Magnesium vs. Calcium

[PurpleGunRack]

Hi all

I've been wondering about the use of Magnesium and Calcium.

I just started growing under LED's and recently had a Mg deficiency and got some Canna Mono Magnesium and it has helped a lot, but I'm worried I'll lock out the Ca(though there is quite a lot of Ca in my tap water) and I bought a bottle of Canna Mono Calcium in case I'm gonna need it.

I see a lot of people using a product called Cal/Mag, is this because Mg and Ca locks each other out and they're used together to make sure you don't get a deficiency of one or the other?

Is it adviced to use the 2 elements together or is it better to just use the one you're lacking?

Has any of you LED growers encountered a Ca deficiency while not having a Mg deficiency?

 

[fanleaf]

Hi all

I've been wondering about the use of Magnesium and Calcium.

I just started growing under LED's and recently had a Mg deficiency and got some Canna Mono Magnesium and it has helped a lot, but I'm worried I'll lock out the Ca(though there is quite a lot of Ca in my tap water) and I bought a bottle of Canna Mono Calcium in case I'm gonna need it.

I see a lot of people using a product called Cal/Mag, is this because Mg and Ca locks each other out and they're used together to make sure you don't get a deficiency of one or the other?

Is it adviced to use the 2 elements together or is it better to just use the one you're lacking?

Has any of you LED growers encountered a Ca deficiency while not having a Mg deficiency?

"Calcium is a positivley charged ion and hence when the plant spits out positivly charged ions from the roots in exchange for uptaking positively charged ions from the soil it needs to be balanced against the levels of magnesium available to the plant. Whatever ratios of calcium to magnesium available in the soil will result in the same ratio of uptake from the plant.

Calcium competes with other positively charged ions, such as sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and magnesium (Mg+2). Applying too much of these positively charged ions might decrease calcium uptake by plants.

Put basically you need a calcium magnesium ratio of about 3 parts calcium to every one part magnesium in the soil which is what a marijuan plant generally prefers. This can sometimes rise as high as 5:1 calcium to magnesium."

What this means is that under normal plant health a CalMag product made at a 3 parts Ca to 1 part Mg should keep things in close to perfect balance.
However I like having separate Ca and Mg so when there is a def of just one or the other it can be treated correctly with either one that's slightly lacking sinse Ca and Mg actually do fight each other for uptake.

 

[Rifleman]

Kicking it with the science.

 

[Ripples]

I use Cal/Mag on a regular routine. If you are showing signs of a deficiency (as mentioned they look the same) this works well. I use it every time I plain water not when I feed. It is very difficult to over do it with Calcium, just don't go crazy! I stand by Cal/Mag and would recommend trying it! Good Luck and Happy Growing!

 

[fanleaf]

I use Cal/Mag on a regular routine. If you are showing signs of a deficiency (as mentioned they look the same) this works well. I use it every time I plain water not when I feed. It is very difficult to over do it with Calcium, just don't go crazy! I stand by Cal/Mag and would recommend trying it! Good Luck and Happy Growing!

Agree, CalMag is great for sure. I keep various products to use. Generally CalMag all of the time but then I keep Ca and Mag in seperate products too so when I notice only a mag def I can use a little mag only product like Epsom.