Connecting with Calcium (Ca)

Connecting with Calcium (Ca)

Soil: Calcium opens up (flucculates) the soil, improving structure and allowing roots, earthworms, oxygen, water and microbes to move freely through the soil. Calcium is a critically important nutrient for the health of all life in the soil and it is also an important key to achieving the ideal soil pH of 6.4 (where nutrients are most available).

Alkaline soil with calcium carbonate deposits 

Plants: Calcium is often referred to as the ‘trucker of all minerals” in relation to its role mobilising other nutrients. Calcium sponsors cell division and hence it promotes root, stem, and leaf growth. Calcium is also a major mineral governing cell strength and associated disease resistance. This mineral often determines the quality of your fruit and vegetables and if you are seeking a problem-free garden then it should always be a first priority to address any calcium deficiencies.

Plant Deficiency Symptoms: Stunted root systems and a lack of vegetable vigour. Blossom end rot in tomatoes, capsicums and zucchini. Internal browning or blackening of celery, potatoes and brussels sprouts.

People: Calcium is one of the major minerals linked to bone health and skeletal strength but needs to be balanced with magnesium. It is also a key player in cell function and it regulates the uptake of minerals into our cells. Just as it influences plant uptake of minerals, calcium is an electrolyte important for cellular  messaging and the electric life of cells.

Animals : Calcium is a key element in maintaining good growth and bone health in animals. It is also important for healthy hormonal function and reproduction.

Common Forms: Lime stone contains 40% calcium and the finer ground the lime, the faster the response. Builder’s lime is called calcium hydroxide and it contains 30 times more soluble calcium than limestone so it can be used for “fast food”. However, this “hot” material should always be combined with humic acid or compost to buffer the burning potential. Dolomite contains 20% calcium and 10% Magnesium. Gypsum (calcium sulphate) contains 20% calcium and 15% sulphur. Guano contains 35% calcium and 12% potassium.

Link :  Trio

Plant Health Soultions 

Brassica - perhaps the most important agricultural and horticultural crops, but not without some effort

A few years ago, we were lucky enough to visit the vegetable plot at the Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, made famous by Peter Cundall on the ABC programme, Gardening Australia. Actually, we acted like groupies who had just scaled the walls of the home of their favourite rock star. We took turns posing for photographs beside each of the 6 vegetable beds. I can’t describe the level of our excitement when we located the compost pile! All I can say is that it was just as well we were travelling without our children as had they viewed our giggling behaviour we would have lost all credibility as parents!

The six bed crop rotation system of the vegetable plot is designed to fit into the average backyard. One of the beds is currently a brassica crop. Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It could be well argued that this genus contains more important agricultural and horticultural crops than any other genus.

Brassica is a native of western Europe, the Mediterranean and temperate regions of Asia. Cultivated species are grown worldwide but many of the wild species grow as weeds, especially in North America, South America, and Australia. Why, you ask?

Almost all parts of some species have been developed for food, including the root (rutabaga, turnips), stems (kohlrabi), leaves (cabbage, Brussels sprouts), flowers (cauliflower, broccoli), and seeds (including mustard seed, and oil-producing rapeseed). Versatile little plant isn’t it?

They provide high amounts of vitamin C and soluble fibre and contain multiple nutrients. There have been claims of anti-cancer properties also.

So growing any of the various Brassica plants can lead to the joy of harvesting your own  fresh salad greens, bunching or braising greens, as well as small and large

heads and root crops. Generous servings of pac choi, chinese cabbage, tatsoi, broccoli raab and mustard greens, can feed and amaze your family and friends!

Not all Good News

However, it is not a crop without some issues. It is susceptible to clubroot spore that lurks in our soils. Clubroot is caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora Brassicae which can potentially persist in soil and water for up to 20 years even in the absence of host plants! Chinese cabbage is very sensitive to the disease. Cauliflower is less susceptible than Chinese cabbage; but more susceptible to the disease than broccoli and head cabbage.

How To Win the Fight

Avoid double cropping brassicas. It is best to rotate brassica crops with non-brassica crops (e.g: potatoes, carrots, sweet corn, pasture) to reduce the clubroot spore load in the soil. Affected plants produce large distorted roots and wilting is often the

first noticeable symptom. The galling or knots on the roots may not be obvious until affected plants are removed from the ground. Plants which are severely infected will be stunted, therefore producing poor quality crops which may not even live to harvest.

If you are watering from a dam near brassica plants or weeds, irrigation water

should be taken from the surface, as clubroot spores will settle to the bottom. Avoid taking the muddy water from near the bottom of a dam.

An acidic soil pH should be limed before planting the crop. The disease is less virulent when the soil pH is at least 7.0 as the germination of the spores is inhibited. Care must be taken not to increase the soil pH too high,  otherwise nutrient deficiencies may occur, or diseases of other crops may become more prominent (e.g: powdery scab on potatoes).

Liming is best done in partnership with the crop rotation, and calcium and boron application as this will maximise the potential to control the clubroot pathogen.