Adding calcium to orchids

[Kailyn]

Thanks a lot everyone I think the first step ill take is to figure out what the tap water is like. To see if its something I should be concerned about. I am on lake superior and I do know I definitely don't have overly hard water (never any build up issues in my kettle or taps). I've truly been keeping an eye out for cal/mg supplements at places like home-depot, walmart etc but I haven't seen anything and its the time of year they stow away all there gardening stuff. Right now my catt seedlings are in orchid ICU trying to get some more root growth happening. I wanted to prevent any issues with cal/mg deficiency before they start

---------- Post added at 05:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 AM ----------

so 2012 water reports Hardness- CaCO3 30-55mg/L
Alkalinity - Total as CaCO3 30-55mg/l
Can someone let me know what this means?

[isurus79]

Well to be honest, the Calcium in your tap water is often not available to the plants, depending on its specific chemistry. You should still be supplementing with Ca/Mg regardless of the Ca levels in your tap.

[tucker85]

The best place to find calcium/magnesium supplements is a hydroponics store. Use Google to see if you have one in your area. They often carry a couple different brands. The one I use is MagiCal by Technaflora. You don't need much so buy a small bottle.

[cbuchman]

I use a supplement too. I learned about it on the OB. I use Magical which I bought on Amazon.com. It's made a big difference. For many of my Catts, I clearly had a Ca deficiency - I found some articles on the topic and my planst could have been those in the pictures. I also find my Oncidiums like it too and some reluctant bloomers and now laden with multiple spikes!

[ALToronto]

There is a pretty good amount of Ca in your water, but what about Magnesium? It should be at 25-35% of your Calcium. When you fertilize, adjust your Nitrogen to 30 ppm as well, and you'll be fine.

The problem with Epsom Salts is that you never know what you're getting in terms of Mg. I add about 1/15 of a tsp to a litre of water and hope for the best.

[nightsong]

If it's root growth you are looking for, I highly recommend kelpmax from firstrays.com. I could see a huge difference in just 2 weeks after I started using this seaweed extract. I wish I had known about it sooner.

[Kailyn]

thanks everyone I went to a local nursery and found one bottle left of magiCal that I scooped up, its a big bottle so should last me. as it is a mag/cal supplement should I stop using the little bit of Epsom salts in my watering solution or are there other trace minerals it provides?
@nightsong- I have a kelp fertilizer, not rays as I am in Canada and shipping gets to be a bit much to order things from the states. I've been using it for just over a week I would guess (should have marked it down) but no changes yet(trying very hard to stay patient)

[Jayfar]

If your water is particularly low on sulphur, you may want to use a little epsom salt to supply that.

[LadySoren]

What exactly does calcium do for plants again...?

[POLKA]

Kailyn

Right now, I'm using 20/20/20 at 1/4 tsp per gallon, plus 1/4 tsp per gallon Calcium Nitrate (which I had to get by the 50# bag!) Blooming and growth is better.

I use Epson salts once a month alone or with seaweed.

Black rot is much much less, and the oncidium intergenerics are blooming better than before.

How to handle the extra large bag -- store in empty coffee cans and ice cream buckets with tight lids in a dry place.

Regarding natural calcium in your water -- if your fertilizer ( and most of them do this) drops the pH of your water below 6.5, your calcium should be available. If your water plus fert is above 7.5, I would treat with a few drops of muriatic acid, or a 1/2 cup vinegar in your fert solution.

Happy growing

Rex