My habs' leaves are beginning to look curly and bubbly at the top. Good healthy color, so I figure they need more calcium as the other chilis look fine and are in the exact same soil/soil addition set ups. I just surface dressed around one with tomato tone to see if that helps, but am looking for a good calcium fertilizer that isn't high in nitrate or other nutrients so I don't end up burning them (tomato tone is low at 4 percent nitrate). Also, isn't there another nutrient they need to help with the uptake of calcium? Is it magnesium? With that in mind, any suggestions?
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What is a good calcium fert?
- Thread starter southernfried
- Start date
I also use egg shells in compost. I generally use lime, Cal-Mag and have even resorted to Tums in times of emergency. Calcium and magnesium work well together so I typically use epsom salt in combination with any Calcium.
BONE MEAL. Probably the fastest and easiest way to get calcium into the mix. Just a few bucks a bag and it will go a long way. Should be able to get it at any gardens store to include Walmarts and the like. And it is Organic in case that is your thing.
i use ground egg shells, i grind them in the food processor, bake them in the over for about 20 minutes to kill any bacteria, let it cool then bag it. i have crushed up rolaids and have used them also.
i had a chance to buy bonemeal but found an article that said it may prohibit the growth of micorrhyzal fungi and at the time i just bought a bag of promix hp with micorrhyzal.
good luck
i had a chance to buy bonemeal but found an article that said it may prohibit the growth of micorrhyzal fungi and at the time i just bought a bag of promix hp with micorrhyzal.
good luck
another way of doing it is to blacken the egg shells in a pan and then drop them in a jar of vinegar. they will begin to bubble on contact. keep the mix airtight.
wait for 2 weeks then apply about 1 tablespoon of the mix per liter of water.
worked wonders for me last year.
wait for 2 weeks then apply about 1 tablespoon of the mix per liter of water.
worked wonders for me last year.
I like CalMag. It is only 2% nitrate.
I just started Cal-Mag treatment, for the same reason - habs that are too curly and bubbly at the top. I mixed a 1/2 tsp. of Cal-Mag and 1 tbs of epsom salt into a gallon of water, and foliar-sprayed all the plants. That was 2 days ago. I could be imagining things, but there does seem to be improvement already. But it's hard to tell this soon.
Bone meal is sllllloooooowwww to act. I use it, but it seems to take forever to make a difference, and the difference is never the "wow" factor I'm looking for. I'm hoping the Cal-Mag has a more immediate, tangible impact.
Bone meal is sllllloooooowwww to act. I use it, but it seems to take forever to make a difference, and the difference is never the "wow" factor I'm looking for. I'm hoping the Cal-Mag has a more immediate, tangible impact.
Make sure you do the cooking of the shells outside, it stinks! I use the BBQ.
Thanks for all the ideas! I decided to go with the cal mag stuff.
Is this the cal mag you can use for a foliar spray?
http://www.amazon.com/Botanicare-BCCMQT-CAL-MAG-Plus-Quart/dp/B000J2CUPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307374452&sr=8-1
Also, if it is cal mag, is the extra epsom salt necessary?
I am also thinking about adding a 5-1-1 fish fertilizer and cal mag into an emulsion for a soil applicated fert for my tomatoes which are beginning to bloom.
Is this the cal mag you can use for a foliar spray?
http://www.amazon.com/Botanicare-BCCMQT-CAL-MAG-Plus-Quart/dp/B000J2CUPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307374452&sr=8-1
Also, if it is cal mag, is the extra epsom salt necessary?
I am also thinking about adding a 5-1-1 fish fertilizer and cal mag into an emulsion for a soil applicated fert for my tomatoes which are beginning to bloom.
haha .... good catch. I meant to say I combined the CalMag with a tbsp of Fish Emulsion, not Epsom Salt. Calmag already contains the magnesium, there'd be no reason to combine it with Epsom. I used the Botanicare product that's in your Amazon link. So far, I think I like the results. I mixed up a few gallons of Fish/CalMag and fed it first as a foliar spray and then the rest into the pot soil.
I see no sign of overfertilizing, so I think my plan going forward might be a weekly feeding (combined foliar + soil) of 1 tablespoon fish + 1 teaspoon CalMag per gallon of water, unless/until I see some sign that that is excessive - in which case I'll back it off to biweekly.
If you get some CalMag, please share your experiences with it!
Awesome, thanks. I ordered the calmag and it should arrive Wednesday. The fish fert I already have on hand is Alaska fish fertilizer and it is a 5-1-1. It says it won't burn plants, but I think for foliar uses I'll just stick to the calmag and water alone, and if I feed directly into the soil I'll do the fish/cal mag combo.
as far as the fish fert goes i didnt like the sounds of the 5-1-1 as i read when they start to flower bloom you want the middle number(Phos) to be higher so i went with a BONIDE ATLANTIS FISH FERTILIZER 2-4-0 and i also combine this with my epsom/calcium chloride foliar spray that me and napalmxv3 mentioned earler in this thread my plants seem to love this mix for a spray
I wasn't thrilled with the 5-1-1 but it was the only one I came across. I'll look into that, sounds like good stuff.
I used the Alaska 5-1-1 fish emulsion for two years and thought it was pretty good. A significant upgrade on the basic idea would be to go to Neptune's Fish + Seaweed 2-3-1. Seaweed is really good stuff, and is not in the Alaska product. Here's a link:
http://www.organicgardengrower.com/fish-seaweed-fertilizer
The 2-3-1 is better suited to usage through the whole season than the 5-1-1, which is more suited to the early foliage growth stage due to the higher weighting on nitrogen (the "5" in 5-1-1). The higher middle number in Neptune's makes it more suitable for the blossoming stage of the season.
Plus, all of my plants love it, not just the peppers. We use the Fish and Seaweed on every plant in the garden, including tomatoes, herbs, lettuces, cucumbers, etc. They LOVE this stuff.
Also, whereas Alaska and some other fish ferts have a strong rotten fish smell (after all, it IS rotten fish), the Neptunes has a barely perceptible odor, or at least barely perceptible relative to the Alaska. Neptune's odor is about as strong as a can of tuna, or maybe cat food tuna at the worst.
Agreed. The Alaska Fish fert claims to be deodorized with peppermint oil. Instead it smells like someone put a peppermint on a pile of dog crap. That Neptune stuff looks gooood. I just ordered some. So mix the neptune with the cal mag and fertilize. Sounds like a mix my maters will need as well. Been so hot here lately and of course right as my tomatoes are blooming. The cayennes, orange habs and jumbo jalapenos are blooming too but it looks like they are taking fruit. The tomatoes remain to be seen.