Wood ash?

If anyone has experience using it, please contribute. I know it makes soils more alkaline, but does anyone have some insight as to nutrients within, practicality, etc.

Thanks!

Potash, Carbon, etc.. I've used it for years, let it age say around 90 days and add it to the soil mixing in good and add lime (make sure to get a few of those black "chunks").

†L† huh...thats how, always been afraid to use it becuase its a distill away from being lye... cool...

There are numerous accounts of how the forest/plant life grows after a big wildfire or in the sourronding areas after a volcanio explodes.

oh I understand that, but I've made lye with wood ash, and after learning to do that, and knowing what lye does for flesh, I figured I didn't know enough to try it, and up till now hasn't been necessary, but now that I know to just let it age 90 days, gonna have to try it...

Well yes lye is made from wood-ash, but isn't it cooked or processed in someway to become lye? I said 90 days as a ballpark figure, we have a old large boiler that was used at one time to cure tobacco and all the wood-ash was just piled up on the ground and left, I get my ash out of that pile. I always stir it up and get the ash out from in the middle, if you have a fireplace or access to a fireplace when the ash is removed it just take it and add it to your compost pile as is and it can be mixed into the soil fresh it isn't going to hurt it UNLESS you dump massive amounts into 1 spot. Just use good common sence when you apply it.

actually you just leach water through the ash. normally you leave the ash soaking for three days before you leach it, hence my concern...but nice, like I said, definitely
have to try it, nothing easier to make then ash...

I was going to use it as a soil reconditioner to balance out the hot chicken shit. If it provides extra nutrients, all the better!

there's no part of that I didn't like.....

I've always thought that wood ash contains too many heavy metals, and should be avoided. I may have been wrong.

http://www.themanicgardener.com/the_manic_gardener/2008/06/heavy-metals-in.html

according to the article, seems fairly safe...

ashes are a great source of nitrogen, but there is a serious consideration if your soil is already alkaline. Ashes can make it very difficult to adjust Ph down as they continue to release alkali into the soil.

d.s.m. said:

I've always thought that wood ash contains too many heavy metals, and should be avoided. I may have been wrong.

http://www.themanicgardener.com/the_manic_gardener/2008/06/heavy-metals-in.html

Click to expand...

How can wood ash have heavy metals when you are doing nothing but using the ash from burnt wood and other things you find in nature?

One good way to see if it is safe to use is to use some on a spot of soil along with the other nutrients you add to the soil to grow things. After it sets some and about the time you would plant a plant take a sample of the soil to the county ag. agent to have it analized (they do that sort of thing) and tell them you want to grow tomatoes and you need to know about the soil sample as to what it contains and needs.

Then again I have always used it (wood ash) and the doctor says my health is prefect, I do NOT get so much as a head cold, I do not even get headaches or anything, I sleep good and restful. So I guess it's safe? <g>

weather it was the ash or not the best yr i ever had was last and i mixed 2 five gallon bucks into the soil of a 10x10 plot. huge yeild... but my soil had a low ph. before that

potash or wood ash one of the best potassium sources avablie be carfull can raise ph quit abit i use about a tablespoon per gallon of water maybe 2x a mouth i also throw it in my compost

the common npk of wood ash from hard wood is 1-1-16 its but its mainly carbon if there are any trace elements there in very small doses .... the reason plants do so well after a fire is the K its really the only time it gets back in the soil in nature

A good friend of mine and a long time grower swears by a tea made from wood ash and pig shit. Thats all he's ever used and he grows the most rock-hard nuggets I have ever seen. He says its important to remember what you put in your fireplace, however. He burns only seasoned oak and therefor the ash is really "pure" - Imagine the ash you would be left with after burning wood pallets, pressure treated boards, etc. Ash from that backyard bonfire would probably do more harm than good

I have been using wood ash for many many years with great success. There have been many good points made in this thread, watch what you put in your fire to obtain your ash, a little is much better than a lot, goes good with tea, does even better mixed with the soil especially in container grows. Your biggest concern is going to be watching your ph as the ash will raise it continually until it has leached out. Now what hasn't been pointed out is all the micro beasties and trace elements it contains, great for promoting good organic soil. Happy growing and keep it organic for the best results.

never used it but in poorer areas of the world it's pretty much the only fert they have access to and they grow healthy plants