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Re: OT-ish Re: Fungi - A Primer

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Actually, good wood ashes ARE a source of potassium.  Not a huge amount, but
enough in some cases.  Potassium is often lacking in soils here, and I find
that a cup of wood ashes around a grape vine   at budbreak in the spring is
enough to prevent any potassium deficiency symptoms.  That works out to
about 40 pounds of potassium per acre.
----------
>From: Janet Wintermute <jwintermute@erols.com>
>To: "Square Foot Gardening List" <sqft@listbot.com>
>Subject: Re: OT-ish Re: Fungi - A Primer
>Date: Wed, Mar 29, 2000, 10:32 PM
>

>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>At 09:26 PM 3/29/00 -0700, Lorri wrote:
>
>>Hey Square Footers.  Is potash the same as wood ash?
>
>Nope, potash = a slang term for potassium.  Not an ash at all.
>
>If you're buying a fertilizer product, whether organic or synthetic, the 
>label will show a numeric value (percent of total volume, I believe) for 
>each of the three main ingredients, N, P, and K, in that order.
>
>N = nitrogen, P = phosphorus, and K = potassium.
>
>Different N-P-K ratios work to promote different aspects of plant 
>growth--some encourage flowering and fruiting; others encourage leaf 
>formation, etc.
>
>The organic ferts tend to have really low numerical ratios like 3-1-1 or 
>even 1-1-1 (the ratio for at least one brand of bagged composted manure I 
>saw at a nursery).
>
>The synthetic ferts have much higher ratios like 5-10-10 and wildly high 
>ones like the tomato formulas where the three elements are nowhere near in 
>balance.
>
>>   Could I use it in place of wood ash in
>>Mel's soil recipe?
>
>Nope.  And while we're on the subject of "ash," don't use the fireplace 
>ashes from those store-bought packaged firelogs in the garden.  Those 
>firelogs are loaded with chemicals some of which are unsafe in the garden.
>
>Now ashes from real logs burned in a home fireplace are fine in the compost 
>pile or the garden soil.  I'm not sure if they supply any potassium, though.
>
>--Janet Wintermute
>[grew up in Zone 5, Lorri's environment, but now gardening in 7]
>
>
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