Re: wood ashes
- To: i*@onelist.com
- Subject: Re: wood ashes
- From: B* S* <B*@hsc.edu>
- Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 09:16:37 -0500
From: Bill Shear <BILLS@hsc.edu>
When we were heating with wood, I used wood ashes abundantly on our
vegetable garden and bearded iris plantings. It seemed to do them some
good, but it would be hard to separate the effects from everything else
that was going on at the time (largely the addition of great amounts of
compost and leafmold).
The caution about high pH is worth considering. If you have alkaline soil
(like in most of the SW), avoid wood ashes. But here we have acidic
clay,so I suspect that the ash did some good. Another potential problem is
the concentration of possible toxic material. Plants take up and store a
variety of toxins, including heavy metals. When you burn wood the ash
represents only a small fraction of the starting volume, but contains
nearly all of the mineral component, so anything nonvolatile is highly
concentrated.
DO NOT BURN TREATED LUMBER IN YOUR STOVE OR FIREPLACE! Not only are the
fumes and smoke potentially toxic, but if the wood was treated with an
arsenic derivative, putting the ashes on your vegetable garden can be
dangerous over the long run. Same goes for old painted wood, which may
have been coated with lead-based paint.
On the benficial side, wood ashes raise the pH (if you need it raised) and
supply abundant potash (K) and trace minerals. It does nothing to
condition soil or change the texture.
Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
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