Do I need Cal Mag?

[Scottsquatch]

I have been watching a lot of grow videos on youtube and quite a few by my favorite guy that has the cali-green channel. He grows organic and it is his soil recipe I'm starting my 1st grow with. My question is this: Do I need Cal Mag? I never see this guy even mention cal mag. Is it because of all the amendments in the soil and all the ACT's he uses? Lemme know what you guys think. Thanks.

 

[Tony Urban]

I grow in LOS, and I am still trying to figure that out, I would have a bottle of calmag on hand just in case. I will be picking one up soon, I have lots of calcium and magnesium in my soil but my plants still thirst for it, maybe there isn’t enough readily available in my soil.

But I use LEDs and plants crave calmag under LED.

I also have recently made a batch of homemade calcium phosphate with egg shells and apple cider vinegar. I used Emilyas recipe.

Emmie's DIY CalMagPhos+ From Eggshells

 

[Scottsquatch]

That's a pretty good idea. I think I'll order a bottle. Better safe than sorry.

 

[goofyfoot]

I dont like to give advice on mediums or nuit`s, people here and on other forums get snippy. I look at it this way you are growing plants. In time you will get to know what is right and what is wrong. All plants need N, P, K to florish, most dont know that Calcium and Magnesium MAKE those needed 3 key componds work properly.

If you research it you will find out what they do, one quick one is Magnesium is more important then nitrogen to develop chlorophyll. And Calcium is a carrier it allows the others to ride on it and moves freely through out the whole plant. So it has some advantages to use it .....

If I had to chose a bottle of CalMag or a new 1200 watt LED. I would buy the CalMag, it is that important. The guy not using it and is buying organic dirt (??) is not looking at how much bud he is going to get. More likely is a conisoir with $40 dollar bottles of wine on a rack with dust on them.

It is more important to find out what these things do for the plant, then as to why someone else likes or has no need for it. As your plants grow so do you, fertilize your mind and you will see great results in your plants.

...Peace .....

 

[Emilya Green]

I grow with a strong TLO soil system and always have a bottle of my calmagphos+ around. If you haven't made your own superior product, there are several organic versions of calmag+ out there. Even in my strong soils and amended pots, magnesium deficiencies still pop up regularly in a tent with several strains in it. Some plants need it early and some later on, but it is one of those things that it is good to treat as soon as you see its signs... because it just continues to get worse over time and the destroyed regions of the leaves will never recover. If you jump on it early, you can usually stop a mag deficiency in just a couple of waterings and then keep it at bay with maintenance doses.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Goofyfoot, thanks for your advice, but I think you misunderstood me a bit. I KNOW how important calcium and magnesium are, that's why I was wondering why the guy wasn't talking about it. Because I am inexperienced with organic growing, I was wondering if this guy was meeting the plants needs for calcium and magnesium through his amendments.

 

[Bilbobudkin420]

I grow in LOS, and I am still trying to figure that out, I would have a bottle of calmag on hand just in case. I will be picking one up soon, I have lots of calcium and magnesium in my soil but my plants still thirst for it, maybe there isn’t enough readily available in my soil.

But I use LEDs and plants crave calmag under LED.

I also have recently made a batch of homemade calcium phosphate with egg shells and apple cider vinegar. I used Emilyas recipe.

Emmie's DIY CalMagPhos+ From Eggshells

Could be PH that isnt making it available to your plants? Just a thought cuz other than that i cant really comment on organics mate but im sure youll find what ya looking for

 

[Tony Urban]

Could be PH that isnt making it available to your plants? Just a thought cuz other than that i cant really comment on organics mate but im sure youll find what ya looking for

I think that may be the issue. I am just about to upload some pics and make a post on that.

