Potassium Nutrition of Cotton

Potassium (K) deserves special attention as a plant nutrient in cotton production because of its high uptake rate, the relative inefficiency of the cotton plant as a K+ absorber, and the widespread plantings of cotton in low K soils of the tropics and warmer temperate zones. Cotton is planted on a diversity of soils, many that differ greatly in their native K supplying power. For optimum management of cotton production, it is highly desirable to know when a crop has its greatest and least needs for nutrients. The need for a nutrient and the uptake rate of that nutrient are highly correlated. Potassium deficiency occurs more frequently and with greater intensity on cotton than for most other agronomic crops. The goal of fertilizing cotton is to achieve maximum economic return for the fertilizer investment. Plant analysis is often viewed as an alternative to soil analysis in identifying fertilizer needs.