Quote:
Originally Posted by Rfdillon
Carolyn, how and when did you use Calcium Nitrate? How often, and how much per plant?
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I don't recall ever using Ca nitrate, but let me give you some back history.
I grew up on what we call a truck farm here in the East, acres of tomatoes, peppers, squash of all kinds, cabbage, asparagus and so much more. I never bothered to ask my father what he used back then.
When I moved back East from Denver in 1982 I then had all the land I'd ever want at the old family farm and that's when I started growing my own tomatoes from seed. At that time my father was no longer able to do anything so we let a young farmer use the land.
I took the fieled closest to the house which was 90 X 250 long and Charlie would prepare that field for me, sowing winter rye in the fall, plowing it under in the Spring, etc.
One of his workers would cultivate and side dress the plants and he usually used 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 or triple 10 depending on what else he was also using on what charlie grew there.
We're talking maybe 50 years ago, I'm 75 now, and no way can I remember the composition of the NPK in those fertilizers although I had a lingering memory of the N being ammonium nitrate.
So I Googled a bit and came up with the following link:
http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/label.htm
And sure enough there was ammonium nitrate as one of the primary N sources.
When I retired and moved to where I am now in 1999 I had to grow plants in two other places and also in a large raised bed here at home and that's when I switched to using organic methods and same for fertilizers.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn