saw dust (untreated) is apparently a good source of Potassium (which makes sense as to why wood ash is as well). Avoid where possible I have read potassium chloride (potash is one source) as it kills soil orgamisms and can harm plant roots.
rob
I've learned you can get this chemical from granite meal, kelp meal and dairy manure. But where do you get these? I thought about going up to one of the veggie stands on the highways and saying 'Yeah with those tomatoes can I get 5 pounds of dairy manure'... I checked Wal mart and a competitor but they have the synthetic fertilizer but the ratios never work out.
Never found a source for granite meal, but have seen kelp meal at some garden centers. You could also possibly find greensand at these, too, or Sul-po-mag (langbienite mineral).
You can get kelp meal mail order from some places, or get dried powdered seaweed for mixing up foliar sprays and drenches (Maxicrop is the brand I use).
Three more potential sources for potassium are wood ashes (which can raise soil pH), coffeegrounds and alfalfa (both of which also supply nitrogen).
Some coffeeshops will give away their grounds to gardeners. (Starbucks has a program to do so.)
You'd need to go to a feed store for alfalfa pellets (though I remember seeing alfafla meal for sale mail order in the past). Rabbit food is a possible substitute (check the ingredient list to see if it has a significant amount of alfalfa).
Dairy manure is (to my knowledge) not a particularly potassium-rich fertilizer but more of a balanced nutrient source with a slight tilt to nitrogen.
On coffee, this book I am reading describes it "mutagenic, pharmacologically active nitrogen with h2o mixed in." Nitrogen can be at the expense of fruit and flowers, which is why I am looking for pure potassium. I think~ potassium allows the plant cells to produce ethylene which stops stem elongation, and develops stem thickening as well as fruition.
Nitrogen run off is also a source for algae blooms, an increasing problem, if you ever flown in a plane and seen the green growths in rivers below.
Maybe I'll try the wood ashes.
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