Dear readers, knowledge of the mineral balance is essential for the proper development of plants, knowledge of the parameters that may depend directly on minerals help to establish an optimal range of values and identify symptoms in case it is exceeded or not within the normal range. An adequate control of the provision of macro and micro elements allows to obtain the maximum possible yield in crops, whether fruit, vegetables among others that are essential for human or animal consumption.
The composition of plant nutrients varies with the plant species, with age and environmental conditions, the main components of plant nutrition are water, carbon dioxide, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, among other macro and micro elements. Plant nutrition is one of the most important factors in the success of any plant production lack of proper nutrition can lead to decreased growth, yield and quality, in other physiological processes.
Generally there is a lot of talk about Macro nutrients because they are the ones that plants need in greater proportions, but emphasis is always placed on Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but there is also calcium which is an element considered structural in the plant, since, according to Castillo (2005), it is important for cell division the meristematic zones specifically in the growth at the apex of the roots. An indicator that can help recognize calcium deficiency is the appearance of yellow or brown spots on the leaves, in addition, growth can be slowed down where the root system is affected, because as mentioned above it influences the meristematic tissues of the roots.
In this same order of ideas, calcium deficiency is a big problem in acidic soils, in these cases the practice of liming can be carried out, which consists in the application of agricultural lime, but this according to the experience of some technicians improves the surface part of the soil so the roots develop very well in this area, but they do not deepen much. This type of deficiencies can affect the yield of crops such as tomato, paprika among others, that is why it is of great importance to carry out soil sampling to apply the appropriate amounts of nutrients according to the needs of the soils and the requirements of the crops.
It is also necessary to consider what has been mentioned by some researchers, regarding the fact that calcium is immobile within the plant, because, although plants have two transport systems of substances such as phloem and xylem, calcium can be driven almost exclusively by the xylem, therefore, it is essential that there is always enough calcium in the soil around the roots so that it can be absorbed continuously by the plant.
An alternative for applying calcium in small spaces such as gardens or orchards is the use of the eggshell, because, according to Chang (2020), good quality eggshells contain approximately 2.0-2.2 g of calcium in the form of CaCO3 crystals, a typical eggshell contains approximately 0.3% phosphorus and 0.3% magnesium, and traces of sodium, potassium, zinc, manganese, iron and copper. The rest of the dried eggshell is composed of an organic matrix material that has calcium binding properties.
That is why the eggshell can be used as a material to provide calcium to the plants in our garden, it is an easy and economical practice, it consists of crushing the leftovers and spreading them on the ground around the plants, it can provide the aforementioned elements that help to some extent the nutritional level of the crops that are in the garden-
Thank you for reading our article, until a next installment.
| Bibliographic references |
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Castillo, N. (2005). Introduction to the study of soil and fertilizers. Spanish publishers. Caracas: Venezuela.
Change, A. (2020). The importance of nutrition for eggshell quality in broiler breeders fattening. Ross Note. Aviagen.
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