What Is Potash & How to Make Potash Fertilizer

The word Potash comes from Potassium, a natural element, or rather a natural nutrient for both plants and human beings. In the early days, people used to extract potassium from the ashes of burned wood. The ash was dried up in large iron pots, which left the potassium at the bottom. But, now this procedure is no longer followed due to several environmental issues. 

However, potash is very much important for the proper nutrition of plants and human beings too. Plants are required to get enough potash from the soil, in order to show positive growth. The same goes for human bodies, too. Our body cannot naturally produce potassium. That is why we eat foods rich in potassium to nullify that void. 

Here, we are going to discuss the concept of potash. And, also get to know how you can easily make potash fertilizer at your home. 

What Is Potash(Pot-Ash) Used For – A Brief Concept 

The word potash signifies a group of chemicals and minerals rich in potassium. Among these groups, Potassium Chloride or KCl is the potash compound dominating the world market.

Potash is used both as nutrition for plants and as well as human beings. In the case of plants and crops, when there is a deficiency of potassium in the soil, then potash fertilizers are used as a catalyst agent to make the soil more potassium enriched. 

As a result, the plants get higher immunity and quality. Here are some benefits of potash used as fertilizer –

• Improves the quality of the crops and provides immunity
• Protects the crop from excessive sunlight and higher temperatures
• Helps to fight stress and diseases
• Protection from insects and weeds 
• Strengthens the roots and stems
• Enables the plant enzyme, so that the plant consumes water efficiently

Just like we humans eat food to keep our body fit for the everyday hustle and bustle, fertilizers are like food to the plants. Or, rather you can say fertilizers are more of a supplement. The three main components of every fertilizer are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. 

Therefore, as the plant grows, it absorbs most of the nutrients from the soil, thus making the soil less fertile for the next batch of crops that are to be planted. The situation is, the content of nitrogen and phosphorus are enough in our environment, but the potassium gets worn away. Thus, farmers provide potash fertilizers to level the potassium content of the soil. Further, there is also a prime factor that can affect the plants, i.e. pest. For that, you need to seek help from Pest Control Dubai. 

Over the years, in various parts of the world, potassium is getting depleted from the soil. That’s why potash as a fertilizer is an important nutrient that a plant needs to grow. Well, just as we mentioned before, there are a lot of excellent sources of potash available on our planet. 

Though potassium comes in different compounds, all of them can be used to maintain a healthy and productive ecosystem. 

Here are some excellent sources of potash from nature itself:

• Potassium Chloride(KCl)- Muriate of Potash 

• Potassium sulfate (K2SO4)- Sulfate of potash 

• Potassium-magnesium sulphate(K2SO4-2MgSO4)

• Potassium thiosulfate (K2S2O3)

• Potassium nitrate (KNO3)

The potassium content present in each of these fertilizers is nutritious for plants regardless of the source. But, the difference between these above-mentioned fertilizers is the elements that come alongside the potassium. 

Each of the added elements has its own importance and act differently when given to crops as fertilizers. Let us see how. 

Potassium Chloride

Chloride is a very important nutrient and is responsible for a plant’s high yield. But, you have to be careful enough with the potassium chloride fertilizer, because if applied in a larger amount the chemicals can destroy the crops along with the soil permanently. Potassium chloride is the cheapest available potash fertilizer. 

Potassium Sulfate 

Every plant requires an ample amount of sulfate in order to build up enzymes and proteins. Sulfur is responsible for a plant’s color, height, growth rate, and many more attributes. The plants which are light green in color, lack an adequate amount of sulfate. Therefore, if the provided fertilizer contains both potassium and sulfate, then it is a huge bonus point for the plant itself, and also for the soil. 

Potassium-Magnesium Sulfate

Magnesium is related to the chlorophyll present in plants. Have you ever seen a plant with yellow leaves starting to grow from below? That is because the plant is magnesium deficient. 

The requirement for magnesium varies from plant to plant. This indicates that you have to first identify which plants need magnesium fertilizer. And, the potassium is always there. 

Potassium Nitrate

Nitrogen is the most important element that a plant requires for its overall growth. Though there is enough nitrogen present in the air already, in some cases plants need more nitrogen content. This happens when the soil is not fertile enough and is unable to provide enough nitrogen. Thus, this fertilizer is used. 

Now, coming to the next part of our discussion, how can you make potash fertilizer on your own? It’s a very easy process if you follow it step-by-step. So, let’s get started.

Potash Fertilizer Requirements

Here are some items that you are going to need for sure if you want to make a potash fertilizer all by yourself. Try to stick to the list and gather all the necessary items. 

• Cold Pack made out of Ammonium nitrate(40gms)
• Container(37gms)(free from salt)
• Filters
• Food Scale

How To Make Potash Fertilizer

That’s it. By following these 8 steps you can easily make potash fertilizer from the comfort of your home. 

Finally…

Availability of potassium is abundant in nature. And, Potassium is the 7th most common element on our earth. However, as the soils are getting exploited day-by-day, as a result, the plant now does not get an adequate amount of potash from the soils itself. 

Potash fertilizers are a great source of potassium for the plants. Therefore, in case you are creating a kitchen in your home garden, and the soil of the garden is not enough potassium-rich, then you can just follow the above steps and create your own potash fertilizer and grow healthy plants.