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Re: Wood ashes?

Since the discussion about wood ashes involves pH of a soil, I would like to ask 
a related question. I read somewhere that mushroom compost should not be added 
to highly alkaline soils. Would somebody know from experience if this is indeed 
true, and if so, why?
Thanks in advance,
Vinata
> OK, group.
> 
> I am going to stick my face in the door, and tell a short story about wood
> ashes.
> 
> Once upon a time, I was a grad student in horticulture.
> 
> For a semester or two, my half-time teaching assistantship was to "handle"
> the unusual reports from soil tests that came in from home gardeners. 
> Anything within "normal" ranges, the computer software handled almost
> without human interaction.  But the way-out-of-sight readings, well, those
> got personal attention.
> 
> The most common "unusual" garden soil test that we saw had extremely high
> potassium (potash) levels.  And invariably, when you would get a call (or
> get a written response) back from the gardener, you would learn that they
> had a wood stove.  And had been applying wood ashes profusely to their
> garden.  
> 
> Is this a problem?  Not really.  Not as long as you are in a climate where
> you get adequate rainfall (potassium is very mobile and leaches out
> quickly), or you are able to irrigate abundantly.  Not as long as you have
> an abundance of organic matter in the soil to tie up some of the excess
> potassium.  But if your soil dries out regularly, or if your OM is
> relatively low, you can definitely run into "high salt" problems.  
> 
> I'm in the Northeast.  Acid soils.  Wood ashes are like lime, raising the
> pH.  But the effect is "quicker" than most limestones, and adds potassium
> (potash) more than calcium.  
> 
> The lesson to take home?  If you use wood ashes on your garden, get a good
> soil test regularly.  The cost at most US land-grant colleges is under ten
> dollars.  It's easy, it's quick, and it can save you a lot of gardening
> grief.  
> 
> I recently moved into a new house.  The previous owners spread the wood
> stove ashes on the lawn, and in the most convenient area (right outside the
> family room).  How do I know?  I soil-tested the yard and garden after we
> moved in, but did each section separately.  The lawn right outside the
> family room has a high pH and extremely high potassium levels!  The grass
> grows OK, but browns up quite quickly in the summer, much more quickly than
> the same lawn grasses on the other side of the house.  Oh, and the pH and
> potassium levels are "normal" range on that side.  
> 
> Rick Grazzini
> rickg@centrelab.com
> Centre Analytical Laboratories
> USDA 5 or 6 / Sunset 43
> 
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