Calcium nitrate sources?

Anyone know where I can cheap sources of Calcium Nitrate (i.e. Breathmints, Mouthwash,Gaviscon-type stuff) for use in Hydro?

There are none that i know off, you cant afford a cheap bottle from a hydro shop?? Maybe make your own from eggshells, think thats calcium but probabaly carbonate not nitrate, you probably wont miss the extra nitrogen though. Peace

Thanks guys. KG, I was thinking of crushed eggshells but think I'd have to dissolve them in Phosphoric acid. Even then, it would still be Calcium carbonate. Was hoping there would be an easier solution (no pun intended).
GP, I don't know why but it seems almost impossible to get cal-mag in the UK without resorting to ridiculously over-priced products that don't even advertise themselves as a Calcium/Magnesium mix. i/e various bloom-booosters and voodoo-juices. I use Epsom salts for extra Magnesium and sulpher. Was hoping there would be something similar for Calcium nitrate.

cues said:

Thanks guys. KG, I was thinking of crushed eggshells but think I'd have to dissolve them in Phosphoric acid. Even then, it would still be Calcium carbonate. Was hoping there would be an easier solution (no pun intended).
GP, I don't know why but it seems almost impossible to get cal-mag in the UK without resorting to ridiculously over-priced products that don't even advertise themselves as a Calcium/Magnesium mix. i/e various bloom-booosters and voodoo-juices. I use Epsom salts for extra Magnesium and sulpher. Was hoping there would be something similar for Calcium nitrate.

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Yer dude i find the same and im from the UK, our water is too soft in a lot of areas (which is good for health purposes but not great for plants).

I can find canna mono calcium which i think is calcium nitrate in a lot of uk online hydro shops.

Also i got sensi cal/mg grow and bloom although i only wanted the bloom not the grow i endded up with both, seperatly i think £14.50 plus postage and packaging. Canna monno is around £9/10 as a single source of nitrogen.

Eggshells should do it but i believe it is a long drawn out process to grind and soak them to get a basic calcium solution.

My best advice would be to buy a cal/mag supplement with the ingredients you want in it and pay the money. At 1 to 2ml a litre it will last forever since most are like a litre size for 10 to 15 quid. If your near North Wales your welcome to swing by and have a couple hundred mils of my sensi cal/mag of both the grow and bloom to tie you over. Peace

Could you use dolomite lime mixed in water?

cues said:

Thanks guys. KG, I was thinking of crushed eggshells but think I'd have to dissolve them in Phosphoric acid. Even then, it would still be Calcium carbonate. Was hoping there would be an easier solution (no pun intended).
GP, I don't know why but it seems almost impossible to get cal-mag in the UK without resorting to ridiculously over-priced products that don't even advertise themselves as a Calcium/Magnesium mix. i/e various bloom-booosters and voodoo-juices. I use Epsom salts for extra Magnesium and sulpher. Was hoping there would be something similar for Calcium nitrate.

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http://www.growell.co.uk/bloom-calmag.html

dannyboy602 said:

Could you use dolomite lime mixed in water?

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I use to do this, seems to work as well. Peace

Well guys, just got the results of a basic test on the mains water here. Was suprised at the results.
Ca was 0.01-ish which translates as the equivalent of using my normal nutes (Canna aqua series) at max dose (6ml/L) of 2.76%, compared to Aqua Vega of 2.0% and Aqua Flora of 1.7%. However, the results do not state the type of Calcium. Assuming that the Ca is so well dissolved, do you think the plant could take this up? Bear in mind that my previous system I used to need the pump cleaning regularly (In my bigger system I used to take the pump out and flush it with neat white vinegar monthly to stop it scaling up)
Was also surprised by the Magnesium levels which showed 0.97 compared to AqVega of 1.0 and AqFlora of 1.2.
Sulphur came out at 0.8 but was again simplified as S(04) compared to canna being two-thirds S(03) at 1.1 (Vega) and 2.0 (Flora).
Cf was 5, about 250ppm.
Everything else was in too small a concentration to be of any use.
Maybe I wasted my time in getting the Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom salts!)
Opinions please?

