Week 5 and soon I'll need to pin the flowers so they don't bend ehehe
let's understand a little about potassium which is very necessary at this stage
Potassium is a macro element used mainly in flowering, but with an important role in the vegetative period, potassium!
Potassium helps combine sugars, starches and carbohydrates, and is essential in their production and movement in the plant.
This element is vital for the growth made from cell division, it increases the concentration of chlorophyll in the foliage and helps to control the opening of the stomata, so that the plants make better use of light and air.
It is also necessary in the production of proteins and aromatic oils, thus improving the flavor and production of flowers and fruits.
Potassium stimulates root growth, is associated with disease resistance and water absorption by plants.
Even though she is healthy, let's talk about the symptoms and metabolic processes that occur in the plant when it is deficient in this element:
Plants can easily be deficient in this nutrient and you can often confuse it with edema, which is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the plant, or with stains caused by bacteria or fungi.
This deficiency causes the internal temperature of the leaves to rise above 40°C, and causes the protein present in the cells to burn and degrade.
*To cool the foliage, the plant ends up sweating and generating moisture, the process of evaporating this moisture in turn is responsible for the appearance of burns on the leaves, during this process the plant can spend up to 70% of all its energy trying to cool its tissue.
*Potassium is often present in soil or nutrient solutions, however, it can be "locked in" by excess salts.
- We see this deficiency normally when there is a lot of concentration of magnesium, calcium and even zinc and iron in the culture media, we must also remember that too cold climates impair the absorption of potassium. Poor plants may look healthy, however, with a dull, dark green color, and thinner than normal branches when they get more serious, the tips and edges of the younger leaves discolor, turning brown, until they eventually desiccate and curl. , the branches in turn become weak and brittle, the plant is more susceptible to attack by pests and fungi and production is drastically reduced.
To solve the problem caused by potassium deficiency, you must wash this soil with plenty of clean and good quality water, which is known by some gardeners as a flush, in this way we will leach all these accumulated salts that were "blocking" the absorption of the potassium. nutrient, then it is important to add some fertilizer with a balanced level of N-P-K and rich in potassium, always increasing the concentration gradually, it is very important to pay attention to the pH, since it must be in the optimal absorption range, otherwise no matter how much EC levels are adequate, the plant will not be able to absorb nutrients well.
Now that you know how the plant behaves during a deficiency, learn about the symptoms and reactions that occur during an excess of potassium in the soil.
When an excess of potassium, also known as over fert, occurs, you will see it as symptoms of deficiencies in other nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, and sometimes zinc and iron, as this accumulation acidifies the root zone and prevents the absorption of these nutrients. elements. In this case, the solution is to perform a flush to reduce this concentration of salts to an acceptable level, and add N-P-K, gradually increasing its concentration, until reaching the EC indicated for the life stage of the plant, it is also valid to pay attention to the range of the hydrogen potential of that soil.
In a next crop we will see if I can record images of a plant lacking potassium