Just as it is important to know when to add calcium, it is also important to know when to stop. There is an old saying that goes, " Lime makes rich fathers and poor sons." It tells of farmers who had calcium poor soils and got tremendous yields when they added lime to their soil. The problem was that after ten to twenty years, the soil became over supplied with calcium and the Ph soared, making it difficult for the plants to absorb other nutrients. Not realizing what was happening, the next generation kept adding lime because it had worked for their fathers. The Ph continued to rise and productivity declined until it was no longer possible to make a living from the farm. So it is important to monitor calcium levels and Ph. If your calcium and Ph is too low, lime (calcium carbonate) is a good source of calcium. If your Ph is high and calcium low, It would be better to use gypsum (calcium sulfate), which is neutral in Ph. eggshells and bone meal are slow release forms of calcium. Bone meal has been shown to take about five years to start releasing its calcium in a form usable to plants.

@cherylklaas7171

4 жыл бұрын

THIS gave me more helpful, practical information than the video-not dissing the video, but it stopped short at explaining the "how". Thank you!!

@jaceeferris

4 жыл бұрын

Are oyster shells a good source of calcium? Is it slow or fast release?

@danielacrawford7152

4 жыл бұрын

Jacee Ferris good question! I would like to know this as well! 🤗

@xekorf

4 жыл бұрын

This is so incredibly wise. When I started gardening a few years ago, I read everything I could and bought into the calcium story big time. I added lime every year and I saw amazing growth. Until this year. Now my Ph is way too high and I have trouble growing anything. The nitrogen I put in the soil is not accessible. I’ve now gone back to just compost and cover crops. Over time, I hope to fix the soil, but it will take years. I normally agree with Luke, but not this time. To his credit, he does mention this briefly at the end of the video, but the point needs to be stressed that any soil amendment other than water, compost and cover crops needs to be accompanied with careful soil testing.

@emmitstewart1921

4 жыл бұрын

@@xekorf Before you start adding any kind of fertilizer to your soil, you should test and make sure that you know what your soil needs and, more important what it may already have in excess. Another thing that I have heard people declare to be good is adding Epsom salts to your soil. Epsom salts is a source of magnesium and adding it to a deficient soil can give wonderful results. But...many soils are already rich in magnesium and adding more can not help and may even cause damage.

I've been looking for a video that tells how important calcium is in the garden. I see a lot mention it quickly, but never stress how important it is. A lot of peoples problems in their gardens is deficiency of calcium. One of the best videos I've seen. Great presentation. Thanks Luke.

@darnelljoseph5537

3 жыл бұрын

What's the best organic method to get calcium to your plants?

@emmitstewart1921

6 ай бұрын

@@darnelljoseph5537 Gypsum. Gypsum is a PH neutral mineral which is a source of both calcium and sulfur. also most organic tomato foods contain calcium..

The most Passionate teaching that I have seen from you since the time you spoke of your old job. I love it. You are going to be a Icon.

Calcium is definitely a macronutrient. Tomato plants take up roughly equal amounts of nitrogen and calcium

Another very informative video, Luke! I purchased a 3 lb. bag of Trifecta+ from your website and added some of it to my seed-starting mix, along with worm castings to start pepper and tomato seeds, and all of my seedlings are thriving, I already had to transplant them to bigger pots. Thanks to you!!

Luke, We have a lot of egg shells from our own chickens and the neighbor save her shells to give to us. I dissolve the shells in warm vinegar to achieve super saturation. I then use the solution (diluted with water) as a soil drench around the plants and the plants love it! Just do NOT apply it to the leafs as it will burn them. This is done through out the growing season. Powdered egg shell is tilled into the garden in the fall in preparation for next year.

Great video! Your on top of the ball on this one. I started a calcium based diet for my plaints last year and wow what a difference. I haven't had any blossoms end rot yet.

Enjoyed the video Luke. Good info. Love the passion you exude as well. Happy Gardening my friend!

This information is like precious gold to me. I will do this.

I'm Always learning something new Luke. Thank you. I've been savings and crushing finely eggshells all winter for my garden, especially the tomatoes. Lime ia now on my "to buy list". Blessings!

Oh my, LOVE your passion. It's so infectious. Thanks for the great tip and explanation.

