Calcium and Magnesium

While I am asking stupid questions...
 
I know peppers need them some cal and mag, but I never see how much. My fert is a 5-10-10 and has 7% calcium. I picked up some Epsom Salts which says it is about 9% mag. Are these values ok? Should I use more, less?
 
Also when doing mag sprays, should I just sprtiz and let go, no puddles? Should I put it in the soil instead? How often? I see some people do it weekly, others do it every 2 weeks.
 
magnesium sulfate(Epsom salt) should be like... 45% 55% magnesium and sulfate. not 9%.

you dont need alot of magnesium OR sulfate... about 1 gram per gallon will give your plants all that they need.
you dont need to spray it. water it in, it will work far better.
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
Epsom salt is MgSO4 heptahydrate, not pure salt.
yes, very true i forgot about that.

still though, 24 and 34% according to my math.

so the 9% comes from the molar mass of magnesium compared to that of sulfate and 7 moles water.
24/246 or so.
 
queequeg152 said:
magnesium sulfate(Epsom salt) should be like... 45% 55% magnesium and sulfate. not 9%.

you dont need alot of magnesium OR sulfate... about 1 gram per gallon will give your plants all that they need.
you dont need to spray it. water it in, it will work far better.
Put a bunch of good compost in the soil and you won't need anything! ;)
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Put a bunch of good compost in the soil and you won't need anything! ;)
If only I had the means to make it! Got no where to set a compost up.
 
 
nzchili said:
dolomite lime is good to throw into the mix.
it adds cal / mg and also stabalises the Ph
 
Hawaiianero said:
Agricultural Lime is mostly calcium with a little magnesium mixed in.
Cal-mag is a good source of both
Google it ;)
 
If I didn't have calcium already in my fert I would probably just rock a cal/mag but I have a hard time finding specialty products in my area so I have to work with what I can find at big box stores and local farm stores. Didn't have time to order anything online. 
 
pure_bordem said:
If I didn't have calcium already in my fert I would probably just rock a cal/mag but I have a hard time finding specialty products in my area so I have to work with what I can find at big box stores and local farm stores. Didn't have time to order anything online. 
Well in that case, Epsom Salt (Magnesium /sulfate). Too little is better than too much. Different plants have different needs. Good luck :party:
 
Hawaiianero said:
Well in that case, Epsom Salt (Magnesium /sulfate). Too little is better than too much. Different plants have different needs. Good luck :party:
Thanks. I just found it odd no one recommends a general amount despite peppers loving the stuff.
 
pure_bordem said:
Thanks. I just found it odd no one recommends a general amount despite peppers loving the stuff.
my mag water soluble mag at 10 percent and sulfur so4-s at 13 percent said to put 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. My calcium sulfate is 22/18 is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. Got these from Grow-Biotic in CA number 805-252-7962 go to their site grow-biotic.com. Hope this helps
 
pure_bordem said:
Thanks. I just found it odd no one recommends a general amount despite peppers loving the stuff.
2 grams of hydrated epsom salts will meet 100% of your plants needs for both magnesium, and sulfate.
this solution, assuming 100% pure epsom salt, yield approx:

52mg/L and 69mg/l magnesium and sulfur respectively.

note that these are low numbers. you need around 200 mg/l nitrogen and around the same calcium.

generally speaking, magnesium and sulfur are very rarely missing from natural soils that are not agressivly cultivated, this is even more true for phosphate. i think the vast majority of folks are supplementing it for no clear reason, other than to add nitrogen. nitrogen is almost always going to be your limiting nutrient. with that being the case, i suggest you just supplement nitrogen.

you can add nitrogen by means other than calcium magnesium solutions. namely with calcium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, sulfur coated urea, polymer coated potassium nitrate, sulfur coated potassium nitrate, and various organic forms of nitrogen.

if you are growing in native soil, id suggest getting a soil test done. they cost little more than your time and effort.

if you are growing in an inert medium with organic amendments, i suggest you defer to established resources in calculating the macronutrient content of various amendments.
 
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