ash from wood fire
 

hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash

is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?

cheers

richard

On Wed, 11 May 2005 16:46:12 GMT, "r.bartlett"
wrote:

hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash

is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?

cheers

richard

Excellent source of potash. If you make your own compost mix it in
with the greenstuff.

"Jupiter" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 11 May 2005 16:46:12 GMT, "r.bartlett"
wrote:

hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash

is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?

cheers

richard

Excellent source of potash. If you make your own compost mix it in
with the greenstuff.

And.......remember is is very alkaline...HW

And.......remember is is very alkaline...HW

Any wildflower area? Poppies like it.
DaveK

The message
from "Harold Walker" contains these words:
"Jupiter" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 11 May 2005 16:46:12 GMT, "r.bartlett"
wrote:

hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash

is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?

cheers

richard

Excellent source of potash. If you make your own compost mix it in
with the greenstuff.

And.......remember is is very alkaline...HW

And that too much makes the soil sticky.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"r.bartlett" wrote in message
...
hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash
is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?
cheers
richard

I have no knowledge of botany or horticulture but logic says that when a
tree or plant grows it draws carbon, oxygen, hygrogen and nitrogen from the
air. But the air does not contain any of the other trace elements needed.
So these must be drawn up from the soil.

When you have a bonfire you are returning the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and
possibly nitrogen to the air as carbon dioxide and water vapour, but not the
trace elements. So your ash consists of some unburnt carbon (as charcoal)
but the rest is all the trace elements that came from the soil. So really
it must be returned, otherwise you are depleting the soil.

Is that right?

"peterlsutton" wrote in message
...

"r.bartlett" wrote in message
...
hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash
is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?
cheers
richard

I have no knowledge of botany or horticulture but logic says that when a
tree or plant grows it draws carbon, oxygen, hygrogen and nitrogen from
the
air. But the air does not contain any of the other trace elements needed.
So these must be drawn up from the soil.

When you have a bonfire you are returning the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and
possibly nitrogen to the air as carbon dioxide and water vapour, but not
the
trace elements. So your ash consists of some unburnt carbon (as charcoal)
but the rest is all the trace elements that came from the soil. So really
it must be returned, otherwise you are depleting the soil.

Is that right?
____________________________
Quite correct though you have over estimated the gases.
Best Wishes Brian.














---

The message
from Tone contains these words:
On Wed, 11 May 2005 16:46:12 GMT, "r.bartlett"
wrote:

hi guy's

I had several large bonfire which leaves me with a big pile of ash

is this any good on the garden or should I bin it?

cheers

richard

Apple trees love it. Sprnkle it around the base

Though there's not too much potash in heartwood: the highest
concentrations are in twigs, new growth and leaves, so if you're burning
brambles, weeds, prunings, &c, you'll get a much more useful ash.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

I have no knowledge of botany or horticulture but logic says that when a
tree or plant grows it draws carbon, oxygen, hygrogen and nitrogen from
the
air. But the air does not contain any of the other trace elements
needed.
So these must be drawn up from the soil.

When you have a bonfire you are returning the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen
and
possibly nitrogen to the air as carbon dioxide and water vapour, but not
the
trace elements. So your ash consists of some unburnt carbon (as
charcoal)
but the rest is all the trace elements that came from the soil. So
really
it must be returned, otherwise you are depleting the soil.

Is that right?
____________________________
Quite correct though you have over estimated the gases.
Best Wishes Brian.

What happens to the nitrogen Brian. You sound as if you know about this.
Plants contain nitrogen and although you can supply it in a fertiliser, in
the wild it must be absorbed from the air (I presume), but what happens when
you burn it?

On a slightly different slant, there was a survey done at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (the cream of american scientists) a few years ago
and only about 20% of the students were aware the the vast bulk of a tree
came from the air. Most thought that it was all sucked out of the soil
through the roots.

Peter

The message
from "peterlsutton" contains these words:

What happens to the nitrogen Brian. You sound as if you know about this.
Plants contain nitrogen and although you can supply it in a fertiliser, in
the wild it must be absorbed from the air (I presume), but what happens when
you burn it?

It's absorbed from the soil in the form of nitrates, nitrites and salts
of ammonia, mainly.

What happens when you burn what?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Plants contain nitrogen and although you can supply it in a fertiliser,
in
the wild it must be absorbed from the air (I presume), but what happens
when
you burn it?

It's absorbed from the soil in the form of nitrates, nitrites and salts
of ammonia, mainly.

You have got to be right Jaques. As soon as I wrote the above, I realised
that if plants could utilise nitrogen from the atmosphere you would never
have to give them a nitrogen fertiliser

Plants contain nitrogen and although you can supply it in a fertiliser,
in
the wild it must be absorbed from the air


It's absorbed from the soil in the form of nitrates, nitrites and salts
of ammonia, mainly.

peterlsutton writes
You have got to be right Jaques. As soon as I wrote the above, I realised
that if plants could utilise nitrogen from the atmosphere you would never
have to give them a nitrogen fertiliser


IIRC trees breathe in Carbon Dioxide CO2, and take up water H20 from the
ground. As the tree gets bigger it tends to dry out the central part,
which becomes a pure hydrocarbon (which is why there is little potash),
and the liquids are sucked up just under the bark through the Xylem
through 'transpiration' which is a bit like evaporation but done through
'pores' in the surface of the leaves. The power of this is so great it
can suck huge volumes per day up to the top leaves.

They use the hydrogen H in the water and the carbon C in the CO2 to make
a hydrocarbon structure H-C and release the waste products, the oxygen
O2, into the air. (When you burn the wood this process is reversed, you
burn oxygen and produce CO2 and water vapour).

Which is just as well as we breathe in the oxygen and breathe out carbon
dioxide.

Not too sure about the nitrogen cycle but I know some plants such as
beans are known to 'fix' nitrogen in the soil from the atmosphere and
there are bacteria which do the same in the compost heap. Much of the
rest comes from animal waste products in the form of urine /urea
/ammonia which is high in nitrogen and fish / bone / blood products are
also high in Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Animal manures have Phosphorus
besides Nitrogen and Potassium as well as trace elements.

Bear in mind its not just direct feeding that is important if you are
being organic, you want to also feed the soil and improve its structure,
so all sorts of other things are important too.


No doubt someone will correct my mistakes and add to our bank of shared
knowledge .....
--
David