Fireplace ashes

Luke Allen 1/12/2013, 8:01 am

OK. I have read in several places recently that if you put 1/4 cup
of fireplace ashes in the hole under the tomatoe plants when
placing them out that they will do much better. Suppose to make
a bigger crop. One of you tomatoe oligists explain. Is this a
myth or does it depend the ph of your soil or what?
Luke Allen

**camprn** 1/12/2013, 8:26 am

While not strictly in line with the methods of Mel's SFG, yes I do sprinkle and mix wood ash, epsom salts and new compost into the tomato bed before I plant my tomato, and aubergine plants. I don't add much as that would interfere with the pH level of the mix. Another thing you could do would be to add the cold wood ash to the compost pile.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-03-28/lifestyle/35447421_1_wood-ashes-acidic-soil-wood-stove

GWN 1/12/2013, 11:10 am

Camprn
What a great article, I had to laugh at

one of spring’s rituals is shoveling out the ashes

With a wood stove, that is one of every second days ritual....

I have been putting them on my compost, but this article actually said NOT to. So I am going to start dumping them under the hardwood trees and saving them for my tomato beds. I guess it all depends on the amounts you use, but I should stop putting them on the compost every day.

**camprn** 1/12/2013, 12:30 pm

GWN wrote:Camprn
What a great article, I had to laugh at
one of spring’s rituals is shoveling out the ashes
With a wood stove, that is one of every second days ritual....

I have been putting them on my compost, but this article actually said NOT to. So I am going to start dumping them under the hardwood trees and saving them for my tomato beds. I guess it all depends on the amounts you use, but I should stop putting them on the compost every day.

As noted in the article, that dumping wood ash in the compost pile, you may end up with areas of the pile saturated with clumps of ash. This is not a problem for me in that I spread the ashes out over the pile and then the pile gets turned. I don't put all my ashes into the compost, I spread some out around the lawn area to promote the clover that grows there (food for the bees, don'tcha know) and particularly under my old lilac bushes that I am trying to revitalize.

plantoid 1/12/2013, 7:24 pm

Luke Allen wrote:OK. I have read in several places recently that if you put 1/4 cup
of fireplace ashes in the hole under the tomatoe plants when
placing them out that they will do much better. Suppose to make
a bigger crop. One of you tomatoe oligists explain. Is this a
myth or does it depend the ph of your soil or what?
Luke Allen

Luke I suppose it came about because the ashes are alkaline and this would in normal mother earth make for a massive release of stored nutriens and help release even more from manured/ fertilized / improved mother earth soil.
I doubt it is needed in well made MM

Where wood ash does help is in a light sprinkle over the area you have just sown carrot or parsnip seeds in the bed or transplanted celery as they also suffer from carrot fly attack as well .
Carrot fly do not like it one bit .. simply sprinkle enough evenly so that you can see a slight greying of the square .... don't over do it

Luke Allen 1/13/2013, 9:15 am

My thanks to you who have helped. I have been throwing my
ashes out and never thinking that they were good for anything.
I have now several ways to more or less recycle these. It should
make my garden better. This will be true in particular for my
compost pile. It is about the size of a dump truck load. I have
a small tractor with a front end loader so I can turn it and blend
the ashes in well. Thanks again.
Luke Allen

**Turan** 1/13/2013, 4:44 pm

Be careful to check your Ph first. Most of the people posting on this have come from places where acidity is a problem in soil and water. Water leached through ashes, especially hardwood ashes, is a source for lye. Where I am ashes will kill about anything they touch. I might put them in the pathways to kill the grass. I suspect West Texas is fairly alkaline like I am.

landarch 1/14/2013, 11:37 pm

I mix in a little hardwood ash into squares that get planted with beets and carrots...have not used it for tomatoes.

Sponsored content

Fireplace ashes

Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes

Re: Fireplace ashes


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.