Potassium Nitrate Effects on Plants

Plants and Potassium

• Plants use large amount of potassium to build proteins. Potassium plays a major role in fruit and seed development. With the proper amounts of potassium available, plants develop better resistance to diseases and improve their tolerance to cold. Although potassium occurs naturally in the soil, nearly all of it is in forms that are unusable to plants. Additionally, the harvesting of certain crops removes large amounts of usable potassium from the soil. Potassium nitrate is 44 percent potassium and is water soluble. The dissolved potassium is taken up readily by plant roots.

Plants and Nitrogen

• Nitrogen is one of the most important plant nutrients. It promotes healthy growth, and fruit and seed development. It is a major component of proteins and plays a central role in almost all of a plant's metabolic processes. Nitrogen also is an important ingredient in chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants responsible for photosynthesis. Nitrogen occurs naturally in the air, but most plants cannot use airborne nitrogen. Also, gardening and farming often strip the soil of nitrogen faster than it can be replaced naturally. Potassium nitrate is 13 percent nitrogen that is water soluble and readily available for plant use.

Labels

• Although potassium nitrate is useful as a fertilizer, adding potassium and nitrogen to the soil, it is not found in all fertilizers and can be expensive to use in agriculture. Fertilizer labels list the nutrients in the fertilizer as well as the ingredients supplying those nutrients. A fertilizer may derive its potassium content form potassium chloride and its nitrogen content from ammonium. Do not assume that potassium nitrate is in the formulas. Check the label.

Application

• Potassium nitrate's water solubility is an asset to the garden. Unless the fertilizer is a time-release formula that has been coated to delay the reaction to water, the nutrients are available to the plants as soon as water is added to the application, either from irrigation or from rain. Always apply fertilizers according to the manufacturers' recommendations for the best result for you plants and to prevent possible environmental contamination.