Some effects of varied calcium nutrition on the growth and composition of tomato plants

Summary Tomato plants were grown in nutrient solutions containing 0.05, 0.2, 1.0, 5.0, 15.0 and 30.0 meq Ca/l. Plants grown at the lowest level of calcium suffered from calcium deficiency and produced the least amount of dry matter. Dry matter yield was optimal from plants grown in the solution containing only 0.2 meq Ca/l and decreased at higher levels of substrate calcium. Despite large differences in the concentrations of the individual ions in the dried material, highly significant (P < 0.001) relationships were found between total cations and total anions and between insoluble calcium and oxalate.An explanation for the observed response to calcium is suggested based on the stimulation of the synthesis of oxalate by tissue calcium at the expense of carbohydrates. re]19760812