The beneficial effect of replacing mono-potassium phosphate by potassium sulphate in table grapes

Adam Shao, Head of Business Development China, and Herman Eijkelboom, Agronomist at Tessenderlo
Kerley International

Adam.shao@tessenderlo.com, 0312 6224 8319

Potassium plays an important role in grapevine cultivation especially at time of formation of grapes.
Colour and taste can be influenced by the level of potassium. In particular, for or the variety Crensen,
the colour can be a problem, impacting the marketability.

The potassium sulphate sold in China by Tessenderlo Kerley is produced in Europe under carefully
controlled conditions that give a product that dissolves rapidly, leaving no residues and has very high
solubility. Also the sodium content of the product is very low. This is important since grapes are sensitive
to sodium.

A trial was set up in Xichang city (Sichuan province) to compare farmers’ practice using mono-potassium
phosphate (MPK) with a replacement treatment of potassium sulphate. MPK was used 4 times with an
application rate of 3 kg/mu (23 July, 1 August, 10 August ad 20 August), 4 times with an application rate
of 5 kg/mu (27 August, 7 September, 20 September and 1 October) and 1 application with 10 kg/mu on
13 October. Potassium sulphate was only applied 3 times with 2 kg/mu (26 April, 17 May and 23 July).
The first application for potassium sulphate was when there were flowers and fruits on the plants.

The bunches of grapes obtained with potassium sulphate treatment tended to be longer and less wide
compared to the control (table 1 and 2).

Table 1 Length of bunch of grapes

Table 2 Width of bunch of grapes

CK= control, KE = treatment with potassium sulphate

Certain growers in China are under the impression that potassium sulphate causes early maturity in the
grapes. Therefore maturity was investigated but no significant difference was found between the
control and grapes treated with potassium sulphate. Maturity tended to be even slightly later and more
uniform with potassium sulphate.

Table 3 Maturity of the grapes

Colour of the grapes at harvest (CK is control, KE is potassium sulphate)

As well as colour, firmness and taste are important quality characteristics for grapes. Firmness of the
grapes with potassium sulphate tended to be slightly better than the control. This means that less fruits
will be damaged during transport and storage.

Table 4 Firmness of the grapes

 Table 5 Soluble sugar content of grapes
Total soluble sugars (%)

Conclusion:

- Fertigation based on potassium sulphate had a much lower demand for fertilizers (6 kg/mu)
compared to mono potassium phosphate (42 kg/mu).
- Maturity was not earlier with potassium sulphate. Colouration seemed to even be better and
more uniform.
- Firmness and sugar content tend to be better with potassium sulphate
- Potassium sulphate from Tessenderlo Kerley is a good source for potassium compared to mono-
potassium phosphate, and is generally cheaper for growers.