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If you’ve noticed how some of your plants
have traces of purple on their leaves at present, when they are normally green, it’s
caused by a short-term potassium deficiency at this time of the year. Cold soils and lots of rain cause potassium to leach from the soil
and containers are particularly susceptible because the available potassium you probably
added as fertiliser last summer, has been watered away.
The remedy is pretty simple, but failure to do it soon will
greatly effect the ability of your plants to recover soon enough to flower, if they are
flowering plants. Never use wood ash on our local soils, without special care. Although it
contains potash, it is very alkaline, as much as pH10 and will severely effect the ability
of plants nearby to access certain nutrients in the soil, such as iron, so plant leaves
turn yellow. That’s called lime-induced-chlorosis (LIC).
Potassium is most readily and most cheaply available as
"Sulphate of potash", which is 48% potassium. English garden magazines often
recommend using "Muriate of potash" but that’s potassium chloride (common
salt) and not to be used on our soils that are salty enough already! Simply sprinkle the
fine potash powder at the recommended rate, on the soil or container surface. General
application of "Sulphate of potash" on a Fuchsia in a 30cm pot (12") would
be 5 grams or a teaspoon or 15-30 grams per square metre on your soil.
There is absolutely no potassium in blood and bone, which
is why some folk who are big users of blood and bone, suffer recurring potassium
deficiency in their gardens, so their plants don’t flower and set fruit properly.
Just for the record, my Matilda Poppies opened their first
flower last Saturday, even in the face of all that rain and yes the foliar feed they got
two weeks before, contained "Sulphate of potash", so now the secret is out! |
