Potassium

Growing and care

Category: Fertilizer Nutrients and Macronutrients | Related terms: Fertilzer and Macronutrients

Potassium is a chemical element with symbol K (derived from Neo-Latin kalium) and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction and burning with a lilac flame. Naturally occurring potassium is composed of three isotopes, one of which, 40K, is radioactive. Traces (0.012%) of this isotope are found in all potassium making it the most common radioactive element in the human body and in many biological materials, as well as in common building substances such as concrete.

Because potassium and sodium are chemically very similar, their salts were not at first differentiated. The existence of multiple elements in their salts was suspected in 1702, and this was proven in 1807 when potassium and sodium were individually isolated from different salts by electrolysis. Potassium in nature occurs only in ionic salts. As such, it is found dissolved in seawater (which is 0.04% potassium by weight), and is part of many minerals.

Most industrial chemical applications of potassium employ the relatively high solubility in water of potassium compounds, such as potassium soaps. Potassium metal has only a few special applications, being replaced in most chemical reactions with sodium metal.

Plumeria Database context: Potassium affects how plumeria roots, leaves, stems, and blooms perform in containers or in the ground. Care terms are especially important because watering, drainage, nutrition, and soil conditions can change the way a plant looks.

What to look for: Consider the growing mix, drainage, watering cycle, fertilizer program, container size, root health, and local climate before deciding whether a symptom is a cultivar trait or a growing-condition response.

Identification note: This term is one clue. A plumeria should be compared using all available traits, photos, source history, and growing context rather than a single characteristic.

  • Glossary: Calcium Carbonate
    Calcium Carbonate: Calcium carbonate is used to help prevent the spread of various diseases, such as powdery mildew, black spot, and blossom end rot. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: Macronutrients
    Macronutrients: A ll essential elements are by definition required for plant growth and completion of the plant life cycle from seed to seed. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: NPK
    NPK: NPK fertilizers are three-component fertilizers. They provide sources of potassium as well as nitrogen and phosphorus. Such NPK fertilizers are 70-75% soluble in water. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: Fertilizer analysis
    Fertilizer analysis: The amount of nitrogen, phosphorus (as P2O5), and potassium (as K2O) in a fertilizer expressed as a percentage of total fertilizer weight. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.
  • Glossary: N-P-K
    N-P-K: Acronym for the three major plant nutrients contained in manure, compost, and fertilizers. N stand for nitrogen, P for phosphorus, and K for potassium. Plumeria context is explained on the term page.