Calcium

Growing and care

Category: Fertilizer Nutrients and Macronutrients | Related terms: Fertilizer and Macronutrients

Calcium is the chemical element with symbol Ca and atomic number 20. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth’s crust. Calcium is also the fifth-most-abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.

Calcium is essential for living organisms, in particular in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca2+ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. As a major material used in mineralization of bone, teeth and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.

Plumeria Database context: Calcium affects how plumeria roots, leaves, stems, and blooms perform in containers or in the ground. Care terms are especially important because watering, drainage, nutrition, and soil conditions can change the way a plant looks.

What to look for: Consider the growing mix, drainage, watering cycle, fertilizer program, container size, root health, and local climate before deciding whether a symptom is a cultivar trait or a growing-condition response.

Identification note: This term is one clue. A plumeria should be compared using all available traits, photos, source history, and growing context rather than a single characteristic.

  • Glossary: Calcium Carbonate
    Calcium Carbonate: Calcium carbonate is used to help prevent the spread of various diseases, such as powdery mildew, black spot, and blossom end rot. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: Macronutrients
    Macronutrients: A ll essential elements are by definition required for plant growth and completion of the plant life cycle from seed to seed. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: Calcium carbonate
    Calcium carbonate: A compound found in limestone, ashes, bones, and shells; the primary component of lime. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: Lime
    Lime: A rock powder consisting primarily of calcium carbonate. Used to raise soil pH (decrease acidity). Plumeria context is explained on the term page.