0.01 cal and 0.97 mag your saying??? Peace

No, sorry, I didn't explain it too well. One was the actual water content and one was the equivalent at a ratio of 1.333 (same as max strength nute mix).
Hence, the tap water, if used at the equivalent rate of 6ml Nutes/Litre would be the same as having the Calcium in the nutes at 2.76 (is actually a little under 0.01, (0.0083-ish) Ca and 0.97 Mg.
I am fortunate in my trade to be able to have these tests done and put the bill on expenses!

cues said:

No, sorry, I didn't explain it too well. One was the actual water content and one was the equivalent at a ratio of 1.333 (same as max strength nute mix).
Hence, the tap water, if used at the equivalent rate of 6ml Nutes/Litre would be the same as having the Calcium in the nutes at 2.76 (is actually a little under 0.01, (0.0083-ish) Ca and 0.97 Mg.
I am fortunate in my trade to be able to have these tests done and put the bill on expenses!

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Hmm, still i cant work that out, simply need the milligram per litre of calcium and magnesium then we can work out the final ppm cal/mag of the water and resultant ratios.

A simple formula most use seems to be 1milligram/litre = 1ppm per litre so as you can see the conversion from mg to ppm is easy to work out. Please just give me two figures which would be calcium per litre in milligrams and magnesium per litre in milligrams. Peace

Ca is 83.1 mg/l.
Mg is 2.9 mg/l.
I did it the complicated way to compare to the nutrients I use.
Bear in mind that 1mg/litre is not truly 1ppm. Only by weight, not volume (unless the element has a weight of 1kg/10cm3). It's just a simplified formula we use as a standard.

Yes it is a simplified formula, some elements weight a third less than others but hey it works for plants unless you have the equipment to be really fussy.

So 83ppm cal and 2.9ppm mag, id up the mag to about 25/30ppm and you should be good to go and within plant recomended tollerances, nearer perfect with the added mag.

It is good that the mag is easily controllable in your water, a simple ppm meter and epsom salts should do the trick easily. A ratio of 5:1 in veg and 3:1 in flower is what i have been working off and about 90 calcium and 30 magnesium is more than adequate, probably gives me a water ppm of near 200ppm when the other elements in the water are added up and an alkaline value.

So increase the mag and also take into account levels of cal/mag in your ferts. Peace

wouldn't TUMS work )

Tums' active ingredient is Calcium Carbonate
500 mg in Regular Tums
750 mg in Ultra Tums
1000mg in Ultra Tums

Rolaids' active ingredients are Calcium Carbonate AND Magnesium Hydroxide.
550 mg of Calcium Carbonate & 110 mg of magnesium Hydroxide in Reg Rolaids
675 mg of Calcium Carbonate & 135 mg of magnesium Hydroxide in Extra Strength Rolaids

........

I know what has calcium nitrate in it....

It's called calcium nitrate... Gotta love all these bs answers lol. Calmag..... *sigh*

http://www.cropking.com/HydroponicSupplies/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=264&zenid=79b593253160b90ffc28ec049357d7e7

I get all my hydro nutes like this. I have a feeling if you're reading this, you're grinning wide. Yes, you can replace GH flora micro with calcium nitrate and something that provides iron. I use iron sulphate, but anything water soluble that has a useful anion (like NO3, PO4, or SO4) should work. You'll know if you're not using enough iron. It's like night and day.

PS: How will people ever figure out if it was calcium deficiency or magnesium deficiency if they resort to a cure-all called "cal mag" for every single ailment? Use calcium to fix calcium and magnesium to fix magnesium

cues said:

Anyone know where I can cheap sources of Calcium Nitrate

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i used to source it in pellets from a chemical distributor but i don't know if chem suppliers in the uk deal with the general public... ( i had to call around to find one that wasn't wholesale-only).

DrFever said:

wouldn't TUMS work )

Tums' active ingredient is Calcium Carbonate
500 mg in Regular Tums

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Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, like any antacid, so why can't we use chalk/lime/antacids (all sources of calcium carbonate right)?
Was also wondering about Milk of Magnesia which is Magnesium Hydroxide.