The Value of Calcium in Melon Production
By Elizabeth Lemings, Ph.D, Agronomist
Importance of Available Calcium
Did you know that the nutrient calcium (Ca) plays a critical role in fruit quality long after harvest? Providing a soluble form of calcium at critical growth stages in-season, helps to promote strong cell walls and extend produce shelf life after harvest. Many fruits greatly benefit from adequate available calcium nutrition as they can be prone to blossom end rot (BER). Blossom end rot is a physiological disorder characterized by weakened tissue at the bottom of produce that can lead to rotting. This is caused by a lack of calcium in the fruit structure. BER can often be noticed in tomatoes, peppers, and melons. Keeping the 4-Rs of nutrient management in mind, choosing the right calcium source and applying it at the right rate, time, and place, can improve yield and quality while reducing BER occurrence. Using a liquid available calcium fertilizer like CaTs, can help improve melon firmness and ensuring a quality harvest with longer storability. Adding soluble calcium to the soil also improves soil structure and can increase water infiltration. Furthermore, Ca is also very effective in remediating salt effected soils adding additional benefit to your soils.
Thiosulfate Advantage
Speaking of the 4-Rs of nutrient management, we recall the importance of choosing the right fertilizer source for each application to optimize crop health and yields. CaTs is a liquid calcium thiosulfate fertilizer that provides available calcium as well as sulfur in the form of thiosulfate. As mentioned earlier, providing available calcium during fruit production can ensure the crop’s access to Ca at critical growth periods. However, it is also key to consider the benefits of the secondary nutrient that comes with the Ca molecule as it varies among fertilizer sources. In this case, CaTs delivers thiosulfate sulfur. Thiosulfate is unique in its chemistry with benefits that go beyond just providing highly available sulfur nutrition.
Thiosulfate is also recognized as a reducing agent which means when applied to the soil, it can aid in the plant’s uptake of certain micronutrients further promoting crop health. Additionally, CaTs is recognized as a nitrogen stabilizer. The thiosulfate molecule plays key roles in guarding against both below and above ground N losses when blended with a UAN or urea-based N solution.
Application Methods
Applying a liquid product comes with certain advantages. Liquid products provide highly soluble, available nutrients to the growing crop which helps to maximize uptake and efficiency. One of the distinct advantages of liquid fertilizers is the flexibility they offer in application method and timing, allowing growers to be more precise with their nutrient inputs. CaTs can be easily applied through drip and pivot irrigation giving the grower added flexibility. CaTs also can be blended with UAN and urea solutions if added nitrogen is desired at certain growth stages. However, CaTs is not compatible with any phosphorus product and should not be mixed with other thiosulfate sulfur solutions.
CaTs Benefits
- Strengthens cell walls for firm high quality melons
- Adequate calcium fertility boosts produce shelf life
- Provides soluble calcium and thiosulfate nutrition
- Improves micronutrient update & root development
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