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When to sprinkle patent potash.

When sprinkling Patentkali!

If you are growing fruit or root vegetables, it is best to choose a fertiliser where the potassium content is at least double that of the nitrogen content. For lighter soils or soils with a high pH, this may be 2.5 times the nitrogen content. Because this is not always possible, we will have to find another solution.

With many chemically compounded fertilisers, the amount of potassium is actually relatively small. Most organic compound commercial fertilizers also suffer from this problem. A chemical fertiliser with composition 12-10-18 (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) contains relatively little potassium. Likewise for an organic fertiliser 6-7-9 where there is also a clear potassium deficiency.

Do you now have to purchase other fertilizers immediately? No, there is a better and cheaper solution that is suitable for both organic and traditional vegetable growers. Patentkali is a miner from the salt mines that is used as fertiliser in both cultivation methods. Due to its high potassium content (30%) and its low overall salt content, this fertiliser is highly recommended for the vegetable garden. A nice bonus is that Patentkali also contains 10% magnesium. We no longer have to worry about that, because this is usually in the right proportion.

How much patent potassium do we have to add? Imagine spreading a fertiliser 12-10-18, which is actually 6% potassium per kg potassium too little. After all, ideal would be 24% potassium instead of 18%. If you sprinkle 1 kg of this fertiliser, you will have to sprinkle an additional 200 g (30% / 5) of patenkali. For lighter soils, we will add an additional 200 g of additional patent lime to compensate for leaching during the winter.

Spreading an organic fertiliser of 3-4-4 will cause a deficiency of 8% potassium per kg of fertiliser. 12% potassium is ideal here. For every kg that we sprinkle from this fertiliser, we will sprinkle an extra amount of 250g of Patentkali.

What does Patentkali actually do!

Potassium, together with nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium, are among the four elements that our vegetable plants need in large quantities. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are usually indicated on the fertiliser bags in the NPK formula. Very often we also find + Mg with this formula, which indicates that this fertiliser was also enriched with magnesium. Although potassium in itself does not make the plant grow faster (that is previously reserved for nitrogen), it is nevertheless a very important element for the overall quality of the plant. Note that whenever there is talk of potassium deficiency, we do mean potassium deficiency in the plant. Because even with a sufficiently high potassium supply in the soil, potassium deficiency can occur. Why this is the case is discussed later in this article.

A lack of potassium in the plant can cause a lot of unsuspected problems in the vegetable garden. To understand this, you need to know that potassium favourably affects the water balance in the cell, among other things. The element allows the cell to retain water better, even under difficult conditions. If not enough potassium is present in the cell, it will shrink too much or swell too much in case of moisture deficiency or moisture excess in the soil. This can damage the cell. One damaged cell is no big deal of course, but if dozens are damaged a problem arises. Then the damage also becomes noticeable externally on the plant.

More leaching will occur on lighter types of soil during the winter than on heavier soils. On the heavier soils, potassium is better retained in the clay-humus complex, so that the leaching is almost negligible. In addition, clay and clay soil will naturally produce potassium as a result of the weathering. On sandy soils and sandy loam soils you can therefore add an extra amount of potassium.

(thanks to luc dedeene)

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