Logging Potential

[Broke Down Ranch]

OK, so we have a friend that does tree work. We let him dump his loads here so we have free firewood and what we can't use in our fireplace we can just set on fire which gives me useable ash for my gardening. Anyway, I was going thru some of the piles and pulled out a few logs I think would make great plant stands or even growing medium for air plants.


ETA: notice the white wood? You guys pegged it right - sycamore!

 

[injunjoe]

Umm I can almost smell the fresh cuts form here!

You can try but I think the cedar will not get along so well with the air plants. This is just my thought!

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Don't you just love the smell of fresh-cut cedar? I will probably refrain using the cedar since you think the smell might be offensive to the plants. I have some nicely knarled mesquite - do you think that would work? It isn't really fragrant until you cook with it....

 

[injunjoe]

Don't you just love the smell of fresh-cut cedar? I will probably refrain using the cedar since you think the smell might be offensive to the plants. I have some nicely knarled mesquite - do you think that would work? It isn't really fragrant until you cook with it....

It is not the smell I worry about but what causes the smell, oils and sap.

I agree the smell is wonderful. Cedar posts last a long time in the ground for a reason!

 

[beefy]

doesnt cedar give off something that like prevents other stuff from growing near it? i know cows will rub on it to repel insects.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't vouch for it really being accurate, but there was a National Geographic article about a year ago about using charcoal as a soil additive. I'd be interested to know what the wise ones on here think about that. I did try it some last year but I really don't know if it helped or not since I tried so many different things.

Charcoal isn't all that hard to make since you are burning anyway. You can dig a trench, burn logs in the trench, then cover them at the appropriate time with dirt, leaving the vents, but I just throw a few shovelfuls of dirt over the burning coals. I'm not after high quality charcoal to burn, just a potential soil additive.

I would not use commercial charcoal, especially self-lighting. I don't trust the additives.

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

I don't vouch for it really being accurate, but there was a National Geographic article about a year ago about using charcoal as a soil additive. I'd be interested to know what the wise ones on here think about that. I did try it some last year but I really don't know if it helped or not since I tried so many different things.

Charcoal isn't all that hard to make since you are burning anyway. You can dig a trench, burn logs in the trench, then cover them at the appropriate time with dirt, leaving the vents, but I just throw a few shovelfuls of dirt over the burning coals. I'm not after high quality charcoal to burn, just a potential soil additive.

I would not use commercial charcoal, especially self-lighting. I don't trust the additives.

I love using wood ash for gardening purposes. If you can harvest the ash before it gets wet then you have your very own source for "potash" which plants think is yummy. If the ashes gets wet the potash will wash away but the ashes will still be beneficial. The very best soil I have EVER tried to grow in was a brush pile that had sat for about a year then we burned it. There was NOTHING I couldn't plant in that spot. Everything planted there flourished.....

 

[Greensage45]

Hi,

This is all coming from my experiences and I may have been given incorrect advice, but.....

I was told if you have clay, never use ash; it binds with the clay reducing any possible oxygen pockets from being maintained (thus the reason for tilling and cultivating the soil). This binding action will have a negative impact on the plants.

As for charcoal, and the left over carbon products from leaf burning or debris burning is beneficial. This is still in a stage of decomposition and will benefit the soil and plants. This shows itself well when you burn a lawn or a forest and suddenly everything turns up greener than it ever has. (Lots of folks here will burn the dry bermuda grass in late winter to early Spring...and it turns the darkest green)

When you set a piece of wood on fire, it is an accelerated decomposition in progress in essence! So the carbon or charcoal is suspended in this process and when added to the soil it slowly begins releasing itself back into compositions, yet faster than it would by means of traditional composting.

LOL...sorry, that was probably not worded well.

Anyways, beware of using ash in clay! Unless there are other additives along with the ash such as a heavy organics and lots of worms; then the risk of de-oxygenating a level of soil is reduced. Unless of course you turn the soil often...but you know that damn Clay! LOL

Ron

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I remember the National Geographic article, the charcoal was supposed to keep the nutrients bonded where they did not leach out as fast, so more nutrients were available for the plants.

The warning on the ashed kinda makes sense. Clay is full of things that are potentially active at the molecular level. The heat of the fire probably makes weak molecular bonds so there are things in there that can readily combine with the clay at the molecular level. I'd expect the ashes to have some good nutrients in them for the plants, but I don't know if they are immediately in a usable form.

Maybe a reasonable strategy is to put the charcoal in the garden but compost the ashes so they have time to break those weak molecular bonds and have them mixed in with the organic mateiral you mentioned????

I know I'm probably overthinking this, but my hair is gray and I am retired. I'm allowed some senile moments.

 

[Greensage45]

I think the real 'bad guy' here is the Clay!

LOL

Ron