A deficiency of calcium in your garden’s soil can cause the growing tips on your tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) to become pale and die. It also may cause blossom-end rot, in which sunken dark-brown or black spots appear on the lower ends of tomato fruits. Adding Calcium Late. Bodine is passionate about gardening, travel, education and finance. Tomatoes perform best when their soil has a pH level of 6.5 to 7.2. If your tomatoes have already developed blossom-end rot, you can provide more balanced nutrition using a foliar spray of calcium nitrate mixed with water. Tomatoes perform best when their soil has a pH level of 6.5 to 7.2. What Is the Amount of Calcium to Add to Tomato Plants? As your eggshells start to break down, they provide slow-release calcium, restructure the soil to make it porous and improve your soil's drainage. Tomato plants require much more calcium than other fruits and vegetables. If you provide too much your plants will be big and bushy and green but you won’t have any flowers and therefore no fruit! How to Add Calcium to Plants Using Epsom Salt Step 1. Use a hand trowel to mix the eggshell powder into the soil. Sprinkle the powder around the tomato plant. If your ground is extremely acidic and hasn’t been limed for several years, then an option is to increase that amount to up to 2 cups per plant. Mix the side dressing carefully into the first 1 inch of surface soil and avoid getting it on the leaves. Although most soil has plenty of calcium, eggshells add extra calcium to plants without messing up the pH like lime often does in a garden. Some soil amendments also contain calcium. You can use dolomite lime instead if your soil also needs more magnesium. Amend your soil periodically with lime to increase pH and provide calcium. Then add calcium to prevent blossom end rot: a dozen crushed eggshells, a dozen crushed calcium carbonate tablets or a half- cup of a calcium-rich organic plant … She has produced thousands of articles for online publications such as Demand Studios, GoBankingRates and WiseGeek. The first thing you should do … My husband the chemistry teacher was worried about using calcium chloride, and while we have plenty of calcium carbonate in the form of limestone around here, we knew that would be very, very slow to get to the plants. Perform a soil test to discover if your soil is deficient in calcium. Her articles or photos have also appeared in such publications as Birds & Blooms, Horticulture and Backwoods Home. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Soil that is not already rich in calcium will allow disease such as blossom end rot to infect your tomato plants. Learn which plants thrive in your Hardiness Zone with our new interactive map! Most soils that have been cultivated for some time have enough calcium to meet the needs of plants. If you forget to add the lime in fall, then add it in early spring, at least two months before you plant your tomatoes in the garden. If your soil's pH level is lower than that range, which means it is more acidic, then add garden lime, also known as calcium carbonate, to your vegetable bed's soil in fall. I was amazed by the result. Calcium is an essential secondary nutrient for all plants. Commercial calcium sprays are available, but for an economical alternative, consider a milk spray. The calcium from eggshells is also welcome in garden soil, where it moderates soil acidity while providing nutrients for plants. The plants need at least 1 1/2 inches of water per week during the period when they are most vulnerable to calcium deficiency, which is from the time they begin to set fruits until the time those fruits are at least one-half their mature size. Use 3/4 cup of lime per plant, and work it into the top 8 inches to 1 foot of soil. Wait until your tomato plants begin to grow. If it is too acidic, adding calcium can help restore the balance. One tablespoon is enough per plant. Place your collected eggshells in a blender and blend until you have a dry powder. Add Epsom salts to restore the calcium in the soil for your plants. The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control; Barbara W. Ellis et al. Sources of Calcium to Prevent Tomato Blossom Rot. An example of this is high-calcium limestone, applied to correct the soil pH at least two months prior to planting. For the home gardener, you can mix 4 tablespoons per gallon of water and apply this directly to the root zone. In addition, tomato plants also need some nitrogen… but not too much. Calcium absorption problems can be prevented by mulching the soil around the tomato plants when it is damp, using straw, plastic or newspapers to keep the soil moisture level consistent. Sprinkle the powdered eggshells into the bottom of your planting hole. Good garden soil should have a pH between 6.5-7.2. A tomato with blossom end rot due to calcium deficiency. Does Epsom Salt Water Keep Tomatoes From Rotting on the Vines? Different kinds of stress, such as too little or too much water, root damage and an excessive level of nitrogen, can prevent the plants from absorbing calcium properly.

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