 

[lxcpanda]

you can address mag def with light epsom salt application, 1 tsp per 5 gals water. idk if its "organic approved" for farming. maybe if there is deficiency it has to do with the plant not absorbing the minerals there. afaik alfalfa sprouted seed tea has a lot of amino acids. glutamic and glycine stimulate root cells to open up calcium ion channels. weird how nature is like that, with amino acids being built into very specific enzymes to perform the perfect chemical reaction for the desired response in the plant.

 

[Tony Urban]

My understanding is that you want to avoid using Epsom salts, kind of a last resort, but I am still a noob

 

[Emilya Green]

My understanding is that you want to avoid using Epsom salts, kind of a last resort, but I am still a noob

The thing is that a little bit goes a long long ways. Putting 1 tbs on the top should be enough to get you through the entire grow, but people tend to go crazy with it and keep adding this much with multiple waterings, and the roots can only take so much salt before getting in trouble.

 

[lxcpanda]

The thing is that a little bit goes a long long ways. Putting 1 tbs on the top should be enough to get you through the entire grow, but people tend to go crazy with it and keep adding this much with multiple waterings, and the roots can only take so much salt before getting in trouble.

yes, i should have mentioned frequency. i took a look at your diy calmagphos from eggshells guide, awesome stuff! do you use it for foliar in addition to watering?

 

[Emilya Green]

yes, i should have mentioned frequency. i took a look at your diy calmagphos from eggshells guide, awesome stuff! do you use it for foliar in addition to watering?

oh yes... I add it to a lot of mixes, but it does get sprayed, along with lacto and aloe too. It is all wonderful stuff... the plants love it.

 

[Glookies1]

I grow in LOS, and I am still trying to figure that out, I would have a bottle of calmag on hand just in case. I will be picking one up soon, I have lots of calcium and magnesium in my soil but my plants still thirst for it, maybe there isn’t enough readily available in my soil.

Yeah, my plants crave cal mag too. I’m using the fluence Spydr 2p LED, and give cal mag every watering.



But I use LEDs and plants crave calmag under LED.

I also have recently made a batch of homemade calcium phosphate with egg shells and apple cider vinegar. I used Emilyas recipe.

Emmie's DIY CalMagPhos+ From Eggshells

 

[Conradino23]

Mg deficiency comes from the wrong composition of your soil or medium actually. You need to get the right Ca to Mg ratio before you cook it. Otherwise you're gonna see deficiency popping up in early to mid bloom. I've never really had this problem, but it's very common especially indoor.

 

[Allen42]

I have been watching a lot of grow videos on youtube and quite a few by my favorite guy that has the cali-green channel. He grows organic and it is his soil recipe I'm starting my 1st grow with. My question is this: Do I need Cal Mag? I never see this guy even mention cal mag. Is it because of all the amendments in the soil and all the ACT's he uses? Lemme know what you guys think. Thanks.

Cal-Mag

 

[Lerugged]

Yep good advice from all above. The trick I Think is as Conrad mentioned above is to let it cook before any plant gets in the soil. I used cuttlefish or squid inners. (Those white things you give to birds) wash , bake and it powders pretty easily. Mix into soil and I let mine cook over winter . With that and watering with regular tap water I very seldom have issues. I've used a similar recipe to @Emilya in the past with great results n this year I wanted to harvest from surrounding areas to build my soil. Working excellently so far . Good luck

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

I never use Ca/Mg additives, but living in the arid west, there are plenty of alkali minerals in my tap water. I use a mixture of tap/RO water to grow. I use a target of 175ppm TDS for my blend, and everything is GTG.

 

[Glookies1]

I’ve never had a cal mag problem until I switched to LED lighting.

I’ve since read a lot of articles that high power LED’s encourage cal mag deficiency.

I’m not sure why, but it’s easy to control so long as you don’t ignore it

 

[Emilya Green]

high power LED’s encourage cal mag deficiency.

I’m not sure why,

It has to do with the tuned and focused LED light, in exactly in the most bioactive hot spots in the light spectrum for the plants. They are getting more useful light, so they work harder and have greater nutrient needs.