Wood ash

[Creeperpark]

Watch out!!! Always perform a soil pH test before applying the wood ash to your potted plants because it can be harmful to plants that dwell in soil with a 6.5 pH or higher. IF you haven't had a pH test then it is in your best interest to test the soil first. However, if you don't test and if you have plants you don't mind losing then try it, but you were warned.

 

[St. Phatty]

So basically were saying use very sparingly in pots.
this is a great forum, Thanks

It is concentrated stuff.

I will be mixing mine with a neutral mixer, then giving it to a soil test place to get the details.

 

[Old Piney]

This is not necessary for products for the garden or indoors. You can use these immediately. With the lava granulate and pumice that I buy in bags, it can also go straight into the pot or garden.

Did you mean the ZEOBAS product?

No out of my wood stove

 

[Tynehead Tom]

hmmmm i made an error above in my soil mix size...... that should read 2 or 3 garden shovels of clean wood ash to 220 GALLONS of soil not liters.

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Making lye soap out of wood ash has taught me that it's very alkaline.

 

[40degsouth]

Hey everyone,
Here’s a picture of one of my garden beds; it’s about six or seven cubic meters in volume and I’ve just put about five litres of wood ash on as a top dress over the top of about five kilos of blood and bone and the same with gypsum. This is the second application, about three months apart and I’m aiming for added calcium, sillica and potassium, all the other trace elements and minerals are just a bonus. So this year I should have, calcium phosphate, sulphate, carbonate and nitrate.
My thoughts on the application is, whatever you feel your biology can handle. I also feel the soil will return to its original ph reasonably quickly as the calcium’s unlocked and binds back up with salts. I aim for 6.5ph and it’s what my beds run at because of the sulphur applications.
I’ve just unleashed the Blue Lab ph probe so l might even do a few tests this year if it takes my fancy..
Cheers,
40
The site’s not letting me post my photo.
I might try again later

 

[Old Piney]

All the minerals are in the wood ash. The complete plant minus the CO2 and water. So all the minerals the plant uses are there, the basic mineral won't be destroyed.

That being said trees accumulate some hazardous minerals. Lead being the main one. So try and get wood ash from a plant less than 20 years old.

Arsenic is another one it was widely used as a fungicide in orchards year's back. For that matter I wouldn't trust even young wood from landscapes with all the chemicals now .best bet is young trees from woodlands

 

[St. Phatty]

One of the main problems handling wood ash is the DUST.

It's best to handle it in bright sunlight so you can see the dust and avoid breathing it.

 

[Three Berries]

One of the main problems handling wood ash is the DUST.

It's best to handle it in bright sunlight so you can see the dust and avoid breathing it.

Perlite too.

 

[moose eater]

Good day all, Do any of you add any wood ash to your soil mix? I understand we need to use it sparingly, so how much?
The ash to be used is just ash from a mix of woods.

Used to use it often. Caustic overall. Some of the ash (depending on wood source) has impressive potassium content (7-9 in some), but the alkaline effect in raising ph, if it's also used for that is water soluble and can pass through relatievly quickly.

Let your ph and potassioum content in your mix be your guide re. 'how much', which is apt to differ depending on your mix content.

 

[StickyBandit]

I'm using Canna Bio with rainwater feeds which is reading ~pH4.5. Is it ok to add the wood ash directly to the water to feed the buds and correct the pH in one go? If so how much should I try before it's enough? I'm feeding buds of both indica and sativa strains and I don't want to cause any harm. Cheers

 

[40degsouth]

Hey Sticky Bandit,
in my opinion, it should be ok if you mix it in a separate bucket and then add it to the solution. I’d be more inclined to use it straight away than leave it sitting around.
I aim for 5.5ph and as the soil tries to balance the liquid feed back to its original ph, 6.5 in my case, the full range of minerals and trace elements are becoming available, to the plant, for uptake.
40

 

[40degsouth]

 

[StickyBandit]

Hey Sticky Bandit,
in my opinion, it should be ok if you mix it in a separate bucket and then add it to the solution. I’d be more inclined to use it straight away than leave it sitting around.
I aim for 5.5ph and as the soil tries to balance the liquid feed back to its original ph, 6.5 in my case, the full range of minerals and trace elements are becoming available, to the plant, for uptake.
40

Thanks for the reply
I like your grow mound
I use all my water mix as I make it by calculating how much water they need first. I will probably try to mix it all together to see if it works as I prefer the easy way Not sure if the ash will be soluble straight off...
I might try using the EC wand to get the mix right by bringing it up say 10% and see what happens, starting with a weak mix. I'll make a judgement on the volume of ash required to make a difference and go from there

 

[flylowgethigh]

Langbeinite contains other nutrients like magnesium and sulfur

When I put Langbenite crystals in the feed water it never dissolves

The grass always grows better after it has been burned.

 

[flylowgethigh]

I was looking at pine shavings for a outdoor mulch. Most livestock stores sell it by the bale pretty cheap. Currently outside for mulch on trees and bushes I use the shredded wood from the power company tree trimmings. It takes about 3 years to completely disappear but makes a great root zone.

I have a tree guy bring the shredded tops to a place and let him dump. Add microbes, mushrooms, and the microbes have broken it down to black goodness. I want to start making biochar, and those chips will factor in somehow.

 

[40degsouth]

Thanks, there’s a little bit of work and a lot of leaches in each one of those Sticky Bandit.
Fresh is best with elemental feeds, in my opinion. It took me a long time to realise that plant available elements, in solution, will splice together and become plant un-available. Once this happens you’re relying on the biology, or chemistry, to split the molecules apart again, back into their original form.
The potassium does become available in solution pretty well straight away. I remember, l think it was PDX Dopesmoker (maybe in the Local Materials thread) who showed us the process for separating the potassium from the solution. Perhaps some tricky computer person can link us all up.
40

 

[Three Berries]

The wood ash would have a lot of sediment mixed with water. And it should be kept dry until used. Doesn't really seep down into the soil either. Tends to form a layer on the top. So i would mix it into the soil.

The langbeinite will dissolve in water. A couple of cups to a gallon but it takes two or three days with some occasional agitation optional.. It's a strong concentrate I cut down to 1300 ppm to use.

 

[pipeline]

There's info on proper composting, I think you are supposed to mix browns with greens. But at least the pile of wood chips would make good organic matter. Use what you have.

 

[40degsouth]

It’s funny Three Berries, l find the opposite here, the ash is incorporated easily into the soil. I was pondering this very conundrum yesterday and was wondering if our two different ashes could be the difference between an ash that’s high in potassium, as opposed to an ash that’s high in calcium and therefore sets, once it gets wet, potentially the same chemical reaction as slaking limestone l guess you can test this theory by adding a significant quality of ash to some water and see if the temperature of the water increases because of thermal reaction.
The reason I top dressed the other day is because we’ve had quite a bit of rain and as l hope you can see, the ash has almost completely washed in with about an inch of water, over one storm event.
Cheers,
40