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# Diagnose and Respond to Potassium Deficiency in Pineapple

> Identify potassium deficiency in pineapple from yellow-orange older leaves with tip die-back and poor fruit quality, and correct it with muriate of potash, sulphate of potash for fresh market, and foliar K.

Potassium is the single largest quality driver on pineapple. K controls fruit size, sugar accumulation (Brix), shelf life, and acid balance. Deficiency shows as **yellow-orange older leaves with tip die-back** and, at harvest, as **small, low-Brix, poor-shelf-life fruit** even if canopy looks acceptable.

**Regional priority:** High on mineral upland, BRIS, and any block older than one cycle without full K replacement.

## When pineapple is most vulnerable

From **late vegetative (month 10)** through **fruit development (month 18)**. K demand peaks between forcing and fruit filling.

## How potassium deficiency shows in satellite data

* **Block-wide NDVI below phase baseline**, especially on light soils.
* Slow, multi-month decline; not sudden.
* Less directly visible than N deficiency because K affects fruit quality more than canopy greenness.
* Best confirmed by D-leaf analysis and fruit sampling.

## Field symptoms

* **Yellow-orange chlorosis on older leaves**, starting at the tips and margins
* **Necrotic (dead) leaf tips** in advanced deficiency
* **Reduced fruit weight** and small "eyes" (fruitlets)
* **Low Brix (\< 12)** and poor flavor
* **Short shelf life** and translucent flesh at ripening
* **Increased lodging** of fruiting plants (weak peduncles)
* **Increased susceptibility** to sunburn, mealybug wilt, and heart rot

## Reduce the damage by

* **Muriate of potash (MOP, KCl)** as the standard K source for processing blocks - typically 500 to 900 kg/ha per cycle, split into 4 to 6 applications.
* **Sulphate of potash (SOP)** for fresh-market MD2 blocks - MOP chloride can depress Brix at high rates.
* **Foliar K (KNO3, K2SO4)** through the leaf axil in the 6 weeks before forcing.
* **Split applications** - single large doses leach on sandy soils.
* **Balance K with N and Mg** - typical K:Mg target 3:1 on mineral soils.
* **D-leaf analysis at 8 to 10 months** - target 3.0 to 3.5% K in the D-leaf. This is a generic target with no site, soil, cultivar or season qualifier, so it supports *inside* or *outside* and no finer grade — see [Reading a tissue analysis](/snippets/tissue-diagnosis).
* **Return crop residues** to the block at destruction to recycle K.

## Set an alert for early warning

<Tip>
  Turn the diagnosis into a trigger. K deficiency is a slow trend and quality signal, so combine an NDVI trend alert with a scheduled D-leaf and Brix check.
</Tip>

Recommended settings for potassium on pineapple:

* **NDVI trend alert** - trigger when the block's 6-week moving NDVI drops more than 5% below the phase baseline.
* **D-leaf sampling reminder** - month 8 to 10 (before forcing) and month 15 (mid fruit development).
* **Brix check** - schedule a fruit-sampling round at ripening; flag blocks with Brix below 12.

## Related

* [Pineapple Diagnosis](/guides/Crop/Pineapple/pineapple-diagnosis)
* [Magnesium](/guides/Crop/Pineapple/nutrient/magnesium) - overlapping older-leaf symptoms; separate by pattern.
* [Set up automated crop alerts](/guides/alerts-notifications)