Posted by Rex Morris on September 20, 2009 at 3:55am
Is the ash from a fire where only wood is burnt useful in the garden as a fertiliser? What are its chemical properties that may or may not make it okay for the garden?
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Thanks for that - Instinct tells me that mixing woodash with compost as you state is a good idea - I think I will put it in the compost. My composts are very large and have lots of medium sized plant material so they will deompose slowly together.
Kali said:
I was recently reading in a book about wood ash, it said the potash is released from woodash only in conjunction with acids, which are conveniently present in compost, so is best added with compost or simply used when making a compost pile, Also if your soil is fine/clay textured the fine particles of woodash can clog the soil, so again using it in conjunction with compost is recommended. Also be sure not to use ash from treated wood.
I was recently reading in a book about wood ash, it said the potash is released from woodash only in conjunction with acids, which are conveniently present in compost, so is best added with compost or simply used when making a compost pile, Also if your soil is fine/clay textured the fine particles of woodash can clog the soil, so again using it in conjunction with compost is recommended. Also be sure not to use ash from treated wood.
Hi, one of the Waihi herb Society members burns mussel and/or pipi shells with her wood and apparently that also adds calcium carbonate. What do you think? Katherine
It is OK in small amounts as long as your soil isn't alkaline as it will increase the pH. Use it instead of lime, not as well as and don't put it on plants that like an acid soil.
Hi Rex...
From everything that I have read concerning this, yes wood ash from the fire is indeed good to use if it is untreated wood. It is high in Potassium which as you may know, is one of the 3 big names that are present in most fertilisers. The other two being Nitrogen and Phosphorous.
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Kali said:
From everything that I have read concerning this, yes wood ash from the fire is indeed good to use if it is untreated wood. It is high in Potassium which as you may know, is one of the 3 big names that are present in most fertilisers. The other two being Nitrogen and Phosphorous.