Based on its intended usage, calcium chloride comes in the shape of flakes, pellets, powders and liquid alternatives, each in varying concentrations. Calcium chloride produces heat when dissolved in water, making it ideal for melting ice and snow on roads and highways in regions which receive snowfall. It’s also helpful as a fertilizer for crops, since it provides important micronutrients which are essential to healthy plant growth and development.
Calcium’s Role in Plants
Calcium chloride includes calcium and chloride, which are micronutrients plants need for normal growth and functioning. Calcium and chloride are utilized in photosynthesis and other cellular processes, and plants typically get them in the dirt. Calcium is a multifunctional nutrient in plant anatomy that affects nutrient availability and uptake and helps increase cell wall strength and thickness. Calcium levels on your plant impacts the strength of stems, the quality of fruit produced and the plant’s susceptibility to certain diseases.
Fertilizer
Calcium fertilization of crops is occasionally confused with the application of lime or gypsum soil amendments. Applying these vitamins to your soil may not sufficiently meet the calcium needs of your crops because they don’t provide a soluble form of calcium that is readily available to your plants. Soluble sources of calcium, such as calcium chloride, provide calcium that is immediately available for your crops, which is essential in case your plant is demonstrating symptoms of calcium deficiency, like premature shedding of blossoms and buds, diminished stems, or dieback of branches, stems and other growing factors.
Disease Decline
Calcium chloride tree sprays also raise the calcium content of fruit and reduce problems associated with calcium deficiency. By way of example, calcium chloride sprays are utilized to treat blossom end rot in tomato and tip burn of cabbage. Bitter pit, a physiological disorder of apples, is often linked to low calcium levels in the fruit. Calcium chloride is a preventive treatment to reduce the danger of bitter pit occurrence. Fruit firmness and rain cracking of cherries are regulated by calcium chloride sprays. Weekly sprays of calcium chloride before crop of fruit may also reduce fruit softening, postharvest injury and minor cracking.
Usage and Handling Precautions
Excess use of calcium chloride may damage roots and leaf, like yellow or thermoplastic leaf and dieback of twigs. Be careful when handling calcium chloride because if consumed its concentrated or pure forms, calcium chloride products can lead to stomach irritation, skin and eye irritation and burning, or respiratory issues. Read product labels carefully and follow all recommended safety precautions. Calcium chloride is not flammable, but if it comes in contact with metals, like zinc or sodium, it might produce hydrogen peroxide. Calcium chloride is corrosive to some metals, like mild steel, ferrous metals and brass and shouldn’t come in contact with sulfuric acid.
