Along with other micronutrients, potassium fertilizers play an important role in the progression and growth of the plant, increasing its yield. Unlike nitrogen and phosphorus, potassium is not included in the organic composition of cultures, but accumulates in the cell sap and cytoplasm. In the old parts of the plant it is less than in young branches and foliage.
Potassium fertilizers - their importance and application
If the plant lacks potassium, ammonia begins to accumulate in its cells. This leads to instability in fungal diseases, exhaustion of shoots. After all, then in the green cells, protein generation and the synthesis of compound carbohydrates are suspended, the stem becomes weak. With a shortage of potassium in the soil, fruits and flowers on the stems do not form. The surplus of this microelement also adversely affects the molding of the crop. You should know all the features of the application of potassium fertilizers, be careful with them and do not overestimate dosing.
What are potassium fertilizers for?
You need to know the effect of potassium fertilizers on plants. Thanks to them:
- In plant cells, the metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins is intensified, sugar is accumulated, photosynthesis is accelerated, and the water balance is regulated.
- Culture is better accustomed to low temperatures and harmful bacteria, tolerates drying and moisture deficiency.
- Increases the resistance of plants to diseases - rot, powdery mildew , rust.
- Improved commodity and flavor characteristics of vegetables, they are better preserved in winter.
- Potassium is important for flowering flora, with its deficiency, the buds are either not formed at all or tied with plain.
Types of potassium fertilizers
There are two types of potash fertilizers:
- Chloride - they are perfectly bred in the water. Closed to the site in the fall, so that during the winter the chlorine is weathered from the soil.
- Sernokislye - relevant in autumn, spring and summer in small portions.
Potassium fertilizers include:
- Potassium chloride. The known potash fertilizer looks like granules of reddish-brown or grayish-white color, consists of chlorine and potassium. Raises the yield, immunity, favors the tying of tubers and prolongs the period of their storage.
- Potassium sulphate. It looks like a water-soluble powder with a yellow tint. In addition to potassium and sulfur, it includes magnesium and calcium, make-up improves the resistance of the flora to ailments. Stimulates crop growth in arid areas.
- Potassium salt. It is potassium chloride and sylvinite in the form of ashy, snow-white and reddish granules. Potassium salt is fruitful for root roots, which are insensitive to chlorine.
Complex potash fertilizers:
- Kalimagnezia. White powder with a steel or pinkish tint, is a magnesium and potassium sulfate. It is offered for cultures that are sensitive to chlorine.
- Potassium nitrate. It consists of potassium and nitrogen, it will be necessary for crops in greenhouses, it is beneficial for plants at the stage of fruiting.
- Nitrofosca. Perfect for soils that need phosphorus. It guarantees abundant flowering of cultures, normal molding of fruits.
- Nitroammophoska. Nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizer for the persistent development of flora.
When to introduce potash fertilizers into the soil?
The introduction of potassium fertilizers into the soil depends on their composition. Chlorine-containing mixtures are closed during the autumn digging. Seedlings can not be fed with such make-up, otherwise young sprouts may die. When to introduce potash fertilizers:
- Potassium chloride. Since chlorine is included in the structure, potassium chloride is added to the ground beforehand. He falls asleep on the site for the winter before plowing, it is forbidden to fertilize the land before planting.
- Potassium sulphate. It is closed in the autumn-spring season in the hole. In the winter before digging - at the rate of 30 g per 1 m 2 , and in the spring before planting - 5 g per 1 m 2 .
- Potassium salt. Has a lot of chlorine, it enriches the earth in the fall. The volume of potassium salt per 1 m 2 is 30-40 g.
- Potassium nitrate. It falls asleep in the spring period, when new shoots progress. Norm - 20 g per 1 m 2 , diluted in 10 liters of water.
Potassium fertilizer - application
The most nutritious components are absorbed by plants in spring and autumn. When deciding which potassium fertilizers are best used, it is necessary to take into account the sensitivity of each subspecies to chlorine. If this component is intolerant, it is better to choose a sulphate drug. Often, farmers use potassium nitrate, because it is acceptable for all types of plants.
Potassium fertilizer - application in the garden
Vegetables are legible in nutrition, they have a weak root system, which is in the plow layer, so they need to be grown on fertile soils. Potassium does not particularly increase yield, but improves the quality of fruits, most of all vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes. Measure make-up - 1-2 tbsp. spoons of potassium sulfate per 1 m 2 of area. It can be introduced together with organic, chicken litter, mullein with primary replenishment.
How to make potash fertilizers in the garden:
- 1 st introduction - together with sowing;
- 2 nd introduction - at the beginning of flowering;
- 3rd introduction - at the time of mass setting of fruits.
Potassium fertilizers for indoor plants
Flowers are prone to potassium, with its deficiency, they slow down growth, the duration of budding, the leaves crumble. After winter in a fertile mixture, this mineral should predominate over nitrogen, and in autumn - on the contrary. Potash fertilizers for home colors:
- Potassium sulphate is applied together with nitrogen-phosphorus make-up in spring and autumn.
- At the time of flowering it is better to apply potassium nitrate.
- Important in floriculture and wood ash.
Mineral preparations are released in a liquid, dry (granule) form, in the form of rods. Particularly relevant are complex compositions that include the main minerals in one or another percent compliance. Compositions with a high content of potassium and phosphorus are relevant for replenishing decorative and flowering species, nitrogen - for decorative and deciduous. Dilute them and choose the dosage according to the prescription on the package. They feed the plants at the time of active vegetation, leaf growth and budding.
Potash fertilizers with their own hands
To support plants, you can make potash fertilizers at home:
- The most freely available ingredient is wood ash. It contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and copper. Ash is used in dry form or diluted with liquids. To prepare a composition of 25 g of component, pour 1 liter of water and leave for 8-10 days. The received means are watered by plants. Horticultural crops are fed dry ash - scatter it on the site in the amount of 200 g per 1 m 2 during the entire season. Ash can be placed in the holes (a handful) when planting.
- Cement dust is also a potassium fertilizer that does not include chlorine. The make-up (20-25 g per 1 liter of water) is relevant on acid soil soils, capable of neutralizing them, is beneficial for crops that are not sensitive to chlorine.
Potassium fertilizers - harm to humans
Traditional potassium mineral fertilizers with adjusted volumes of application will not harm the person. Their overdose can lead to the death of plants, the deterioration of the quality of the crop. With special care should be used drugs with chlorine - they are allowed only in the fall, so that chlorine evaporates more quickly from the soil, and potassium is more firmly entrenched in it.
Of all the mineral preparations, the greatest danger to humans is nitrogen. This is potash, calcium, ammonium nitrate. When the dose is exceeded, they turn into nitrates and, getting into the human body, can cause suffocation, cancer, and cause poisoning. Therefore, if complex potassium fertilizers are applied to the processing of plants, and nitrogen is included in the structure, then the measures of embedding the substances must be strictly observed.