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Saturday Swot Shop is for those things I should have been paying attention to years ago but didn’t.
Last Saturday it was Phosphorus/Phosphate .Today we’re still in the Lab to look at Potash/Potassium.
If you paid attention in Chemistry then you get to skip this. For me the only compounds I was interested in were practicing how my first name combined with the surname of my ‘crush of the week’. If you were similarly distracted way back when, then pull up a hard high stool and join me.
Potash and Potassium are they the same or different ?
- The same. Potash is the common name given to Potassium. Long ago Potash was obtained by burning wood or tree leaves, now it’s found by mining. It’s also why the chemical symbol for Potash/Potassium is K. It’s derived from the old word for potash, Kalium.
Enough history ! Let’s stick to chemistry. How does this relate to tomatoes?
- Potassium/Potash is 1 of the 3 main plant foods. Phosphorus and Nitrogen being the other 2. Potassium/Potash is important in the production of fruit. If the plant doesn’t get enough it will not produce many tomatoes and those it does, will be small and of poor quality.
So how do I make sure my tomatoes get enough ?
- That’s what specialist tomato feeds are for. They contain the other 2 nutrients but a higher amount of potassium/potash. On the back of a tomato feed bottle look for ‘Potassium Oxide (K20) soluble in water 8.0% w/w (6.6%K)’. You will also see Compound Fluid Fertiliser (5.3, 2.7, 8.0), the ratios of each nutrient. In a general fertilizer they would be roughly equal.
Makes so much more sense this time around !
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