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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Wood Ashes as a soil amendment

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  • From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Wood Ashes as a soil amendment
  • Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:49:32 -0500

Alan, and all,
Go easy with that stuff. Even where soils are on the acid side I NEVER do more than a light dusting with wood ash. It's VERY alkaline. Clients in San Francisco indiscriminately dumped it in piles in their landscape and nearly killed their rhododendrons and azaleas before I discouraged the practice. They had a tiny landscape and were generating more ash than the space could absorb. If you have a wooded area, you can return it to the trees but broadcast it widely and thinly. Even when I add it to compost I apply it only in very thin layers. It can kill worms, too, if applied too heavily. Who knows the effect on microflora and fauna?
Keith

Allan Balliett wrote:
Anyone have any idea of a rule of thumb for what rate (in inches) (oak) wood ashes can be added to a raised bed? I'm thinking at about 20% of the top 6 inches which would be, what, about 1 inch(?) and is probably the maximum application rate Any suggestions for a rate of sulphur incorporation (in inches) to restrict pH change when that much ash is added?

Allan in Shepherdstown
(Whose pH runs around 8.5)
--
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
also Association for Regenerative Culture
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild





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