Characterization of planting materials used as adsorbent has been studied in order to compare potassium ion adsorption on two types of planting materials, which are a fired planting material (FPM) made from a mixture of 4 kinds of wastes (bottom ash, flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, paddy soil and sawdust) formed and fired at 850 ℃ and the commercial planting material called "hydroball" (HDB) bought from Jatujak market, Bangkok. The physical characteristics of both types of planting materials indicate that the FPM has a larger specific surface area than the HDB. The factors affecting potassium adsorption on both the planting materials such as an equilibration time and some solid/solution ratios were investigated. The suitable equilibration time for the adsorption to reach an equilibrium on the FPM and HDB is one and two hours, respectively. The highest amounts of potassium ion adsorbed on both the planting materials were obtained when the solid/solution ratio was 1∶15. The adsorption behavior on both the planting materials tends to correspond with the Freundlich isotherm.