Anyone use wood ash? My grandpa used it in his garden he said it would sweeten the soil. I have used it as a top dressing for tomatoes because it prevents blossom end rot. which I have experienced. Does wood ash have any place in growin' ganj?
That's a good question. I don't know but I would like know too as I have access to a lot of it. Sorry for any false hope, I just wanted to subscribe to the thread.
While wood ash does contain beneficial potassium, it's alkaline and will definitely raise your pH. I heat with wood (oak/madrone) but don't use the ashes in my gardens as my well water has a pH of 7. The best answer is to test pH in runoff from your soil and determine if you need to raise the alkalinity. Most master gardeners recommend significant soil pH adjustments be made in the fall, after harvest, to allow the soil time to absorb amendments over the winter when precipitation levels are high.
I add it to compost here and there and it seems to help the young plants boost up quickly. forest fires in my area cause an explosion of new growth the following season. I'm talkin about a black burnt ground growing into a 3-4 foot bio-mass in one season sometimes. so it certainly does have history in regenerating soil conditions. The forestry department in my state burns forests all the time to make seeds for a certain tree crack and grow. for the next few years that area will be a lot more lush than others with the same type of bio-mass.
Haven't heard about planned forest fires to crack and germinate seeds, nature does it so it makes sense. Where I live government burns are to primarily protect capital investment and supposedly reduce ground cover fuel to prevent lighting generated forest fires. That seasonal lapse plus winter precipitation does allow the soil to absorb the burned matter, then wind and birds seed it in the spring. My older fall slash burn piles always have the first spring grass.
In FL there's a ton of planned fires. i also recently read a michael crighton book named state of fear where he completely craps on this global warming nonsense. but does mention how certain large tree seeds need intense heat to crack open. it also mentioned how the native americans had been conducting planned fires way before colombus crossed over.
Before chemical fertilizers were used wood ashes were a chief source of potassium used by farmers. Generally, ashes contain potassium, and all the mineral elements that were in the wood, except for nitrogen and sulfur which are lost through the burning process. Potassium, calcium and magnesium carbonate or oxide are present in comparatively large amounts giving the ashes a strongly alkaline reaction which can neutralize acid soils. However in soils that are already alkaline, high application rates can be harmful. A further compounding problem is that about 80 to 90 percent of the minerals in wood ashes are water-soluble, so that high application rates can cause salts to build up in soils, resulting in plant injury. As a plant food, ashes contain 5 to 7 percent potassium and 11/2 to 2 percent phosphorous. They also have 25 to 50 percent calcium compounds. Hardwood (e.g. oak) ashes contain more potassium than those from softwoods (e.g. pine). An average application is 5 pounds per 100 square feet, scattered on a freshly tilled soil and raked in. For a pre-plant treatment, it is best to apply ashes 3 or 4 weeks in advance of planting. They also can be sidedressed around growing plants or used as a mulch. A ring of ashes around a plant will also ward off snails and slugs because the ashes are irritating to them. In order to avoid problems of excess salinity or alkalinity, the applications should be limited to once per year.