Calcium Nitrate 1 kg

Your plants’ stability starts here. Granular calcium nitrate, with a composition of 15.5% N / 19% Ca, is the essential nutrient for forming and maintaining plant cell walls – acting like a glue that keeps plant tissues together, firm and healthy.

Sold in a 1 kg pack, it is ideal for supplementing or boosting the calcium in the nutrient solution of any hydroponic system – NFT, DWC, aeroponics or substrate.

Technical Features

• Nutrient: granular calcium nitrate
• Composition: 15.5% N (nitrogen) / 19% Ca (calcium)
• Pack: 1 kg
• Average dose: 750–1040 g per 1000 litres of water in the tank
• Form: granules – dissolve easily in water

What does calcium do for plants?

Calcium is one of the most critical macronutrients in hydroponic production. Unlike other nutrients, it is not mobile in the plant – once deposited in cells, it cannot be moved to other parts. This means the plant needs calcium continuously available in the nutrient solution:

• Builds cell walls – acts as the "cement" that binds plant cells together
• Stabilises cell membranes – essential for every cell to work properly
• Strengthens tissues – plants with enough calcium resist diseases and pests better
• Prevents blossom-end rot – calcium deficiency is the main cause of end rot in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers
• Improves post-harvest storage – fruit with good calcium levels keeps longer after harvest

How do you control these parameters?

Nutrient solution

The plant consumes the solution, and every day the volume in the tank drops. This volume should be topped up every day with water, not with nutrient solution. Plants absorb much more water than nutrients, and since the nutrient solution is saline, topping up with solution every day salinises it until the dissolved salts exceed what the roots can tolerate. If this happens, plants stop growing – not from a lack of nutrients, but because of an excessively high osmotic potential at the roots.

Control the pH of the nutrient solution

As they take up nutrients, plant roots change the pH of the nutrient solution. The pH indicates how acidic or alkaline the nutrient solution is. Plants develop best between pH 5.5 and 6.5, and as they grow they change the pH of the solution. That is why the pH should be measured every day after topping up the solution with water. If it is outside the 5.5–6.5 range, adjust it with acid if above 6.5, or with base if below 5.5.

Control the electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution

As plants grow, the nutrients in the solution are used up and the solution becomes depleted. Eventually the solution can no longer supply the nutrients the plants need. At that point the solution should be replaced. One of the biggest problems is knowing when to change it.

A solution containing salts (nutrients) can conduct electric current. The higher the concentration of dissolved salts, the greater this conductivity. So a drop in electrical conductivity tells you when the nutrient solution needs changing. The easiest way to know the nutrient concentration is to use a conductivity meter.

One of the main reasons growers choose water-culture systems is that growth and maturity are usually 15–25% faster. Growers can still reach the desired plant size with a short vegetative period. So to get optimal early production from these systems, using the right nutrient mix and having the right conditions matter far more.