Difference Between Potassium Humate and Humic Acid

The key difference between potassium humate and humic acid is that potassium humate is the potassium salt of humic acid, whereas humic acid is an important organic acid that occurs as a component in soil.

Humic acid and potassium humate are generally very important components in fertile soil. Moreover, humate is the conjugate base of humic acid.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Potassium Humate 
3. What is Humic Acid 
4. Side by Side Comparison – Potassium Humate vs Humic Acid in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Potassium Humate?

Potassium humate is the potassium salt of humic acid. Humate is the conjugate base of humic acid. Notably, the compound is important in agriculture as a component in fertilizers. Commercially, we can produce it via alkaline extraction of lignite (brown coal). Moreover, this compound is water-soluble, and it can quickly dissolve in water; thus, it is very useful as a fertilizer. Furthermore, crops can easily absorb this compound because it dissociates into ions when dissolved in water. Also, the absorption and utilization rate of this compound by crops is very high.

Uses of Potassium Humate as an Organic Potash Fertilizer

• Increase the photosynthesis of crops
• Increase the chlorophyll density
• Also, enhance the plant root respiration
• And, it leads to great plant growth and yield

What is Humic Acid?

Humic acid is an organic acid that occurs in the humus of soil. Moreover, these organic compounds bind to and help plant roots to receive nutrients and water. Therefore, if there is a high humic acid content, it will increase the yield of plants dramatically.

Moreover, we can observe humic acid in the soil as a dark brown humic substance that is water soluble at high soil pH values.

What is the Difference Between Potassium Humate and Humic Acid?

The key difference between potassium humate and humic acid is that potassium humate is the potassium salt of humic acid, whereas humic acid is an important organic acid that occurs as a component in soil. Further, the potassium humate readily dissolves in water since it is an ionic compound, but the humic acid dissolves in water only at high soil pH values.

Below infographic shows more facts related to the difference between potassium humate and humic acid.

Summary – Potassium Humate vs Humic Acid

Basically, humate is the conjugate base of humic acid. In summary, the key difference between potassium humate and humic acid is that potassium humate is the potassium salt of humic acid, whereas humic acid is an important organic acid that occurs as a component in soil.

Reference:

1. Singh, Rajindar. “Water and Membrane Treatment.” Hybrid Membrane Systems for Water Purification, 2005, doi:10.1016/b978-1-85617-442-8.x5000-3.  also
2. El-Kazzaz, Ahmed Ahmed Ahmed, et al. “Effects of Iron (II) Sulfate and Potassium Humate on Growth and Chemical Composition of Coriandrum Sativum L.” International Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 12, no. 4, 2017, pp. 136–145., doi:10.3923/ijar.2017.136.145.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Tomate Blatt Kalimangel” By Goldlocki – This is also of my own making (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Humic acid” By Yikrazuul – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia