wood ash
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Call your agricultural agent and ask then. All soils are all different. Here mine told me up to 2 inches ash spread out the soil here would be no problem.
Or for around $15 you can get your soil tested by a lab. Mine started off at 5.5 ph and is up around 7.0 now. Garden soil that is.
We have sweet soil here and our ashes go in the garden...just say'en we always have good gardens too. I'm pretty sure one of the numbers in bagged fertilizer like 5-10-5 is potash...
I believe it takes 2.5 times wood ash to compare to lime. So if you soil is a little acidic, then go ahead and use your wood ash. It also contains potash which is good for plants. I do hear if you plan on growing potatoes, then dont spread ash there. I for sure would go and get a soil test, it may be the best couple dollars you will spend. One other thing is you can use it in your compost, but it too will raise the ph. So if your soil tests good, I would just spread sparingly. Wood ash also helps break up clay soils. We have alot of clay around here.
If you have olives growing in your area, you can use wood ash to cure the olives, that is get rid of the bitterness of the olives.
"Fight Club", JimmyMood?
As an agronomist, I can confirm most of what is already here - yes, wood ash will raise pH and yes, does have fair amount of potash. It works fine on most any area (lawn, garden, etc) in moderation as long as the soil pH is not excessively high (7 or greater) to begin with. That is where the soil test comes in handy. Personally, I only use ash on my lawn, not my garden, since most vegetables would rather have their pH a little lower than too high. Excessive ash applications can actually also change the soil structure and make it "greasy" (a technical term of course :cheese
and prone to hold excess water. Lawns are more tolerant of higher pH, plus I apply Nitrogen fertilizer on an annual basis which has an acidifying effect, so I figure between the ash and fertilizer they kind of balance each other out. As far as application time, anytime is fine for ash. And of course I am sure everyone knows this, but make sure the ash is completely out before spreading - dormant grass and/or mulch will burn pretty easily under the right circumstances. A fellow near here last year started what would become a 2,000 acre forest fire by dumping stove ashes in his backyard. State and feds trying to get hundreds of thousands out of him/insurance for fighting fire.
As an agronomist, I can confirm most of what is already here - yes, wood ash will raise pH and yes, does have fair amount of potash. It works fine on most any area (lawn, garden, etc) in moderation as long as the soil pH is not excessively high (7 or greater) to begin with. That is where the soil test comes in handy. Personally, I only use ash on my lawn, not my garden, since most vegetables would rather have their pH a little lower than too high. Excessive ash applications can actually also change the soil structure and make it "greasy" (a technical term of course :cheese
and prone to hold excess water. Lawns are more tolerant of higher pH, plus I apply Nitrogen fertilizer on an annual basis which has an acidifying effect, so I figure between the ash and fertilizer they kind of balance each other out. As far as application time, anytime is fine for ash. And of course I am sure everyone knows this, but make sure the ash is completely out before spreading - dormant grass and/or mulch will burn pretty easily under the right circumstances. A fellow near here last year started what would become a 2,000 acre forest fire by dumping stove ashes in his backyard. State and feds trying to get hundreds of thousands out of him/insurance for fighting fire.
savageactor7 said:
Correct: Numbers in order are: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potash
I agree that ash makes poor man's lime and we use it a lot. (Maybe we are poor then and don't know it!)
Ashes on ice does work good but then dirt on ice works just as good. The main thing there is just anything put on ice or snow will make it melt faster because whatever is there will soak up heat from the sun. So the old saying that dirty snow melts faster than clean snow is correct.
Steve, you are right on.
If your ground is like ours you have no need of worrying about excess moisture as we have sandy ground, which also makes it sour and it can stand lots and lots of ashes and lime.
If your ground is like ours you have no need of worrying about excess moisture as we have sandy ground, which also makes it sour and it can stand lots and lots of ashes and lime.
Good point Savage - more apt to cause soil structure problems in silty/loamy/clay soils. Should be less of a problem in sandy soils, although I would still avoid excess applications as you can still jack the pH too high, even in a sand pit.
laynes69 said:
Like Gypsum does? Can you provide any further information on that? First I've heard of it.
We have chalky clay soil around here (was under the ocean not so long ago) so I always regretfully send my ash to the dump... if I can't find a friend who wants it.
Eddy
To say ash will "break up" clay soils is a bit of a stretch, imo. Ash and clay are similar particle size (small), so the effect on each other should be muted. Best thing to "break up" clay soils would be addition of plenty of organic matter (grass clippings, compost, manure, etc), or if on a small scale like a garden, actually add a courser material such as sand to the topsoil.
My girlfriends Explorer got stuck in the snow this weekend up in New Hampshire. We used ash under each tire to get her out of there
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