Potassium fulvate is a key component of soil humus, derived from the decomposition of organic matter. It is characterized by its low molecular weight, complete water solubility, and aromatic organic structure. As the most beneficial form of humic acid in soil, potassium fulvate plays a central role in forming soil aggregates and enhancing soil structure.
Thanks to its functional groups like carboxyl and phenolic hydroxyl, potassium fulvate demonstrates strong chelation, complexation, and surface adsorption properties. These characteristics help reduce nitrogen loss, increase phosphorus mobility, and convert inactive forms of phosphorus into plant-available nutrients. Additionally, potassium fulvate enhances the availability of potassium and significantly improves the efficacy of potassium fertilizers. Research indicates that potassium fulvate can boost the utilization rates of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium by more than 20%.
1. Potassium Fulvate Improve Nitrogen Fertilizer Utilization
- Mechanism of Action:
It contains active groups that act as electron donors, easily forming complexes (chelates) with electron acceptors. For example, potassium fulvate-urea complexes can reduce ammonium nitrogen loss in fertilizers like ammonium bicarbonate, enhancing nitrogen fertilizer efficiency. Degraded nitro-potassium fulvate can inhibit urease activity, reducing urea volatilization. - Practical Effects:
Adding potassium fulvate to ammonium bicarbonate reduces nitrogen volatilization from 13.1% to 2.04% within six days. In field trials, the nitrogen efficacy of ammonium bicarbonate lasts over 20 days, while potassium fulvate-ammonium compounds extend this to 60 days. When added to urea, potassium fulvate slows decomposition, reduces loss, and extends fertilizer efficacy, improving nitrogen utilization by approximately 30% and residual effects by over 15%. - Benefits to Plant Growth:
When used with nitrogen, it promotes protein synthesis, cell division, and expansion, accelerating plant growth. It also enhances leaf area development, increasing photosynthetic capacity. Plants treated with potassium fulvate and nitrogen fertilizers show quicker greening and more robust growth.
2. Potassium Fulvate Enhance Phosphorus Fertilizer Efficiency
- Mechanism of Action:
Degraded nitro-potassium fulvate increases phosphorus mobility in soil and prevents its fixation, converting inactive phosphorus into available forms for root absorption. It also protects water-soluble phosphorus fertilizers or phosphorus-based compound fertilizers, reducing phosphorus fixation and improving plant uptake. - Practical Effects:
Fertilizer trials show that adding 10–20%potassium fulvate to single superphosphate, triple superphosphate, or ammonium phosphate increases fertilizer efficacy by 10–20%, with phosphorus absorption rising by 28–39%. Radioactive phosphorus tracer tests reveal that phosphorus utilization increases from 15.4% to 19.3%, representing a relative improvement of 25%. - Benefits to Plant Growth:
Combined with phosphorus fertilizers, it plays a role in key physiological processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, energy storage, cell division, and enlargement, promoting healthy plant development.
3. Enhancing Potassium Fertilizer Efficiency
- Mechanism of Action:
Potassium fulvate’s acidic functional groups absorb and store potassium ions, reducing potassium leaching in sandy soils or soils prone to water loss. It also prevents clay soils from fixing potassium and enhances exchangeable potassium levels. Furthermore, it dissolves potassium-containing minerals, gradually increasing the soil’s available potassium content. - Practical Effects:
It increases potassium uptake by more than 30% by stimulating and regulating plant metabolism. This improves potassium fertilizer efficiency and enhances nutrient availability for crops. - Benefits to Plant Growth:
Combined with potassium fertilizers, potassium fulvate boosts photosynthesis and improves nitrogen absorption and utilization. This leads to faster conversion of nitrogen into proteins and optimizes water use efficiency in plants.
4. Potassium Fulvate Promot Micronutrient Absorption
- Mechanism of Action:
It chelates micronutrients like iron, zinc, and manganese, forming mobile, plant-absorbable complexes. These chelates efficiently transport nutrients to areas of deficiency within the plant, resolving micronutrient deficiencies. - Practical Effects:
Micronutrients are essential for crop growth, but they often exist in forms that are unavailable to plants or become fixed in soil. Potassium fulvate chelates transform these nutrients into bioavailable forms, facilitating their absorption through roots or foliage and enhancing their translocation within the plant. - Case Study:
Trials show that potassium fulvate-iron increases root iron uptake by 32% compared to ferrous sulfate and doubles iron translocation to leaves. This raises chlorophyll content by 15–45%, effectively addressing chlorosis caused by iron deficiency.
Potassium fulvate significantly enhances the utilization of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients in fertilizers. Its unique properties not only improve fertilizer efficiency but also promote healthier plant growth, making it an invaluable tool in modern agricultural practices.
