Potash and phosphorous fertilizers on black tea quality in the western Kenya highlands
1998
Owuor, P.O. | Wanyoko | J.K. | Obanda, M.
Although phosphorous and potassium fertilizer applications are recommended for production of high yields in tea, there were no qualityvariations arising from application of triple super phosphate or rock phosphate, but increasing levels of thearubigins reduced the black tea brightness levels leading to insignificant decline in sensory evaluation. Increasing rates of potassium did not have any significant (P 0.05) effect on plain black tea quality parameters and sensory evaluations. When applied together with potassium, increasing nitrogen fertilizer reduced the plain black tea quality and sensory evaluations while potassium rates had no significant effect. Where the application of potassium was staggered with time of nitrogen fertilizer application or time of pruning, increasing rates of potassium had no effect on quality. But staggering the application sporadically resulted in significant variations in theaflavins, total colour and sensory evaluations. These nutrients can therefore be applied to tea in Kenya for other benefits apart from quality improvements.
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