Potassium chloride

If the soil in your garden is in trouble with potassium, do not expect abundant flowering and at least a small harvest of fruits. It is this nutrient that is responsible for ensuring that the plant can form flowers and fruits. Potassium deficiency weakens plant immunity and resistance to stress caused by cold, heat and drought. Thanks to potassium, sugars accumulate in fruits. However, an excess of potassium in the soil also does not pass in vain – the tips of the roots begin to die off in the plant, which leads to the oppression of the entire plant.

Potassium deficiency can be determined by the appearance of plants – the leaves lighten and dry, starting from the edge of the plate, then necrotic spots appear. Potassium chloride is an “ambulance”, because it begins to supply potassium to plants in the first 2 – 3 days after feeding.

What is potassium chloride

Potassium chloride, also known as potassium chloride, is a concentrated potash fertilizer. Available in both powder and granular form.  

Fertilizer is presented on the market by different manufacturers, so the percentage of potassium chloride and its purity vary.

Often summer residents cannot understand why potassium chloride has a different color from different manufacturers. And the color depends on what additives are contained in the fertilizer. Pure potassium chloride is white. Gray color indicates an increased proportion of chlorine. Yellowish – about the presence of a large amount of sulfur. And pinkish-red signals the presence of heavy metals and iron.

Potassium chloride is a highly effective fertilizer for all types of horticultural and horticultural crops. However, due to the high content of chlorine, it acidifies the soil and inhibits plants that do not tolerate this substance.

The composition of potassium chloride

Potassium chloride (KCl) available for retail sale contains from 52 to 60% potassium oxide. Some manufacturers produce potassium chloride with trace elements – copper, boron and zinc. The chlorine content can be up to 40%, and the higher the chlorine content, the more gray the fertilizer (1).

Properties of potassium chloride

Potassium chloride replenishes the reserves of potassium in the soil, which is actively consumed by plants, contributes to the enrichment of the soil with microelements.

The optimal content of potassium in the soil accelerates the growth and development of the plant, improves the quality of flowering and fruit set, the taste of fruits, increases productivity, plant resistance to diseases, temperature extremes and drought, frost resistance of perennials 

The use of potassium chloride in the garden and vegetable garden

Potassium chloride is important for the successful cultivation of plants in almost all types of soil. It is convenient because the granules quickly disintegrate in moist soil and work for a long time in the root zone.

making Dates

Potassium chloride is applied both in spring and autumn, and also as an “ambulance” for potassium deficiency in the summer season.

In the spring, this fertilizer is applied a month before planting, mainly on light soils. And not for all plants. Do not like potassium chloride cucumbers, potatoes, radishes, turnips, radishes, daikon, grapes, strawberries, raspberries.

In general, it is better to apply potassium chloride in autumn, because potassium itself accumulates in the soil, and chlorine goes into the lower layers of the soil during the winter and cannot harm plants. Autumn application is most effective on heavy soils and for feeding fruit trees and berry bushes.

In order to keep the soil healthy, it is recommended to alternate the application of potassium chloride with other potash fertilizers.

Dosage of application

Autumn potassium chloride is embedded in the soil at the rate of 20 g (4 teaspoons) per 1 sq. m. In the spring – 2,5 g (1/2 teaspoon) per 1 square. m. On potassium-rich loams, the dose is reduced by 2 times. On peaty soils, fertilizer is applied at least 2 times per season. On sandy – fractionally up to 3 times per season 

By culture, the doses look like this:

• when planting trees in a planting hole – up to 100 g (1/2 cup);
• for feeding trees – 25 – 30 g (5 – 6 teaspoons) per 1 sq. m of the near-stem circle in the watering grooves;
• for root crops and cabbage – 20 – 40 g (4 – 8 teaspoons) per 1 sq. m;
• for other vegetables and flowers – 10 – 20 g (2 – 4 teaspoons) per 1 sq. m, 
• for planting seedlings – 5 g (1 teaspoon) per plant.
• for liquid dressings under the root of perennials, trees and shrubs – 10 g (2 teaspoons) per 10 liters of warm water.

Application methods

In autumn and early spring, dry fertilizer is embedded in moist soil.

On peaty soils, fertilizer is applied 2 times per season. On sandy – fractionally up to 3 times per season.

Fertilizer solutions are used when planting, spring and summer top dressing at the root.

To neutralize chlorine and make more efficient use of fertilizer for summer top dressing, it is recommended to do the solution in this way: pour 20 g (4 teaspoons) of potassium chloride into 10 liters of water, add 100 g (1 cup) of wood ash, stir and leave to infuse in an open container for a day. Such top dressing can be done even for cucumbers and tomatoes at the rate of 1 liter per bush.

Popular questions and answers

We asked about potassium chloride agronomist Oleg Ispolatov – he answered the most popular questions of summer residents.

Sources of

1. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals permitted for use on the territory of the Federation as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation

   https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii-i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/

2. Mineev V.G. Agrochemistry (textbook, 2nd edition, revised and supplemented) // M.: MGU Publishing House, KolosS Publishing House, 2004.
3. Yagodin B.A., Zhukov Yu.P., Kobzarenko V.I. Agrochemistry (edited by B.A. Yagodin) // M.: Kolos, 2002.