The analogies and comparisons are through the roof. Very informative video. Thank you

One of the reasons bonemeal is applied to soil when planting things, as bone is of course mostly calcium, and makes the plants happy... :)

@paladinsmith7050

3 жыл бұрын

@@fuzzman58 True that you need to be especially careful if you have foxes in your area. They'll turf up your garden beds whilst you're asleep.

preach it my man, ive been Adding calcium in my compost lately (mostly on the form of crushed egg shells amd some more stuff) my plants have been doing great.

I love how excited you are about gardening! Great info, thanks

I do not know what I would do without your videos, all your knowledge! I have learned sooooo much from you!! Thank you! His trifecta + is the BOMB!! You WILL NOT be disappointed. It’ makes gardening easy!

Hey, thanks Luke! I didn't know that!

Thank you for the information! This was very helpful. Love the little squirrel that got in on the act on the back fence there, lol!

Thank you luke, love your honest approach, keep feeding us,from your garden of knowledge😅

You like, the motivational speaker of gardening. Thank you for the knowledge (and motivation!!)

when we make cheese and yougart all the whey I save and water my garden with it. My grandma did it. I knew it was good now I bet it's because of the calcium

@luckychicav7981

6 жыл бұрын

The Green Witch Homestead, do dilute? If so, what's the ratio whey to water? Thanks you. :)

@MMosher2112

6 жыл бұрын

add a drop of calcium chloride to a gallon of water was a recommendation yo me from a knowledgable source.

Thanks Luke! Love the wisdom you've provided me around Calcium! Thank you!

o lord thank you luke you just told me the reason why my basil stops growing after seedling stage

Been saving my eggshells all winter. :)

You definitely covered a big question I had! Thank you!

Great stuff as always Luke.

I been talking to my Garden 👍they told me in a dream they need 🥚 egg shells 🐚 to be strong 💪 A true Story 👍

Luke this is the information I needed!! Went back in your archives for this video. The macro nutrients are there! Just need the calcium to make them available

I normally agree with Luke in his videos, but not this time. People have gone a little overboard with calcium. I agree that it’s important, but adding anything to your soil needs to be done in an informed manner using soil tests. Everything I read about gardening told me to add lime and eggshells every year, so I did. Now, my soil has a Ph off the charts. Now it can’t take up any nitrogen. I no longer add anything to my garden except for cover crops, water and compost. For some people, you might need this. But be careful. Many of my beds are useless now. Luke does mention this at the end of his video, which is good, but my suggestion is you have your soil tested before adding any additives except water and compost. Assuming the problem is likely one thing or another can have grave consequences. It’s true that gypsum is less of a problem (as Luke mentioned), but one of the things I didn’t realize until it was too lasted, was that because my well water is rather hard, I’m adding significant calcium every time I water.

@katherinemahon9471

2 жыл бұрын

@Theoppsdead In the US there should be a university cooperative extension available somewhere in your area. Find them online and they will inform you of how to collect soil samples and the price is low or free.

@randomlife718

8 ай бұрын

I can't grow fruit without blossom end rot. You must be aware of adverse effect when adding a lot of stuff to your soil.

@humoody

6 ай бұрын

how do we correct this issue? I am trying to add humid acid and more of iron, magnesium and potassium.

Very useful for novice gardeners! Thanksmfor the info luke. :)

i live in the mammoth cave region of the US, the limestone around here helps a lot with calcium, for plants and the horses and other livestock who eat it

Wow I always water my tomatoes with milk periodically, and my yields are excellent! I never realized how important calcium was to the plants!

great video, love the enthusiasm

You are very easy to Listen to very informative also. Thank you for all your help.

Great video! Sometimes soil already has calcium but plants cant get them properly due to other issues as Ph and soil structure. Adding more calcium wouldnt help. For that, I think using humic acid at any time, before during or even after fertlizers, would do the work and increase growth.

Interesting. You can always learn more in gardening.

So crazy! I just sprayed some calcium on my tomato plants and today they look SO much healthier and a HUGE amount of my tomatoes ripened overnight.

This is probably what I need as my plants are very stunted. I will try gypsum right away. Thanks

such helpful info, you are a blessing Thank you for this!!

Luke, I started using Crab Shell from Neptunes harvest and that made a difference with the calcium deficiency and root knot nematodes are no longer a concern. I just did a soil test and my lawn needs 140 lbs of lime per 1000 feet, its really Ca deficient LOL

I picked up calcium from my Amish friends here in Michigan. They recommended it for the new garden area i am starting, and so I thought I would have a look at this video.

