Excess Injury of Calcium and Magnesium in the Crops - Impacts on cucumber growth and mineral composition

Aug 22, 2026

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Intensive cultivation in glass and plastic houses has led to salt injury risks in horticultural crops as calcium and magnesium accumulate in soils and irrigation-associated mineral solutions. This study evaluates how excessive Ca or Mg, compared with K and Na, affects cucumber growth over four weeks using sand culture and adjusted osmotic nutrient solutions. Plant height, top and root weights, and mineral composition show stronger inhibition in roots, with clear antagonism between magnesium and calcium.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

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Excess Injury of Calcium and Magnesium in the Crops

Background: soil and nutrient salt injury under covered cultivation

Experimental setup: sand culture and modified Hoagland nutrient solutions

Growth effects: plant height, top weight, and root weight

Mineral composition: Ca–Mg antagonism and shifts by excess cations

# Excess Injury of Calcium andMagnesium in the Crops By NORITSUGU SHIMADA Faculty of Horticulture,Chiba University Intensive cultivation in glass and plastichouses has been gradually extended to the pro-duction of many horticultural crops duringlast twenty years in Japan.Accumulation ofsalt in the soil has scarcely occurred in theopen fields owing to rainy climate in thiscountry. Growth and mineral constitu-ent of cucumber plants grownin the medium added excesscalcium or magnesium The differences in the salt tolerance forcalcium,magnesium,potassium and sodiumwere examined in cucumber plants with sandculture.Nutrient solutions used in the ex-periment were prepared by individual additionof chloride of these cations into the 0.5strength Hoagland nutrient solution,and itsosmotic pressure was adjusted altogether to 1.49 atmospheres. Plant height of the cucumber was depressedremarkably as a result of 4 weeks treatmentby excessive magnesium(Table 1).Calciumshowed less inhibitive effect for the plantheight in comparison with magnesium.Theeffect by sodium was observed slightly.In thecase of potassium,plant height was similar tothat of controlled plant. Depressions in the top weight by excessivecations were caused in the order of magnesi-um,calcium,sodium and potassium.Mag-nesium showed the most depressive effect forthe root weight,and it was evaluated by 40per cent of control.In the other cations,rootdevelopment was depressed in the order ofsodium,calcium and potassium.Generally,in-hibitions for plant growth by excessive cationstended to appear more conspicuously in theroots than in the tops. On the contrary,acidification accompaniedby leaching some bases out of the soil hasbeen observed in many districts in Japan.Under the covered conditions,however,thenutrient components maintained the soil tendto accumulate gradually because of the par-ticular water movement condition;consequent-ly,salt injury has been observed in manycommercial-growing crops. Mineral com-ponents in the irrigated water also cause saltinjury.Generally,accumulation of many ca-tions in the soil is found extensively in dryclimate conditions. It has been elucidated that large quantitiesof calcium and magnesium were accumulatedin the soil under glass and plastic houses con-ditions.Some investigators have reported ex-cessive injury to the crops caused by calciumor magnesium⁴),6),7).Studies on calcium havebeen mainly carried out on soil pH or withosmotic pressure.Magnesium deficiency hasbeen reported in many crops by previous in-vestigators,but scant attention was focusedon excessive injury attributed to magnesi-um2²),3.5).From these points of view,thisarticle takes up the effect of the crops hit byexcessive amount of calcium or magnesium. | | Table 1.Cucumber plants grown in high levels of Ca,Mg,K and Na | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Salt
added | Plant
height | 5th leaf | | 6th leaf | | Top | | Root | | | | | Width | Length | Width | Length | F.W. | D.W. | F.W. | D.W. | | Control | cm
96.7 | cm
18.7 | cm
15.5 | cm
18.7 | cm
15.7 | 82.2 | gr
3.58 | 27.2 | gr
2.05 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ca | 82.3 | 18.0 | 15.0 | 18.0 | 15.5 | 67.5 | 6.47 | 23.1 | 1.30 | | Mg | 76.3 | 16.6 | 13.6 | 17.3 | 14.3 | 59.3 | 5.98 | 15.5 | 0.83 | | K | 96.3 | 18.0 | 15.3 | 19.3 | 16.0 | 82.1 | 8.55 | 24.0 | 1.55 | | Na | 90.8 | 16.5 | 14.0 | 17.3 | 14.3 | 70.0 | 7.04 | 20.5 | 0.93 | | | Table | 2.Mineral content in cucumber plants as affected by salts | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Part | Salts
added | Mineral content(%of dry matter) | | | | | | | | | | | N | P | K | Ca | Mg | Na | Fe | Mn | | | Control | 2.81 | 0.30 | 4.

FAQs

What cultivation conditions increase the risk of calcium and magnesium injury to crops?

Covered cultivation in glass and plastic houses can prevent bases from being leached and allow nutrient components to accumulate, leading to salt injury risk.

How were differences in salt tolerance for Ca, Mg, K, and Na tested in cucumber plants?

Cucumber plants were grown in sand culture using nutrient solutions prepared by adding chloride salts of the cations to a 0.5 strength Hoagland solution, with osmotic pressure adjusted uniformly.

Which parts of the cucumber show stronger inhibition under excessive cations?

Inhibitions from excessive cations tend to appear more conspicuously in the roots than in the tops, with excessive magnesium showing the strongest depressive effect for root weight.

Aug 22, 2026

Upload by Mason