Every grower knows high-yielding crops need a balanced nutrition program. While we usually talk about nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, calcium plays an important role in plant development. Calcium affects everything from the structure of the plant to how well it manages environmental stress.
Understanding how calcium works in the soil and the plant can help you make better management decisions this season.
Why crops depend on calcium
Calcium has three main functions during crop development:
- Building strong cell walls: Cell walls provide structural support, so crops can stand tall against wind, heavy rain, and the weight of their own fruit. Stronger cell walls also form a physical barrier, which can help plants resist disease and prevent pathogens from spreading.
- Stress resilience: Calcium stabilizes cell membranes and regulates internal processes, helping plants deal with stressors like drought, extreme temperature swings, and insect pressure. When conditions get difficult, calcium can help keep the plant functioning.
- Nutrient uptake: Calcium helps balance the soil chemistry. In a well-balanced soil, you achieve a more neutral pH, which is where plants can easily absorb other nutrients from the root zone.
Identifying calcium deficiencies
Calcium deficiency shows up first in new growth and developing fruit.
When crops don’t have enough calcium, the plants have stunted, withered, or distorted new leaves. Another symptom is tip burn. As the plant moves into reproduction, the calcium deficiency can make buds and blossoms fall off too soon. In crops like tomatoes or apples, it can show up by giving the fruit water-soaked and discolored areas, which can affect storage and marketability.
Liquid compatibility
Adding traditional liquid calcium to a tank mix can cause issues.
“The downside to having liquid sources of calcium is they are highly reactive, and they will often cause compatibility issues when mixing with other nutrients such as phosphorus,” said AgroLiquid agronomist Stephanie Zelinko.
When unprotected calcium reacts with phosphorus, it turns into a solid in the tank. For growers, this means making extra trips across the field to separately apply nutrients. Those extra passes use more time, more fuel, and increase soil compaction.
At AgroLiquid, we developed LiberateCa to solve this exact problem. LiberateCa features a protected calcium technology that remains stable and compatible with other nutrients, including phosphorus products like Pro-Germinator.
Some high-value crops, like soybeans, potatoes, tomatoes, and apples, have a high calcium demand to reach the best quality and yield. As always, we suggest using a soil test to help guide your application methods.
AgroLiquid calcium products
Let’s look at three AgroLiquid calcium products that are designed to solve different problems.
- Corrects or prevents calcium deficiency, stunted growth, and reduced yields
- Promotes strong plant cell growth
- Improves resistance to stress, drought and disease
- Balances soil salinity
- Improves water penetration through soil
- Easy to apply at planting or throughout the growing season
- Easy to apply with other nutrients
Watch the video to learn more.
- Corrects or prevents calcium deficiency, stunted growth, and reduced yields
- Promotes strong plant cell growth
- Improves resistance to stress, drought and disease
- Improves water penetration through soil
- Easy to apply at planting or throughout the growing season
- Supports chlorophyll production and improves leaf growth
- Works synergistically with macro- and micronutrients to improve utilization
- Can improve yield and crop quality
- Improves micronutrient profile in soil for greater longevity
- Flexible application methods to reduce manpower required
Let’s make the most of calcium. Talk to your local AgroLiquid representative today to see how we can help this season.
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Stephanie Zelinko is a national agronomist for AgroLiquid. She has over 20 years of experience with crop nutrition. She grew up on a crop farm, and she now farms with her husband and children.