Thank you so much for all the great info in your videos! I have learned a lot from your channel!

I just made my 1st purchase of Trifecta Plus, it should be here any day! When I prepared & planted my raised beds and also my smartpots I prepared my soil with Coco Coir, Root Farm Hydro Garden Potting Mix; includes {Sphagnum peat moss coco coir aged softwood bark, perlite, worm castings, bat guano feather meal, bone meal blood meal, sulfate of potash, kelp meal, volcanic ash/Azomite} , Black Cow, Vermiculite, BoneMeal, Epsom Salt, Worm Castings, Osmocote, Alaskan Fish Fertizler, crushed aspirin. In the past few weeks, here in Zone 9a (Jacksonville,Fl) we have been getting a whole lotta rain 🌧🌧🌧🌩 and a spike in humidity every day, and are expected to get another week of more Rain 🌧 🌩and maybe even a Tropical storm🌩 on the way this weekend!!... 🎶"Rain, Rain Go Away, Come back another day!"🎶 I'm started to see signs of Black leaf softs on my Tomatoes leaves and branches. Should I'm thinking about adding a dose of crushed Tums tablet diluted with water? Or should I wait for the Trifecta Plus to arrive? If I should also do the Tums/Baking Soda/ Water spray solution what should be the frequency of how often? Thanks in advance for answering my question. I love learning from your KZread Channel on how to care and grow my own food for a Healthier Lifestyle. A Big Thank You! 🤗👐🏻💪🏼

Glen Rabenberg explains calcium fantastically

I add a ton of crushed egg shells all the time. no blossom end rot here

@cgc1581

3 жыл бұрын

Try blending them with water in a nutribullet. They break down faster.

@horrido666

3 жыл бұрын

You should look into that. I've seen studies that show they can take decades to break down. I have chickens, so have tons of egg shells. They go into the trash. I don't feed them to the chickens, either, and have never lost an egg to cannibalism. I just toss them, and use crushed oyster shells for both the garden and the chickens.

@mildredwilkins5781

3 жыл бұрын

I'm a baker and have tons of egg shells. I use a personal blender to turn eggshells into powder. Wonderful, calcium powder.

Love your videos and my plants are loving the trifecta plus.

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!! Your the best Luke!

I add oyster shell flour in my soil every year.

Oyster shell meal, for chickens, in 50 pound sacks is a cheap calcium source and you can grind it in a blender to make it work better. You can get it from a feed store.

Thanks for the great info! I just watched another video of yours that suggested to dissolve Tums in water and spray my tomato plants with it, in order to deal with end rot. So would this be an option for adding to the soil of both vegetables and florals? Should I spray or put it into the soil? Dissolved in water or just crushed into the dirt? Thanks for your help!

I love that you create these videos. I have learned so much from them. I don't expect perfection, I expect good information, that if I want to, I can continue to research and corroborate. I have not been disappointed. Keep up the good work.

lesson: calcium make plants dummy thicc.

Thank you for your tips🤩 this is a real good video. I will put some eggshaleparts under my roots in the garden 🤔😀

Very useful information.

Great info thanks for sharing thumbs up from central Indiana

Thank you Luke!!

I live in Florida my soil has an abundance of calcium. It is in the form of calcium carbonate or calculate. It makes the soil Ph alkaline. I have to add sulfur to bring my soil Ph to a level where I don't have a blossom end rot problem, due to plants not being able to uptake calcium.

Loved your presentation!!

Can you do a updated on your strawberries please. I never have any luck with them this year they have been doing good hope I can keep them going.

I think if you throw a lot of lime in the soil, you need to put sulfur as well, otherwise you get humongous great big leaves but no flowers.

Great video, thanks!

This is the first year that I have used fish emulsion on my tomato and pepper plants. I have to grow everything in pots near my house which is the only place I have the sun shining. Is this a good source of fertilizer to use that would have most of the nutrients or should I add something to it either lime calcium or a blood meal thank you so much

excellent info. Thanks!

Great information. Thank you.

I have to admit, I had to rewind to listen again every time I saw the squirrels.

Great information!! Thanks!!

Excellent video!

