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Waterbury Vermont

tremor, I was just looking over some old threads under Fertilizing and Watering and on January 14 you had mentioned some ideas about using calcium for skin elasticity. Just wondering if you or anyone else tried this and how it went. Even if there were methods for making skin more elastic, would'nt it just prevent stretch marks more than splits?

12/13/2003 11:14:54 PM

Sask, Canada

Hmmm....

Not to let the cat out of the bag, works great at preventing splits in Tomatoes... (Calcium Chilate sprayed on the fruit)....

TTYL
Ernie
Giant Veggies

12/14/2003 12:43:26 AM

[email protected]

The role of Calcium in fruit production is not fully understood. I did use Green-Flo Chelated Calcium (same as Nutri-Cal) here this year with great success. The rate varied from 2-3 oz/per gallon water of 6-0-0 N, 20% Calcium preparation twice weekly. Eventually the use of a compressed air sprayer got to be a bother. So I just added the amount needed for the enire patch to our irrigation injector & blasted it on during irrigation cycles.

Here at the house patch we usually lose a lot of pumpkins to Athracnose fruit rot. This year the treated fruit remained 100% disease free. Fungicides were used in the entire patch. But fungicides alone didn't offer as much control as when combined with the calcium. My only regret is starting the calcium treatments later than I should have. That & leaving half the patch untreated to serve as a check.

At my son's school we didn't use any fungicides at all. Powdery Mildew ripped us good. But splits & fruit rots were greatly reduced within a week or two of beginning the twice weekly treatments.

It is known that calcium plays a critical role in the maturation of fruit. Presumably be metabolism of the hormonal regulator etheylene. Delay of maturation helps to keep the fruit "skin" from getting too firm too soon. This is why I theorized the treatments would reduce splits.

continued

12/14/2003 10:32:31 AM

[email protected]

We did lose a lot of fruit to splits early on. But that was probably due to boat-loads of rain & my heavy hand with Nitrogen. By the time I started using the calcium, split rates were already going down.

My most exciting discovery this year was the significant reduction in fruit rot Anthracnose which we saw only twice this year (despite good weather for it) in the treated areas. Fusarium was also completely absent this year but this may have been more fungicide related than clacium.

Use of an Organo-Silicone surfactant (Hawkeye) helped the calcium to stay on the fruit. Without the surfactant, the spray tended to bead up & roll right off the pumpkin's skin.

As of last week, one of the Calcium treated pumpkins was still on display at the school. The others didn't rot. They just started to get in the way & were tossed. It is well documented that calcium treated fruits have vastly improved post harvest shelf life. The fruit cells are literaly more durable. So they resist the various rot causing fungal pathogens better than untreated fruit.

Good stuff. I'll use it again next year for sure. I also sell the stuff if you have trouble finding it.

Steve

12/14/2003 10:32:39 AM

Stouffville

I seem to recall that drew papez said he sprayed calcium on his pumpkins, but I forget how I got this idea in my head.

12/14/2003 10:33:41 AM

Indiana

dont mix it too strong like i did, it will burn the plants.
Steve

12/14/2003 10:49:33 AM

[email protected]

What rate was "too strong"? All maufacturers I am aware of that make a 20% Chelated Calcium solution recommend 1-3 oz per gallon. How much was too much & what was the result?

Steve

12/14/2003 11:46:46 AM

stretch marks....i thought that's what ya got whey you're pregnant...not when you're a pumpkin!

12/14/2003 12:17:48 PM

wilmington,ma.

At what stage of growth do you start using calcium solution
on the plant or pumpkin??

12/14/2003 1:12:43 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

Too strong? I've used the stuff in 20X recommended rates with no problem. I really don't think calcium alone can "burn" the plants.

12/14/2003 1:13:37 PM

Key West, FL

Don't put calcium on the pumpkin too strong either, it will burn the skin leaving brown marks. The package didn't really come with recommened rate for applying to the pumpkin skin, or Plant. lol

12/14/2003 2:19:31 PM

Waterbury Vermont

excellent information!
Thanks tremor and everyone else

12/14/2003 2:29:24 PM

Indiana

I used a dry mix chelated calcium cant remember the name right now and the shed door is frozen but I overdid it and left funky streaks on the pumpkin it had to be the calcium because that is the only thing i sprayed directly on the pumpkin.
Steve

12/14/2003 4:47:10 PM

[email protected]

Please let us not confuse dry Calcium Nitrate with the much higher quality Floral grades of liquid Chelated Calcium. There is a VERY BIG difference between these prodcuts as well as the quality of the results. Not the least of which is better availability & utilization by the plants. This thread is evidence enough to me that crazy levels of absorbed calcium are attainable without fear of harming the plants so long as the correct formulations are used. But non-biased university data is available to support this discovery too.

Nutri-Cal & Green-Flo do NOT harm plants when used as directed. Or in Kyle's case, even with a heavy hand. (within reason! LOL)

Back when all we could get was dry calcium nitrate, it probably made sense for growers who applied it "very carefully" as I've seen done without incident. But with all the effort we put into our plants, I just can't see trying to save a buck on something as important as this. All Nitrate based materials have the ability to end the season on us in one single poorly executed move. But good selection of source materials could help us avoid such consequences entirely.

Find, buy, & use the good stuff according to the label. It's more than calcium nitrate, I'll admit that. But several cases is still way cheaper than a 723 at auction!

Steve

12/14/2003 5:06:27 PM

Indiana

What I have dry is not calcium nitrate, it is 9.5% chelated calcium from Miller (I found the catalog). I didnt figure up the correct amount for a two gallon batch for my sprayer. The directions I believe went by weight. I wont make that mistake again!! I also have calcium nitrate to use as a side dressing.
Steve

12/14/2003 5:39:54 PM

Key West, FL

I have the same stuff Steve does I think, Powdered chelated calcium.

12/14/2003 9:14:26 PM

Deer Park WA

Gypsum if your happy with your pH, Lime for calicum and to raise your pH. I think to much foofoo in our gardens is getting away from the basics of good soil (environmental) management. Remember B.S is best especially if it's free! oK horse is also an acceptable alternative....

12/14/2003 10:20:46 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

my abnormal calcium rates did no harm to the plants at all...BUT, the other guys are right about it eating into pumpkin skin and leaving brown marks. I learned towel wraps are the way to go for the pumpkin itself, works great.
38 pumpkins with no splits....

12/14/2003 10:28:27 PM

Hobbiton New Zealand

I tried our fert suppliers for the farm and neither cary chilated calcium and ddnt think it was avaible anymore over here the best they could suggest was gypsum or calcium sulphate would either of these work and at what rayes would you recommend

12/15/2003 2:40:59 PM