zem
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Too much calcium in tap water needs to be accounted for when calculating your fertiliser mix while using hard water especially in hydroponic systems. I have had this problem for a while now, it shows up on most grows no matter what i did or so I thought. It looked a lot like calcium deficiency and when i research calcium toxicity, i find no real info, it seems as if it is not that common a problem. Well, my source water is 0.48 ec and half of that is supposedly calcium, the other half mostly sulphates some magnesium and chloride etc..
I limited my usage of calcium nitrate to 1/4 strength and voila! I finally found the source of my problem.
Calcium nitrate is the most common fertiliser used in most commercial fertilisers and additives like calmag. So just a tip for hydroponic growers who use tap water or hard water, calculate the calcium in your fertiliser mix and add that to the calcium in your source water. Do the same with sulphates, make sure that the levels are acceptable, below 180ppm of calcium with 90 being sufficient. If you are having strange white spots or patches, with gold and brown spots that also resemble nothing but Calcium deficiency and you cannot find clear reasons, it can be that you have too much Calcium, excess calcium seems to be a problem that is very much overlooked. I had to crack this one all by myself with trial and error, and reading the same symptoms with others and cornering it. I hope that this might help some growers who are searching for calcium toxicity and excess symptoms and cannot find any good info, a problem that i had for a while,
Cheers!
I limited my usage of calcium nitrate to 1/4 strength and voila! I finally found the source of my problem.
Calcium nitrate is the most common fertiliser used in most commercial fertilisers and additives like calmag. So just a tip for hydroponic growers who use tap water or hard water, calculate the calcium in your fertiliser mix and add that to the calcium in your source water. Do the same with sulphates, make sure that the levels are acceptable, below 180ppm of calcium with 90 being sufficient. If you are having strange white spots or patches, with gold and brown spots that also resemble nothing but Calcium deficiency and you cannot find clear reasons, it can be that you have too much Calcium, excess calcium seems to be a problem that is very much overlooked. I had to crack this one all by myself with trial and error, and reading the same symptoms with others and cornering it. I hope that this might help some growers who are searching for calcium toxicity and excess symptoms and cannot find any good info, a problem that i had for a while,
Cheers!