Its a good ideas what you shared 😊 thanks for it 👍 I will subscribe you for more update in your garden 😊 as i am just beginners doing planting in our garden here in Norway.

macro nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. There are some other micro nutrients that are important too but most soils usually don't have issues with not enough of them (there are always exceptions of course)

Could you please give us some update from the Giant Crimson 87 years old?! I'm from Brazil and I have followed your channel since the begin of that journey. Thanks for all informations.

There are 13 chemical elements needed for plant growth. You must do a soil test to determine which elements are missing from your soil. If you have sufficient calcium in your soil adding more will do nothing.

Great Video thank you. Good stuff

Thank you. Good information

Calcium can be sourced from Pottery Supplies in the form of Calcium Carbonate(whiting) and a Calcium inosilicate (wollastonite) which can also contain Iron and magnesium. Probably cheaper than Garden Centers. I dusted the garden recently. Thanks Luke.

Great video, I am on my way out to add calcium.

Question, I am new to gardening. Can you add trifecta and worm castings at the same time?…. In the beginning of planting?

another good one =)

Your videos are reading my mind and following this years garden journey. First it was leaf curl and now calcium. Just added calcium to my tomatoes today and then saw your video. Saw my plants had leaf curl.. put it off for a couple days… then saw your video. Too weird.

That squirrel up there on the power lines (2:07) is doing some overhead reconnaissance to figure out which of Luke's vegetables t's going to eat!

it was a somewhat cold day in the garden ... great content!!

Thank you for this info

Very informative and passionate video! My plants will soon be turgid and virile!

I actually had to add some lime to my soil because it had a pH in the low 5 range depending on where I took the readings. I keep the blueberry bushes in that soil and plant potatoes nearby! Gypsum would otherwise be my calcium of choice!

Someone sounds like a kid at Christmas time that got everything on his wish list...haha good info

Eggshells in vinegar is liquid calicum fast acting ✌️

@j3licat

4 жыл бұрын

Ty!!

@mln19631

4 жыл бұрын

Do you pour the vinegar and eggshells at the base of the plant? I know vinegar is used to kill weeds, so I worry about killing the plants.

@MrSeebobski

4 жыл бұрын

@@mln19631 no mix with water. Like a cup to a gallon of water. What is left of the shells can go on top of soil. You are right about full strength possible burning your plants!

@mln19631

4 жыл бұрын

Bob w do you dissolve the eggshells in straight vinegar and then add water to dilute it for application? You have some amounts of each you can share?

@MrSeebobski

4 жыл бұрын

@@mln19631 yes most will dissolve . Cover shells in the vinegar

Great info. I'm gonna add some eggshells!

Thanks luke u r great!!

I mix CaCO2 + H2SO4 to make homemade gypsum.. gypsum help lowering my soil level of pH..so the absorption of calcium going well.

How often should I fertilizer my vegetables . My onions and tomatoes and bell peppers

Do you still add Tums? I just watched a video of yours from 2013, and was about to buy Tums, now I don't know...

I buried a lot of fish heads through out my garden bed

@Jenura01

4 жыл бұрын

Do fish heads have a lot of calcium?

@eWarriorDLC

4 жыл бұрын

@@Jenura01 bones and scales do, but the decomposition process does pull nitrogen from the soil so you have to be aware of that and compensate.

@Kdm109

3 жыл бұрын

Hollis and Nancy’s homestead swear by burying a dead fish in the hole before you plant tomato’s

@nizon8800

3 жыл бұрын

It took fish head a long time to decompose and breakdown

@mabuhayPinay

3 жыл бұрын

I would allocate 2 months before the goodness of fish heads is available to the soil.

I have tomato plants that are growing vigorously so far. How much calcium should I apply per plant, how often should I apply it, and how should I apply it? Thank you!

Very helpful

Great video. I would add that insufficient / irregular watering can cause poor calcium absorption.

I was just researching calcium today! I'm wondering if just using trifecta+ will be enough calcium for my plants, especially since I have 3 tomatoes in containers.

Very informative

I have a black thumb and my dad told me to use the cooled water from boiled eggs when I water my plants. I'll have to tell him he's onto something!

I have mountains of Zebra Muscle shells building up around our lakes. Would it be safe to get buckets of the shells, crush and dump buckets into my garden or compost?

Silica is also fairly important along with calcium and magnesium