Supporting nutrient availability with POLY4

Potassium and magnesium that are not stuck in soils

Calcium is a team player in the soil

Calcium improves the soil’s capacity to store and release important nutrients like potassium and magnesium, making them more available for plants to absorb.

Here’s how it works:

In soils cations held on the clay and organic matter particles can be exchanged by other cations. Exchange order depends on the electrical charge of the cations: Ca++ > Mg++ > K+. Calcium has a double positive charge, so it binds well to soil particles. It helps “push off” other cations stuck to soil, making them available for plant roots. This keeps nutrients moving and stops them from getting locked up, keeping them available for the plant to take up avoiding leaching.

Simplified schematic illustration of Ca++ displacing Mg++ and K+ on cation exchange sites

And because Ca++ has a strong ability to bind to soil particles, it is usually the first nutrient to occupy available exchange sites. When Ca++ is added to the soil along with K+ and Mg++, it helps keep more K+ and Mg++ in the soil solution, making them more available for plant uptake.