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Location

Message

Date Posted

Ontario

I need to raise calcium from 2640 ppm to 5000 ppm to bring ratios more in line..my ph is 7.1 and sulfur is low at 29 ppm so i was planning on using gypsum unless someone knows of something better that wont raise ph. How much gypsum would i need to bring it up ?

2/10/2016 6:50:55 PM

Ontario

Never mind i found the answers

2/10/2016 10:54:52 PM

Colorado

Dont try to raise to 5000 and if you did do it over 2/3 seasons. Slow and steady wins the race.

2/14/2016 5:41:03 PM

San Diego

Why would it be bad to raise it in one season, provided you start in the fall?

3/1/2016 12:56:14 AM

Colorado

Cause you don't want 5000 ppm calcium-once its there you cant get rid of it. much better off lowering his potassium to balance his ratios.My k+ has been very high( manure and leaves) for years. If I added Ca+++ to counteract the K level i'd be around 9000ppm calcium which would be worse than high K.

3/2/2016 12:31:01 AM

Colorado

Also that would be a huge addition of sulfur to raise calcium even 1000ppm with gypsum. Sulfur is helpful up to 300ppm.higher is going to hurt rather than help.

3/2/2016 12:45:29 AM

San Diego

If I wanted to counteract my potassium levels, I would end up at 20,625 ppm of calcium. Lol.

This stuff can be really confusing for me sometimes because calcium is considered to be really high around 5000, but even if I had a potassium level of 425 ppm and phosphorus of 100 ppm, calcium would have to be at least 6400 ppm in our high pH soil if the ratios I see are correct. People in my area that have been growing here for years can never get the pH to stay neutral or lower the potassium levels anywhere near where it should be. Reasoning that calcium is not toxic and wont cause a problem unless it is way above where it should be, I raised to it 6400 thinking that if I was ever able to obtain the ideal levels of potassium and phosphorus (which I think will never happen) they would start to balance out. I was hoping I didn't put myself in a worse position with another rookie mistake, so that is why I asked.

3/2/2016 1:17:06 AM

San Diego

The sulfur too. I could not find out if and when it got toxic. My calcium level was already around 4000 I had plans on doing some big flooding (or having happen for me with the el nino) a few months after adding. I will see if I killed myself when planting time comes :D

3/2/2016 1:22:39 AM