Plagron - Calcium Kick

A powder of calcined algae that raises the pH of your substrate toward 5,5 to 6,5. You mix it through the soil rather than dissolving it in your feed water.

It raises pH, which makes it the wrong product for half the people who buy it

Calcium Kick is often sought out by people with a calcium deficiency, and that goes wrong in two ways at once. First, this is a powder you mix through your substrate rather than a liquid supplement you dose while watering; for the latter you want a CalMag. Second, and this is the more important one: this product raises the pH.

If you are sitting too low, that is exactly what you want. If you are already on the high side, which happens easily with hard tap water and with generously dosed worm castings, you are pushing your uptake window further shut. At a high pH it is iron, manganese and phosphorus that become harder to absorb, so your deficiency symptoms can get worse while you think you are solving them.

So measure your substrate first, not your feed water. The two are not the same, and it is the substrate this product changes.

Where it does belong

In reviving used potting soil, which is nearly always acidified after a cycle. In a peat mix that starts out on the acidic side. And as a fixed step in an organic setup, where the lime has its own job alongside worm castings, guano and an organic base fertiliser: opening the window in which the rest can be absorbed.

Mix it thoroughly and evenly. A local heap of powder against a root is a spot with a very different pH from the rest of the pot.

Technical Specifications:

• Type: powdered pH raiser and soil improver
• Composition: calcined algae
• Action: raises substrate pH toward 5,5 to 6,5
• Dose in potting soil: 2,5 to 5 kg per 1.000 litres
• Dose in open ground: 5 to 12 kg per 100 square metres
• Mixing: thoroughly and evenly through the substrate
• Storage: dry, cool and dark in a closed pack
• Calcium oxide (CaO): 43%
• Magnesium oxide (MgO): 1%
• EC: does not affect the EC of your feed water
• Certification: suitable for organic growing, CU certified

Frequently asked questions

Can I use this against a calcium deficiency?
Only if your pH is too low as well. To top up calcium without moving your pH, choose a liquid CalMag.

Do I dissolve it in my feed water?
No. It is meant to be mixed through your substrate dry, before you plant.

How far will my pH rise?
That depends on your starting value, your substrate and your water. Mix, measure and adjust rather than using the full dose in one go.

How much calcium is in it?
Plagron's own datasheet gives 43% calcium oxide and 1% magnesium oxide. Older listings still quote 50% and 5.5%, which was the previous specification.

Does it push my EC up?
No. Plagron state that Calcium Kick does not affect the EC value, which is why it corrects pH without disturbing the rest of your schedule.