POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY IN PLANTS: Symptoms & Treatment

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Potassium deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in vegetable plants. It is often confused with under watering or a disease. Being able to identify, diagnose and treat the symptom is critical in producing a healthy plant and a nutrient dense crop. Plants like cucumbers are heavy potassium users so be on the watch for tell-tell signs. POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS: The three most common symptoms are 1. white spots on the leaves, 2. yellowing on the edges of the leaves and 3. dried or scorched leaf edges. If you see these symptoms and you have ruled out other causes like wind, lack of watering, salinity due to over fertilizing, etc. then treat immediately with 1/2 oz of potassium per linear foot if growing in rows. Apply that between two rows of plants and water in. If you do not treat promptly your fruit and harvest will be affected. For example your cucumbers will curl, have a bell end and be bitter. In acidic soils use Potassium Choride or Muriate of Potash http://amzn.to/2aCl3SM which is typically available as 0-0-60 or 0-0-63. In alkaline soils use Potassium Sulfate 0-0-50 http://amzn.to/2aCkIiU. To learn more about identifying symptoms and the proper treatment depending on the kind of plant I recommend the following resources available at http://MittleiderGardening.com - Mittleider Gardening Course book - Mittleider Garden Doctor 3 book series - Mittleider Gardening Library CD

Comments

i saw a mittleider micro mix on amazon is it the real thing it dont look the same as the onces i have seen u use

if you are using the mittlieder method with amendments, why is there a K deficiency?

great info. thank you so much

thank you so much this is exactly what i needed to know about my unhappy tomatoes

Is the mittleider system organic?

What exactly is your application rate?? Is it 1/2 oz of K fertilizer per linear foot or 1/2 oz of nutrient (K) per linear foot??

Without knowing your plant's K requirements or knowing how much K is in your soil, exactly how do you think you are going to optimally add K to your growing medium??

Do you think you could use Potassium Chloride Pellets,, like the ones used in water softeners (Nature's Own sold at H Depot, #40 bag). Can't find Muriate of Potash locally. I figured potassium chloride is potassium chloride, I'd just have to crush it a bit, or dissolve it in water first....

Thanx!
Very professional video.
I think I just heard my garden sigh with relief!
Will be sure to check out your other vids.

Fred
Simcoe county, Ontario
Canada

This explains why my cucumber plant died! I thought it was insects killing it! Thanks, I'll try again next year.

Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge!

Thank you ! Love your videos!

Thanks for the helpful examples and science behind the solution.

Great format, great information. More, more.

Thank you for the info I came across it just in time because my cucumbers plants started looking terrible and I could not understand why and so you told me so thanks a million iambic going to order the book

to fix my potassium i dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of salt substitute(KCl) into 5 gallon water and leave it in the sun for two days and then pour more water in the solution then use it as needed. they sell it in the store in the salt area under nosalt or morton salt substitute cause i know pure gardening potassium is a little expensive.

I'm guessing that if you need to add bio-available potassium, you can add a synthetic fertilizer but wouldn't an application of good home-made compost work?

Thanks for the info. Cucumbers are one of my biggest crops, and I wouldn't have know anything about this.

BEAUTIFUL GARDEN! Almost doesn't look real, it's so lush and happy.