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Potassium, also known as potash, is one of the three essential macronutrients. Potassium plays an essential role in ensuring healthy crops and optimal yields.
It’s required for the activation of over 80 plant enzymes. It’s responsible for improving a plant’s water use from roots to shoots through the regulation of photosynthesis and transpiration.
Potassium also fosters nutrient uptake, enhances nitrogen use and increases protein production, boosting overall plant health, and the plant’s ability to withstand disease pests and drought stress.
Without a doubt, proper potassium management is critical to ensuring healthy crops, optimizing yield and increasing profit potential. But which source is the best choice? Potassium can come from many sources but only potassium plus, also known as sulfate of potash, stands apart as the premiere source.
Let’s take a look at some of the factors to consider:
Potassium plus (or SOP) and myriad of potash (MOP) offer more potassium than other commonly used sources. The additional nutrients in these fertilizers also factor into their overall value.
Potassium plus (SOP) contains sulfur, often referred to as the fourth macronutrient. It plays a key role in a variety of functions that promote optimal growth and development. And when delivered in the sulfate form as it is with potassium plus, it is readily available for plants uptake on the other hand.
MOP contains extremely high levels of chloride and salt excess. Chloride can accumulate around root systems, block uptake of essential nutrients, lower crop quality, and reduce yields.
Similar to chloride is salt index. Fertilizers with high salt index can lead to damaging effects on crop development and soil systems. On a K2O basis SOP, which is virtually chloride free, is the richest source of potash with the least salt.
Because of this, SOP provides added flexibility in application timing, without the risks of soil salt buildup. For all these reasons, potassium plus has become the potassium source of choice for growers who demand the highest quality crops and maximum yields.
