Potassium in our soils

  • Potassium in our soils

    Posted by Will McGirr on 18/04/2024 at 8:34 pm

    My soil tests are showing a severe lack of potassium (no shocks there!) – saying I need to apply 80kg/Ha. Question is – how do I improve potassium levels in my paddocks without using NPK / chemical fertilisers?

    Mark Tupman replied 5 months, 3 weeks ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • Max Stam

    Member
    18/04/2024 at 9:53 pm

    Did the test just look for available potassium or total potassium? Big difference. Have you looked into making total available using fungi?

  • Kate Tarrant

    Member
    19/04/2024 at 8:36 am

    Hi Will, you’ll find some useful information in this article…https://lowerblackwood.com.au/targeting-plant-nutrition/.

    My understanding is that the volume of potassium required generally can’t all be addressed through foliars, improving soil biology will assist making what you have in the soil more available, helpful to know your totals as Max says, but you may still need to add via soil amendments (granular or liquid).. how much depends on your production goals. There are some general rules of thumb mentioned in the article on biology friendly fertilization worth noting.

  • Mark Tupman

    Member
    19/04/2024 at 11:26 am

    When it comes to potassium inputs, potassium sulphate is probably your best option.

    It’s an allowable input in certified organic enterprises and has a relatively low salt index so not hard on soil biology.

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