Wood Stove Ashes

sunnychooks

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
103
Reaction score
0
Points
113
Location
Jackson NJ
Can ashes from a wood stove be used as compost? Do they have any advantage at all for gardening? I was throwing out a container today onto the "ash heap" and wondered if they could be used for something. :idunno
 

1acrefarm

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
Points
29
I use it like lime. Lowering acidity of soil. If you use too much it will become a clay consistency once wet.
 

peeps7

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
38
Reaction score
1
Points
27
Location
North Carolina
Ashes are good but I wouldn't put to much because of what 1acrefarm said, it will be like clay.
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,720
Reaction score
28,729
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
Ashes are potassium rich, Sunnychooks, and as 1Acre suggests, they are a high pH material.

My garden probably has plenty of potassium (K) and the soil is naturally a high pH (alkaline) here in my part of the arid West. Even the water is high pH!!

I once cleaned out the wood stove used then for heat and deposited the ashes in the garden on one-half of one bed. The next year I planted that entire bed in onions. The problem I created for the onions just throwing on the ashes was immediately obvious - they grew little and stunted!!

In your part of the world, a too acidic soil is probably common. Still (if you could do it safely without starting a fire), putting your wood ashes on the compost pile may be a better use than applying them directly to the garden soil. I don't think it would at all make sense - to just throw the ashes away.

Just my 2 cents.

Steve
 

Latest posts

Top