Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
About Calcium
By weight and volume, calcium is needed more than any other ele-
ment. Some of the schoolmen types object that great calcium overloads
do not show up via plant analysis. But they fail to understand that calci-
um is essential for its energy creation potential in the soil to release the
other elements that cause a plant to grow. It isn't needed necessarily in
the crop itself. That is why high calcium lime is indicated, one with no
more than 5% magnesium evident in its test content. A good calcium
source is calcium sulfate, better known as the compound gypsum.
Crops that need a lot of calcium are alfalfa — unless you're going to
harvest the crop for seeds — lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts
and spinach. If you want really crisp lettuce, calcium confers that crisp-
ness to the outer cell wall.
—Dan Skow, D.V.M. and Charles Walters in Mainline Farming for Cen-
tury 21
