Hard Water & CalMag

[Kilbarrog]

Hi
I live in a hard water area. The limescale stains the metal/taps on the sink & there is literally pieces of calcium in the bottom of the kettle.
So my question is, when I see magnesium deficiency during flowering (which I do) do I need to add calmag, or am I over dosing them on calcium & to just give them magnesium?

Appreciate the help!

 

[Chrondocious]

Not entirely sure, but you could try to add some magnesium sulfate, basically epsom salts and it wouldnt add additional calcium.

 

[Roy Growin]

Giving them CaMg will be fine
Might want to up the K too so the roots can use it

 

[Kilbarrog]

Giving them CaMg will be fine
Might want to up the K too so the roots can use it

I'm using BB Fish Mix/Grow (Veg/Flower) Bloom, Top Max, AN Bud Candy, Voodoo Juice, Tarantula & Atami Bloombastic. pk 14 – 15

 

[StoneOtter]

Hi Kilbarrog, I use epsom salts when I see mag def coming on. A tablespoon in a gallon of water is it for me and that can last for weeks maybe. If I see calcium spots then I go with cal/mag.

Any pics? What stage of growth are they in?

 

[Kilbarrog]

As I said, with so much calcium in my water, I'm wondering should I just buy a bottle of Canna Magnesium. I've tried Epsom Salts, but I had to start using calmag too.
Zkittles Auto Day 6 (Not counting week 1). The other 4 are GSC's. I planted them 2 days ago. 3 have broken soil

 

[Chrondocious]

I dont think you can actually over do calcium, but im not sure.

 

[bluter]

a calcium imbalance can interfere with just about all the macro nutes and most micro as well. mag, iron, K, P, etc. have a look at a mulder's chart.

i'd check the starting ec of the water and contemplate going RO if it's high. it helps that you're in soil.

 

[Listersmeghead]

Hi
I live in a hard water area. The limescale stains the metal/taps on the sink & there is literally pieces of calcium in the bottom of the kettle.
So my question is, when I see magnesium deficiency during flowering (which I do) do I need to add calmag, or am I over dosing them on calcium & to just give them magnesium?

Appreciate the help!

Hiya kilbarrog.
Have you looked at your local water report?
I live in a hard water area in the UK and have the same issue. Most uk hard water areas have high calcium and little to no magnesium. some areas are bang on the ratio you need.

In veg the desired ratio is around 3:1 cal/mag..in some UK supplies it can be more 10:1..so yeah it can cause some issues.
In flower you need more of a 2:1 cal/mag ratio.

So you're on the right track, but you need to know your water report values to correct the magnesium.

I don't use calmag at all for the first 8 weeks or so growing my autos. I just add a bit of mag here and there and use the calcium in my water.
I use plant magic mono magnesium granules to correct my water balance..I'm sure it's just Epson salts in a fancy tub for 3 times the price.

If you can't get a good water report for your area there's a UK company called 'growers ark' that will test it for you and advise on the amout of mag to add.

 

[Listersmeghead]

Oh..as @bluter suggests, going with RO or distilled water is a good fix to control what's in your water...but can be expensive in the uk.

 

[Kilbarrog]

a calcium imbalance can interfere with just about all the macro nutes and most micro as well. mag, iron, K, P, etc. have a look at a mulder's chart.

i'd check the starting ec of the water and contemplate going RO if it's high. it helps that you're in soil.

Hiya kilbarrog.

Have you looked at your local water report?
I live in a hard water area in the UK and have the same issue. Most uk hard water areas have high calcium and little to no magnesium. some areas are bang on the ratio you need.

In veg the desired ratio is around 3:1 cal/mag..in some UK supplies it can be more 10:1..so yeah it can cause some issues.
In flower you need more of a 2:1 cal/mag ratio.

So you're on the right track, but you need to know your water report values to correct the magnesium.

I don't use calmag at all for the first 8 weeks or so growing my autos. I just add a bit of mag here and there and use the calcium in my water.
I use plant magic mono magnesium granules to correct my water balance..I'm sure it's just Epson salts in a fancy tub for 3 times the price.

If you can't get a good water report for your area there's a UK company called 'growers ark' that will test it for you and advise on the amout of mag to add.

I didn't know you could measure the ec of organic nutes!!
I just ordered Plant Magic Magnesium Granules.

Appreciate the help

 

[StoneOtter]

My well water is over 500 ppm sometimes so I opted for making ro water for my LOS soil that requires low ppm water.

 

[Keffka]

If you suspect magnesium is your problem you can give the plants a foliar spray, 1 tbsp of epsom salt to 1 gallon of distilled/ro water. Soak the plants from top to bottom. If this eases your issue then you know it’s Mag, if it does nothing then you have another problem.

 

[Kilbarrog]

If you suspect magnesium is your problem you can give the plants a foliar spray, 1 tbsp of epsom salt to 1 gallon of distilled/ro water. Soak the plants from top to bottom. If this eases your issue then you know it’s Mag, if it does nothing then you have another problem.

Thanks. I'll try that when the time comes.
Thanks for taking the time to help.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SmokingWings]

I dont think you can actually over do calcium, but im not sure.

I grow in soil and what I think about and look up are related to soil first and hydro second.

A couple of years ago I asked myself the same sort of question as to how much Calcium was good and if it could be overdosed. Checked through many web pages ranging from university & agricultural colleges to gardening articles to web sites for the fertilizer companies and went even further down into the rabbit hole. This is what I figure happens if or when too much Calcium or Cal-Mag is used.

The basic answer seems to be that it is hard to overdose Calcium. But, it can happen, either directly or indirectly. Big thing that has to be considered is that most of the Calcium products on the market are tied in with Magnesium making it convenient by letting us add both together. It is more likely that an overdose of Magnesium will happen first.

Now add in what @bluter brings up and we can see the problem start up. Once the soil has too much Mag one of the first things it knocks out is the Potassium and the plants stop growing properly. As the dose of Calcium keeps adding up and the plant is not using it then the Calcium starts what seems to be the famous "domino effect" and knocks out or locks out just about everything else in the Macro, Micro, Secondary and Trace lists. Using the Mulder's Chart is another 'rabbit hole'..

Not saying to avoid Calcium or Cal-Mag, just that the grower or gardener has to pay a lot more attention to how the plant reacts to it. So I ask myself "how much is too much"....and all I come up with so far is "no clue" and hopefully I recognize it as an overdose starts.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I would get a copy of your water quality report, most of the time, but not always, when there's high Ca, there's high Mg. You can definitely OD on Ca. The well(s) that serves my neighborhood have up to 2400 ppm's out of the tap, depending on the mix of wells they're using. Monthly "lime away" treatments for faucet screens, and showerheads are necessary, had to get rid of the porcelain kitchen sink, as it would stain orange. It is mostly Ca, Mg, Mn and Fe, with a smattering of Boron, sulfur, and chlorides as well as a few other lesser ions. When I first started growing using this water I added calmag, and found it was not a good idea! I'd get Nitrogen and Potassium lockouts and had to flush often. A few months ago the water company started transitioning away from the worst well, and now it averages about 400 ppm's, but I have to check each time to make sure they aren't mixing too much of the really hard water.