Ca is most peoples problem. It's hard to reach 80% base saturation which is ideal. Glad it's working for ya.
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Is gypsum an effective top dressing for supplementing calcium in a coco DTW system?
- Thread starter beta
- Start date
The weird thing is I never get the typical Ca def symptoms like interveinal rust spots. Between my 0.4EC tap water and the Ca in Jack's + CalNit I think I have enough to keep easy-going strains happy, Blue Dream always crushes for me.
Unfortunately, anything known to be a picky feeder (Triangle Kush, Original Diesel, etc.) has never done great in this system. They've been giving me lower yields and lower quality than I'm used to seeing in my old super soil setup.
The thing that tipped me off that it might be related to Ca was noticing that the most effected plants had thinner than usual stems and they'd be hollow and easy to crush with my fingers when they got big. Lower branches were easy to 'peel' off, and the leaves themselves felt thin and wispy.
All of that seems to be a lot better now that I've been top dressing agricultural gypsum once a week for the past couple of weeks. I'm keeping an eye out for Ca toxicity which if I understand correctly manifests as Mg def (due to the lock-out it causes).
What does '80% base saturation' mean? I've never understood that concept.
On paper I'm not Ca def, most people recommend around 200-250ppm and my nutes / tap water cover that. I've learned recently that a lot of the Ca in tap water is bound up in the inaccessible carbonate form so maybe I have less than I think there? I've also seen quite a few folks say they believe that Ca should be much higher than the 200-250ppm that is generally recommended.
I've been watching Harley Smith's videos on Biostimulants and I think I'm sold on the idea of aminos as effective calcium chelaters. Glad to hear some independent confirmation that you're seeing good results!
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Is it true that the aminos eliminate hard water buildup in your drip system? Is it reservoir stable for a week? How much are you using?
Thanks for the feedback!
gypsum will bust up those bicarbonates in the water and make them available to your plants also, gypsum rocks!
Base saturation levels are what soil scientists go by. It's the level of chemicals in the soil. So when I say 80% Ca, that puts my Mg at 10%, my K at 4-8%, ext ext. A good soil test should tell you what your base saturation levels are of your cations. Look up William Albrecht for more info on base saturations of soil and ideal levels. Or Tiejens.
Those "picky feeders" are almost always Ca dependent plants. Hollow stems are what breeders like BOG has always looked for. However the hollow stems are a symptom of low Ca. So if you give those plants with hallow stems more Ca, they really start to shine!
There is no such thing as a Ca toxicity, but it does push other cations off. Mg and K are the first to get pushed off IME. The best wine in the world is grown in Italy on the dolomitic lime mountains with a base saturation level of 93% Ca. Ca is king!
Base saturation levels are what soil scientists go by. It's the level of chemicals in the soil. So when I say 80% Ca, that puts my Mg at 10%, my K at 4-8%, ext ext. A good soil test should tell you what your base saturation levels are of your cations. Look up William Albrecht for more info on base saturations of soil and ideal levels. Or Tiejens.
Those "picky feeders" are almost always Ca dependent plants. Hollow stems are what breeders like BOG has always looked for. However the hollow stems are a symptom of low Ca. So if you give those plants with hallow stems more Ca, they really start to shine!
There is no such thing as a Ca toxicity, but it does push other cations off. Mg and K are the first to get pushed off IME. The best wine in the world is grown in Italy on the dolomitic lime mountains with a base saturation level of 93% Ca. Ca is king!
If I could like this post 100 times, I would - It's really exciting to have my suspicions confirmed by someone who sounds like they know what they're talking about.
Stoked to see how these young'ns flower out with full access to the Ca they crave!
mountainfarmer1
Member
Beta, How has all this calcium/gypsum science worked out for you? I have been experiencing what seems to me to be a calcium deficiency or lock out and came upon your thread while doing research trying to identify my issue and remedy it. The symptoms you spoke of sound all to familiar. Wispy leaves, fragile stems that are easily crushed between my fingers and the rust spots. I have been thinking my issues are somehow linked to calcium but didn't know how. Deficient? Lockout? PH related. I am growing in coco as well DTW, so yeah this thread has my interest peaked.
Ibechillin
Masochist Educator
