The relationship of cannabis plants and potassium is indeed significant. Others might not notice how valuable is the role of this macro-nutrient, but the truth is, we should give some good credits to the potassium because it helps the cannabis from stimulating its overall growth.
Additionally, it helps in improving the health of your cannabis plants due to its natural ability to balance the distribution of water and nutrients in every part of the plant which in turn helps in making your cannabis stems and leaves to appear more upright and spirited.
And another good thing about the potassium is that, if you will use the right amount of potassium in your cannabis plants, you can assume that your plant will be safe from mildew and other similar fungi since the potassium has also the skill to block the organisms that causes your cannabis plants to suffer from diseases.
However, these potentials might not be shown if you will provide too much or lesser potassium in your cannabis plants. In other words, your cannabis plants will suffer from potassium deficiency. So what is potassium deficiency and is there any possible way to fix it? Come with us and discover the world of cannabis and potassium!
Potassium Deficiency
Potassium deficiency is usually happening because of the excessive use of fertilizers and nutrients to your growing medium and water solution. Additionally, if your pH is too low, your roots will be put under stress.
And as we all know, a stress cannabis plant will suffer from different kinds of complications such as nutrient lockout and other kinds of deficiencies. So when you are feeding your cannabis plants, make sure that you will not overfeed them or provide lesser of their needs since both of these actions will give you a problem.
So how will you know if your cannabis plant is suffering from potassium deficiency?
The signs and symptoms of potassium deficiency might be confusing to diagnose at first since potassium deficiency and nutrient burn is showing almost the same symptoms.
So to avoid confusion, you should check your cannabis plants and see if the tips of the leaves are burnt including its edges while turning its color to brown with yellow in between of each margin, then it is for sure that your plant has a potassium deficiency. Why? Because the nutrient burn is usually seen on the tips of the leaves and it doesn’t affect the edges of the cannabis leaves.
That means if your plant has brown and yellow color on the leaves most especially on its edges, then it is very clear that your plant has a potassium deficiency. Additionally, you can confirm if it is really a potassium deficiency if the tips of the leaves are dying, veins are green, dark and brown spots are visible, your buds are not fattening, and if the leaves are curling under and upwards.
How to Fix Potassium Deficiency?
Before you treat your cannabis plants, make sure that your cannabis plants are not encountering a light burn or a nutrient burn because if your will misdiagnosed your cannabis, you are creating another problem!
So to better do this, ensure that your lights are placed at the right distance and a number of nutrients should be at its right amount. And if you think that you did the all of these things right, then it is for sure that the symptoms that you are noticing in your cannabis are due to potassium deficiency.
After confirming the potassium deficiency, let us now move forward and learn the best ways to fix this issue.
Adjust your pH according to your growing medium.
If your medium has a lower pH level, the potassium will not be absorbed by your root zone. And if your growing medium has a higher pH value, then expect that your plant will suffer from potassium deficiency.
So to avoid both situations, you need to adjust your pH to a lower range (lower not too low) since low pH level will help your roots to absorb its potassium.
For soil growers, you need to adjust your pH value between 6.0 to 7.0 pH then for those who are using coco coir and hydro, you need to make sure that your pH will range between 5.5 to 6.5 pH.
Do not overwater your plants.
Overwatering your plants will also lead to potassium deficiency. So make sure that you will practice the right way of watering your plants to keep your cannabis healthy with massive buds.
Supplements should be given at proper ratio.
Follow the instructions given on your chosen supplement product because if you will give the wrong ratio per nutrient, for an instance, if you will add more calcium into your plants, your cannabis will suffer from potassium deficiency. So make sure that everything is balanced and well adjusted to avoid complications.
Flush your cannabis plants.
Use a clean water with right pH value and when flushing your cannabis. By the way, flushing will help your plant from recovering from potassium deficiency most especially if you will right amount of “cannabis friendly” nutrients such as the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Now that you already know what is potassium deficiency, you should now avoid doing the things that might result in this kind of deficiency even if there is a solution for this since it is always best to grow a cannabis without encountering any issues.
