Thread: Mo Bowman
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Old 06-01-2010, 05:30 PM posted to rec.gardens
Wildbilly Wildbilly is offline
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Default Mo Bowman

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Pavel314 wrote:

On Jan 5, 5:06*am, Mo Leo wrote:
Hi...... *As you can see I have never asked a question before so not too
sure I am doing this right !!!!!!! * *My question is:

I have a log burning stove and would like to know if I can put the burnt
ash on the garden and if so are there any plants that do not like this?

Thanks
Mo

--
Mo Leo


My wife scatters some of the ashes on the garden but puts most of them
into the compost pile to mellow out for a couple of years.

Paul


Forest soils are usually acidic, due to the action of decomposing
organic material and fungi. I would think that adding wood ashes to a
compost pile, where you are trying to achie.localve the same results,
would be counter indicated.

The base (alkalin) part of wood ash is cabonate (CO3)--. The
decomposition of organic material and cation exchange (H+) by the roots
of plants will counter the pH effects of wood ash, but in the meantime
there is the possibility that the minerals that you want in the garden
soil (Ca, Mg, K) will be leached out.

My advice would be to apply the wood ash over the winter, but cease
adding it a couple of months before you plant.

You may want to apply coffee grounds to your garden during this same
time. Last year I put fresh coffee grounds on a couple of squash, and
they immediately headed south. Conversely, coffee grounds added to my
potatoes and blueberries was followed by an marked improvement in
growth.

Hope this helps.

My point being that coffee grounds (at least from dark roast coffee)
seem to be acidic, and may be able to take the edge off any small rise
in pH caused by the wood ash.
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara

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