Potassium-containing fertilizers are known by the name of potash and 95 percent of potash fertilizers are used in farming. Fertilizers are important for plantation and farming, and potassium makes an important and invincible content of all fertilizers in the world, that too, in larger ratio than other contents.
Excess potassium is found in different forms on Earth like Potassium Chloride KCl, potassium hydroxide, and potassium sulfate, to mention a few, in rocks, leaf litter, clay minerals, wood ash, and soil. This implies that potassium content is available in abundance on earth’s crust and is easy to derive. Potash is a combination of different potassium sources and best serves its purpose in potash fertilizers.
What Is Potash and What Is It Used For?
Potash refers to the term used to describe potassium containing fertilizers, majorly for farming purposes. Potash is majorly composed of potassium chloride (KCl) derived from different sources of potassium available in abundance on earth.
Potash is a known type of fertilizer for farming and it is an important and an inevitable nutrient required for growing crops. Potash increases crop yield and improves water absorption for best taste and nutritional value of plants. Hence, potassium is an essential plant nutrient for the best plant growth.
According to the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) potassium content is available on earth in combined forms as different chemical symbols. Potash fertilizers are used to overcome potassium deficiency and can be found in different forms including potassium magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, and potassium chloride. The good sources to harvest potassium are abundant as earth has large deposits of pot ash in different forms.
The Importance of Potassium in Plants
K fertilizers are an important part of plant food and greatly help in plant growth by increasing the water uptake and retention of plants and preparing them for droughts and other such natural havocs.
Potash helps plants to absorb essential nutrients and then assists in the working of enzymes to break down the contents to valuable nutrients. Majorly, protein uptake is best possible with the help of potassium as nitrogen is broken down through enzymes action into amino acids and then, finally protein. Protein is a major energy source for the best growth and strong roots of your plants Hence, potassium is responsible for the lush green gardens in your town.
Furthermore, it maintains the turgor pressure in plants for a healthy osmotic pressure that leads to a healthy photosynthesis: process responsible for oxygen production and carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere.
Potassium is required for synthesizing plant sugars, protein, and cellulose, and therefore, it is essential for not just a healthy environment that we breathe in, but also the food that we consume.
Potassium is important for several functions in plant growth as summarized below:
- Increased water uptake
- For healthy osmosis leading to a healthy photosynthesis
- For best enzyme actions
- For the synthesis of protein, starch, and cellulose
- For resistance against droughts and disease resistance
How to Use Potash Fertilizer?
Potash fertilizer has to be applied in large but limited amounts. Usually, a 100 square feet land would require 1/3 to 1/4 pound of potassium containing sulfates or chlorides. Potash doesn’t travel in soil, for it to work you will have to sprinkle potash in deep root zones.
When used not as directed, excess potassium accumulates in the root zone of soils that affects the ability of soils to absorb other critical nutrients and other minerals that can result in reduced fertility.
Contrarily, k deficiency will reduce the nutrients uptake of plants from soils and hence, will result in fertility loss.
Which Plants Benefit From Potash?
The plants that bear flowers or fruits need potassium. Potash fertilizer enhances protein synthesis from nitrogen that best serves in healthy growth and lush green effect in the garden. Protein also helps in increased buds blossoming of flowers.
The cellulose build-up assists in cell wall production in crops that further produce starch and sugar content in plants.
When to Apply Potash Fertilizer?
Plants only absorb potash during the growing season that begins from early spring to late summer.
Plants require moist season to take up potash and it should also be a growing season. So potash should be applied during the spring season until the end of summer.
Potassium when applied with other important organic matter and using modern techniques will best increase fertility during the growing season.
Potassium In Agriculture
Potash works wonders for high and healthy crop yield owing to multiple functions that potassium supports. Potassium helps in catalytic action in crops by activating enzymes to break down nutrients to get absorbed in roots.
Additionally, potassium enhances water retention quality in crops to fight diseases and droughts. Potash fertilizer increases photosynthesis in crops like rice that need extensive starch content and water for its growth.
Wheat is also among crops that use potash for increased photosynthesis to produce starch and protein through the activated catalytic action.
Potassium can safely be tagged as a required nutrient to help crops produce the important nutrients that we humans must consume for a living.
Final Thoughts
Potassium containing fertilizers also called potash, that are widely used for both plants and crops plantation. Potash fertilizers enhance a healthy growth of crops and enhance catalytic conversions of nitrogen and sugars to useful nutrients.
Potash increases water retention in plants during the growing season that will help plants combat droughts and diseases. So, when applied in the right amount, the potassium containing fertilizers will help in the production of lush green gardens and healthy crops containing all potential nutrients. Potash increases photosynthesis in plants which responsibly provides for a healthy and oxygen rich environment.
