Homemade Calcium-25, Where To Get Ionic/plain Calcium?

phenotyper · Feb 26, 2016

Hey all,

I've come up with a homemade recipe for achieving some of the same results that Calcium-25 has. They say plant waxes on their website, which as you know, is exactly what Triacontanol is.

Now, my main issue is, I cannot find Calcium by itself anywhere anymore. I bought the botanicare calcium a long time ago, and they no longer make it. Calcium nitrate has way too much nitrogen for foliar feeding in flower. What are my options?

Here's my current recipe if anyone would like it.

I use, per gallon:
1-2 ppm Triacontanol with Polysorbate 20 (I prepare at 10ppm, and dilute accordingly)
Organicare Calcium .5 tsp
Sea Green .5 tsp
Sometime I toss in 1 ml True Blooms
Organic Fulvic Acid Concentrate .25 tsp
Dutch Master Saturator

Also, hello all! It has been quite a while!

Savage Henry · Feb 26, 2016

Interesting. From what I understand, straight triacontanol is extremely difficult to emulsify, hence the polysorbate.

How exactly do you get the triacontanol to remain in a true solution?

Edit: removed redundant question.

phenotyper · Feb 26, 2016

I dissolve the Triacontanol in polysorbate 20, and mix that with deionized water at a rate of 10 ppms. In my concentrate, simply shaking the bottle is enough to know it is mixed. The water is cloudy and nothing falls out of solution. When mixing with the above, it is the absolute last thing to go in, even after the saturator. This seems to work well, as say adding my nutrient solution to the small amount of mixed tria will almost definitely make it fall out of solution. The order matters.

phenotyper · Feb 26, 2016

You know, calcium carbonate will probably work as long as my spray is acidic enough. That's a problem though, most of the above actually raise ph. Keeping both absorbable and solvated seems to be the magic.

Savage Henry · Feb 26, 2016

Perhaps some kind of sulfuric acid to lower the ph of the initial solution?

May I ask where one can source the triacontanol?

Herb Forester · Feb 27, 2016

Calcium chloride brah. I don't think they'll much like the amount of acid it'll take to fully dissolve the carbonate.

Seamaiden · Feb 27, 2016

phenotyper said:
I cannot find Calcium by itself anywhere anymore.

You want calcium chloride, CaCl. It's used for canning applications.

phenotyper · Feb 27, 2016

Seamaiden said:
You want calcium chloride, CaCl. It's used for canning applications.

How mich chlorine is okay? Seems like I avoid it at all costs. Do I just add it to water, dissolve it, and then bubble off the chlorine?

IPlay4Keepz · Feb 27, 2016

why not strip the calcium carbonate out of egg shells with acetic acid aka vinegar? it takes a few days for the chemical reaction to complete but from firsthand experience it works.
i believe it results in calcium acetate and water.

Seamaiden · Feb 28, 2016

IIRC, you'll get some P if using egg shells, too. Not sure if phenotyper wants that or not.

phenotyper said:
How mich chlorine is okay? Seems like I avoid it at all costs. Do I just add it to water, dissolve it, and then bubble off the chlorine?

Plants actually need Cl. Given the instructions on the Ca-25 bottle and what I've read of using CaCl for tomatoes, I don't see why you couldn't just add the triacontanol to the CaCl and be off to the races. Use at the same rates as Ca-25 I'm thinking.

Lurkin4yrs · Mar 1, 2016

Isn't the polysorbate 20 a spreader on its own?

phenotyper · Mar 1, 2016

Polysorbate 20 is an emulsifier and wetting agent. I use it to mix up the tria, then I add another surfactant for the rest of the goodies.

Good news! I answered my own question. I found the Dissolvine CA-10, which is calcium edta that is almost 10% calcium. 1 tsp is 25 ppm calcium.

Does anyone know the calcium content in ppms for ca-25? Furthermore, what are the acceptable ranges of calcium in terms of ppms? I'm think 50-150 ppms calcium, but I could use some informed opinions.

Quantrill · Mar 1, 2016

Calcium 25 is calcium chloride and plant waxes. see the msds here.

Calcium chloride makes an excellent foliar because of its low point of deliquescence. It wants to absorb moisture from the atmosphere and become a liquid on its own. Therefore any residue left on the leaf after the foliar spray dries, will likely absorb moisture from the atmosphere and can then be absorbed by the leaf.

Calcium 25 instructions call for 4 pounds per 400 gallons of water, which is about 5 grams per gallon. This rate gives about 332 ppm Calcium in solution considering they list the calcium at 25% on the label. In reality it is probably closer to 27% considering Calcium 25 is basically just calcium chloride dihydrate.

Most calcium chloride products marketed for use as blossom end rot preventers or rot stop for tomatoes and peppers have instructions for foliar application closer to 775-1500 ppm calcium.

the calcium edta or dissolvine e-Ca-10 provides about 25 ppm calcium from one gram, not one teaspoon per gallon of water. One teaspoon would be closer to 4-5 grams, maybe slightly less because the calcium edta is quite fluffy ie not very dense.

good luck with your concoction.

phenotyper · Mar 1, 2016

Quantrill, thanks for the catch on my measurement, whoops. Interesting about what you said about the blossom end rot, that seems like a very, very high concentration of calcium.

And I looked into calcium chloride, but most were like 50ppms of Calcium for 150 ppms of Chloride. Seems way too high in chloride if I am spraying at 775-2500 ppms. Am I missing something?

Quantrill · Mar 1, 2016

you gotta get past the waxy cuticle layer somehow, thus the elevated concentrations. and yes all Calcium chloride will bring more chloride than calcium. That's the 2 after the Cl in the chemical formula, CaCL2.

phenotyper · Mar 2, 2016

Quantrill said:
you gotta get past the waxy cuticle layer somehow, thus the elevated concentrations. and yes all Calcium chloride will bring more chloride than calcium. That's the 2 after the Cl in the chemical formula, CaCL2.

Totally understand the composition and why there is a multiplicative factor. My main point was at 775 ppms calcium, the amount of chloride is off the charts. Can plants handle that kind of foliar load without burning? I assume the answer is yes, given our discussion, however that's an incredible amount of chloride and I'm not sure how the plant is handling it.

Homemade Calcium-25, Where To Get Ionic/plain Calcium?

Homemade Calcium-25, Where To Get Ionic/plain Calcium?

phenotyper

Savage Henry

phenotyper

phenotyper

Savage Henry

Herb Forester

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

phenotyper

IPlay4Keepz

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

Lurkin4yrs

phenotyper

Quantrill

phenotyper

Quantrill

phenotyper

Homemade Calcium-25, Where To Get Ionic/plain Calcium?

Homemade Calcium-25, Where To Get Ionic/plain Calcium?

phenotyper

Savage Henry

phenotyper

phenotyper

Savage Henry

Herb Forester

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

phenotyper

IPlay4Keepz

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

Lurkin4yrs

phenotyper

Quantrill

phenotyper

Quantrill

phenotyper

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