Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
punkrotten

Cal-mag?

PunkRotten
9 years ago

I bought of bottle of this and confused about some things. It says to lower my PH to around 6.0 before applying. For the people here that use it, is that what you do? If so, how did you do it? The bottle also says to use it in every watering. How often do you think it should be used? Thanks

Comments (6)

  • pepperdave
    9 years ago

    Sound scary to me. I would not use it on peppers already planted. What is your PH and why do you think you need this stuff. Use something that works slower like lime or gypsum. Instant change of PH can only hurt your plants in any direction.
    Going from 7.0 to 6.0 then back to 7.0 could put a lot of stress on your plants.
    Are they in pots or in the ground? There is been talk on this forum of using a vinegar lime cocktail of smokemasters that might be what you want. PH neutral and inexpensive

  • maple_grove_gw
    9 years ago

    I use a Cal-Mag fertilizer on my peppers and tomatoes. I grow in 5:1:1, and it helps to ensure that adquate calcium is present, prevents end rot, etc.

    The pH suggestion means that you should not use alkaline water. Do you know the pH of your water? You want to be in a range of 5.5-6.5, target 6.0. If alkaline, you can bring it into the specified range by titrating with vinegar. This would be a trial and error process whereby you add a little at a time, keeping track of how much you've added, until you reach your target. Once you've done this once, the amount needed should remain constant (barring changes in you water source) and you can make it up the same way (add the same amount of vinegar) every time.

    In fact, with any fertilizer regimen, you should control the pH to the same range (5.5-6.5), since many nutrients are not available to plants in alkaline solution.

    Hope this helps!

    Alex

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    9 years ago

    Great advice from Alex.

    Josh

  • stoneys_fatali
    9 years ago

    I use cal-mag often..never had a problem.
    Says ypu can use as a foliar spray too.
    I just apply it directly with my watering can.

    Stoney

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    I use MG Shake n Feed, which has both Calcium and Magnesium in slow release form.
    As recommend by JOSH, I have mixed some Dolomitic Lime in my potting mix (5-1-1). Then once in a while i fertilize with MG All Purpose water soluble (24-8-18) at half strength too. I am also into foliar spraying Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate ), once in every 3 weeks or so.

  • PunkRotten
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I believe my water PH is around 7.0 . I have plants in the ground and in pots as well. The reason I got it was because like 2 potted plants had curled leaves and also I have a lime tree in a pot that occasionally gets yellowed leaves. So really it is mostly for potted stuff, not stuff in the ground.

Sponsored