Thanks for the feedback. My general knowledge of chemistry is weak. I know that most of the materials I use in glazes are used because they are not easily soluble in water (which would create long term storage issues), and that sulfates and nitrates are generally avoided in glazes because the are so soluble. I picked up some epsom salts the other day and it got me thinking about what else in my glaze material cupboards might work in the garden. Thanks AL - I do have potassium carbonate and I know that I read that TUMS is an excellent source of soluble calcium. which makes sense. Valerie - I couldn't find a "chemical forum" Dan - from my observations it seems that you and Al often disagree - I enjoy reading the banter. Thanks again for the feedback

Nancy - your post left it unclear whether your plants were ACTUALLY suffering from cat facing or BER because the prescription your guy doing garden work gave wouldn't have an effect on eliminating or reducing the the cat facing, but it's possible that it might have an impact on eliminating BER. He's mixed up somehow, and there is no way to determine exactly how. If you read carefully, you'll see the general consensus is that you're much more likely to introduce limitations than to improve soil health when you start adding elements or compounds to specifically increase the availability of singular elements in your soil w/o a soil test or very strong evidence that those target elements are indeed deficient. THEN, it's important to know WHY they are deficient because under certain circumstances adding 'more' does not = increased availability; and adding 'more' could DECREASE availability of other nutrients. For example - if your soil is NOT Ca deficient, adding excess Ca can create an antagonistic deficiency of Mg. Additionally, if your soil cannot realistically support the increase in pH caused by the added CaCO3, it would make other nutrients, primarily the minors, less soluble and increasingly unavailable as pH rises. Also, if we moved forward on the premise that what you or your gardener guy said about a lack of Ca causing cat facing was true, the entire conversation would then be pertinent to your issue because it would mean that insufficient Ca in the nutrient stream would also be to blame for that issue, not just BER. We now know it's NOT, but the notion still needed to be dispelled to arrive at an answer that would mean anything to you. After distilling, you now know that the CaCO3 you're supplying isn't going to prevent cat facing, and only in certain cases might it cure BER (in case someone is still confused between the two different maladies); AND, it's not a good thing to add things to your soil and hope, without a good understanding of the far reaching implications. Al

The (pdf) link below may be a seller. I am not sure however, it is not cached yet. Here is a link that might be useful: product information (pdf)

IMPORTANT - Sam md z7 - Please note an important correction - Agricultural lime is NOT Calcium oxide (CaO). Calcium oxide, commonly called quick lime, is highly alkaline, very corrosive and DANGEROUS and should never be brought anywhere near the worm farm. Agriculural lime is actually calcium carbonate CaCo3 which is much milder, as it is just groundup limestone or chalk. Ground sea shells, eggshells or even marble also contain Calcium carbonate and are safe to use with your worms in smallish quantities. If limestone (Calcium carbonate) is roasted in industrial kilns - then it converts to quicklime (Calcium oxide)and in the process becomes dangerous. Here is a link that might be useful: Worm Terms