathroom cleaner ).

If soil have enough calcium reaction should be quite strong with many bubbles and hissing. If there is no any or mild reaction you have low-calcium soil.
 
Doesn't sound safe considering acid sholud on be in glass containers, and who knows what toxic gases are being released. And which brands of bathroom cleaner are using HCl in their products? I know for a fact that Clorox brand items don't.
 
rds040800 said:
Doesn't sound safe considering acid sholud on be in glass containers, and who knows what toxic gases are being released. And which brands of bathroom cleaner are using HCl in their products? I know for a fact that Clorox brand items don't.
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Tablespoon of soil and few drops of acid doesn't sound like dangerous situation :P

Plain 19-35% HCl in Europe is available in almost all supermarkets for a less than 1 USD per liter and is frequently used as cheap and effective solution when needed to remove calcium deposits from bathtubs, toilets or various water heaters. HCl in contact with calcium produce plain CO2
 
Yes but anything that produces any type of chemical reaction can be bad, and you also have to consider the other items in the soil, especially fertilizers with a high phosphorus number.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
Hmmm... now I'll need to find a hissometer. :P
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I can loan you mine SS but you'll need to refill it with hiss when you're done.

Playing around with chemicals and their evil reactions isn't something I usually do. Not saying it isn't safe, just thinking it's an opportunity for things to go very bad.

Let's be careful out there.
 
CaCO3(s) + 2 HCl(aq) ---> CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)
acid + calcium carbonate ---> salt + carbon dioxide + water

but as has already been said...thats not all that is in your soil...

this subject has piqued my interested so I have been reading...from what I have read so far, it is not the calcium (Ca) that makes the "fizz" (effervescence)...it is the carbonate (CO3) portion of the CaCO3...

the fizz is produced by carbon dioxide (CO2) released as a gas during the chemical reaction...

with that being said, there are several carbonates that are present in common soil...the carbonates serve to buffer the pH of the soil...dolomite is a carbonate the contains both Magnesium (Mg) and Calcium (Ca)...a couple of other carbonates commonly found is Iron Carbonate (FeCO3), and Sodium Carbonate (Na2O3)...

none of these carbonate will produce anything other that a salt of the metal, carbon dioxide, and water

definitely do NOT ever mix HCL with bleach...if you do, you will produce chlorine gass (very very poisonous)
 
Lime Away®? I think that is an HCL solution sold in supermarkets. Used to remove rust stains from bathtubs and sinks and what not.

A friend of mine once put about 2oz of this with a balled up piece of aluminum foil once in a soda bottle, put the cap on and ran. Before I could ask WTF he was doing there was a loud explosion. Luckily I was far enough away. :onfire:
 
AlabamaJack said:
CaCO3(s) + 2 HCl(aq) ---> CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)
acid + calcium carbonate ---> salt + carbon dioxide + water

but as has already been said...thats not all that is in your soil...

this subject has piqued my interested so I have been reading...from what I have read so far, it is not the calcium (Ca) that makes the "fizz" (effervescence)...it is the carbonate (CO3) portion of the CaCO3...

the fizz is produced by carbon dioxide (CO2) released as a gas during the chemical reaction...

with that being said, there are several carbonates that are present in common soil...the carbonates serve to buffer the pH of the soil...dolomite is a carbonate the contains both Magnesium (Mg) and Calcium (Ca)...a couple of other carbonates commonly found is Iron Carbonate (FeCO3), and Sodium Carbonate (Na2O3)...

none of these carbonate will produce anything other that a salt of the metal, carbon dioxide, and water

definitely do NOT ever mix HCL with bleach...if you do, you will produce chlorine gass (very very poisonous)
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Vinegar and bleach will produce it as well. I wonder how many people not knowing this mixed the two, trying to made some homemade cleaner.
 
rds040800 said:
Yes but anything that produces any type of chemical reaction can be bad, and you also have to consider the other items in the soil, especially fertilizers with a high phosphorus number.
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In this part of the world bone meal is marked as toxic waste and prohibited for use but as I can see here many of people in USA use it as calcium source for plants :cool:
 
AndrejX said:
In this part of the world bone meal is marked as toxic waste and prohibited for use but as I can see here many of people in USA use it as calcium source for plants :cool:
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Where do you live?
 
chillilover said:
Vinegar and bleach will produce it as well. I wonder how many people not knowing this mixed the two, trying to made some homemade cleaner.
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The reasoning behind the release of chemicals when vinegar is mixed with bleach is quite simple, but it doesn't produce chlorine gas. The vinegar neutarlizes the caustic/sodium hydroxide in bleach leaving only hydrochloric acid behind. This happens simply because acetic acid is what gives vinegar its smell, and that is what causes the reaction.
 
AlabamaJack said:
this article says differently and explains the reactions...
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Thats must be why our chlorine alarm goes off when the bleach gets spilled near the acetic acid. My lungs are permenantely scarred from chlorine gas anyway, so a little more wont hurt, right?
 
yes sir, that may be the reason...

I have almost suffocated myself a few times back when I was younger mixing bleach and liquid plumber...figured what the heck...a little bleach with the liquid plumber will help unclog that nasty drain...
 
I got my experiences in chemical plants, other than that one time with the muratic and hydrochloric acid, that was one of the least inteligent things I have ever done.
 
AndrejX said:
Croatia.
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Thanks, I got curious when you can buy hydrochloric acid in supermarkets but bone meal is considered toxic waste;)

Bone meal is OK as fertilizer in Sweden, but it's illegal to use it in animal feed becase of the mad cow disease.
 
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