Is This a Calcium Deficiency?

GiovanniJones

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone,

I'm about two and a half weeks into flower and noticed my first nutrient-related issue with this grow. I'm using a soil I blended together (the recipe is in my grow blog) and up until now, all of the plants have looked fantastic.

Now I'm facing my first nute issue. Of 18 plants currently in the room, my one and only Purple Urkle is showing some light brown spotting on the leaves. Does this look like a calcium issue to you?

Should I feed it some Cal-Mag supplement weekly between now and harvest? What do you think? Check out the pic.

Thanks.
GJ

IMG_4059.jpg
 
Also, should I just Cal-Mag everything in the room? Maybe I'd be avoiding issues if I do this once a week for a few weeks, then just let it all flush after week 6. Or, should I just Cal-Mag this plant alone?
 
Could be calcium but looks more like phosphorus to me. Being one plant I would assume it’s not lockout. Maybe someone else can confirm. You don’t want to overdo calcium, I did and it caused nitrogen and other feed problems.
 
Hi Gio,

That looks like a Calcium deficiency to me.

A phosphorus deficiency usually presents differently - typically larger splotches of leaf discoloration and not as uniform as what displays in your pic.

You are probably OK on magnesium (hard to say without a soil test), and if that is the case, then a CalMag treatment could potentially cause other issues if it takes your Mg levels too high..

If all of your plants are in the same mix, then you may want to treat them all for a Ca deficiency so that you can get on top of the problem before it becomes a problem for the rest of your girls.

Despite what the previous poster mentions about over-doing Ca, it's very hard to do. Typically organic growers have a hard time getting enough Ca in the soil mix without pushing PH up too high, since plant available sources of Ca are in a carbonate form (oyster, lime, etc..) which raises soil PH.

If it were me, I'd make a WCA (water soluble calcium) supplement out of Oyster Shell Flour. Most of the internet stuff will show you how to make it out of egg shells, but I prefer to use Oyster Shell Flour as it's less scummy (no egg shell membrane) and it won't stink your house up with that egg/sulfur smell.

By using WCA, you will be providing your plant roots an instantly available source of Ca without negatively effecting the soil PH.

You will need oyster shell flour and distilled white vinegar - Mix 1 part oyster shell flour with 10 parts vinegar. The acetic acid in the vinegar will react with the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the oyster shell flour. The reaction will break down the carbonate, releasing the Ca into the vinegar and releasing CO2 and O in the process.

You would typically let this mix sit for 3-5 days (stirring once or twice a day) until the reaction is complete (you stop noticing bubbles).

Once the mix is prepared, you may use this at a rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon (1:1000 ratio) for minor deficiencies or 2 teaspoons per gallon for major deficiencies (1:500 ratio) EVERY watering.

If you don't want to wait a few days to a week for your solution to be ready, you can use 1 part oyster shell and 5 parts vinegar and give it 3 or 4 hours before using the solution in an emergency situation.

I've had calcium deficiencies in the past from using Gypsum as my sole source of calcium in soil because I didn't want to change PH.. I believed everyone on the internet who said Gypsum is a plant available source of Ca in organic soil. <--- Total BS by the way. Gypsum does not supply a plant available source of Ca.

Anyhow - I've successfully used WCA at 2 teaspoons per gallon (every watering) to ward off major calcium deficiencies in the past and get my plants to harvest.

One thing to keep in mind about WCA is that the solution will be acidic, so as you add it to your gallon of water, it may drop the PH a little bit. I use well water (high PH) missed with RO water to offset the little bit of acidity.

Good Luck Gio - hope this helps - let me know if any questions!
 
Wow, @GreenGuy_1995, thanks so much for that! I was thinking of using this before I read your post:


However, I do have some oyster shell flour already so I'll try your WCA supplement instead. I'm surprised that this is happening but I do remember one thing now.

For this one particular plant, the soil I used dried out during composting because the container wasn't sealed and the water quickly evaporated. So, it's amended but un-composted soil. I actually think that the calcium in my mix didn't break down for this reason. It was only this one plant that the soil was dry and lightweight, and this is the only one showing a deficiency.

I feel like Sherlock Holmes trying to fit pieces together to solve a mystery.
 
Very welcome, Gio - hopefully it helps.

I do believe the solution gets better the longer you let it react. In my Google searches, most recommendations, with egg shells, were to let it react for 7-10 days. I think the oyster shell flour dissolves much more readily and the vinegar to calcium saturation point is achieved quicker - in my experience most of the bubbling is done after 5-7 days.

To be sure, I'll just agitate the mix by stirring it up. After the initial fizz goes away and the material settles to the bottom, you can bump the table it sits on and see the bubbles pop out and rise to the top - stirring it will help release those and foster what's left of the continuing reaction.

That could definitely be the culprit, gotta have moisture to keep that process going. Also means the calcium included in your amended mix should start to become more readily available as time goes by.

Good Luck!
 
Also, should I just Cal-Mag everything in the room? Maybe I'd be avoiding issues if I do this once a week for a few weeks, then just let it all flush after week 6. Or, should I just Cal-Mag this plant alone?
You’re entering the stage of flowering where demand for calcium is going on. I wouldn’t think you’ll need it every feeding.
 
Awesome, glad it’s sorted, did you get your filter questions figured out, are you just going to pitch it?
 
Yes I was told that the filter can remove calcium, but not as much as reverse osmosis.

Even my base soil alone, ProMix Vegetable and Herb Organic, should have calcium in it, because I just transplanted to a larger pot and there's loads of fresh soil mix surrounding the root system. With the added Gaia Green and/or Agricola ferts, there's plenty of unused calcium in the pot.

Now that I've had a day to mull it over, I'm almost certain that there's enough calcium in there, but the plant isn't getting it because the soil mix I used for this one plant was bone dry and didn't compost enough. It does make sense.
 
The Kootenay guy also emailed me that they have a great calcium product called Element XX Micronized Calcium Rich Mineral Composte that's all natural and supposedly works really well. Their products are great and I just noticed that I have a sample pack that was included when I ordered the filter.
 
Right on, I haven’t dealt with organic much, once about 6 years ago, flushed it and didn’t know better, starved the plants by week 9. And yeah that’s makes sense about the dirt, something that will correct itself?
 
Back
Top