Ash as fertilizer: how to apply and cook in the garden?

Wood ash as a fertilizer is used to enrich the soil with compounds of potassium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, phosphorus and other inorganic substances indispensable for improving soil quality. The peculiarity of natural mineral dressing is that it can be used throughout the development and growth of fruit, berry and flower crops, without fear of damaging plants and reducing yields. So what is the position of ash fertilizers among analogues?

Composition and benefits of ash

For the convenience of dosing fertilizer from the oven, standard weights are used, the content of dry matter in which is characterized by the following indicators:

• 1 tbsp spoon (with a slide) - 5-6 g;
• glass - 95-110 g;
• can 0.5 l - 240-255 g;
• can 1 l - 480-510 g.

The nominal composition of ash in its pure form is almost the same, despite the fact that the raw materials are not only wood logs and sawdust, but also leaves, grass, and coal. But the qualitative content of certain chemical elements will vary significantly, even depending on the type or age of the material burned.

It is believed that the highest concentration of useful substances has the ash of plants such as sunflower and buckwheat, and from trees, fertilizer from the trunk of birch is endowed with similar utility. Among the least useful species is the ashes from burnt peat.

The composition of pure ash fertilizer includes the following mandatory elements:

• phosphorus;
• potassium;
• calcium;
• sulfur;
• iron;
• zinc;
• magnesium;
• manganese;
• molybdenum.

Regarding the first two elements - phosphorus and potassium, it should be noted that the absorption of these substances by plants from ash concentrates is an order of magnitude higher than from industrial fertilizers. In addition, the absence of chloride content in the feed base is also remarkable, which is unacceptable in the care of crops such as currants, grapes, gooseberries and raspberries.

The use of ash as a fertilizer meets most of the requirements of fruit-bearing and flower crops: oxygen saturation of the soil, loosening of heavy loamy soil, and reduction of soil acidity.It is recommended to add ashes, having previously strengthened its action with such biologically active additives as peat, compost substrate or humus. In the absence of these nutrient mixtures, it is acceptable to use undiluted ash fertilizers by adding them directly to the hole.

Benefits of leaf and flower ash

Fertilizer made from leaf ash or flower ash, obtained after the burning of withered plant material, which is usually used for overturning in a compost pit. To prevent the loss of a valuable substance, a dry iron barrel is used for burning plant mass.

Foliar ash, as a fertilizer for the garden, is represented by calcium, manganese, sulfur and zinc oxides, which are most found in such fruit trees as pear and walnut. Other useful substances, which are rich in the organic environment of overripe leaves, unfortunately burn out.

Ash application by soil type

Any soil needs periodic top dressing with natural mineral fertilizers, of which ash solution or dry matter containing this element is considered the safest for soil and plants. However, using the fraction uncontrollably and, moreover, without knowing the initial characteristics of the soil, you can get the opposite result and depersonalize the earth to an alkaline state with a pH gradation of 7.

Alkalinization of heavy, loamy and clayey soil with ash fertilizer is done twice a year, during seasonal digging, at a rate of 250-300 g of substance per 1 m2² Twice more ash - up to 650 g per 1 m², gives tight soil with a high level of acidity. Fertilizer application rates for depleted wetlands and gray forest areas are about 500 g of fertilizer per 1 m2²

Sandy loamy soil will require, with a single injection, no more than 150 g per 1 m 2 1 m².

How to apply ash fertilizer?

Regardless of how the ash is used, as a fertilizer for plants or a pest control, each crop will make its own adjustments in the way the plantings are processed. Ash for fertilizer is used in at least three ways: foliar spraying of the tops of the plant, introducing the prepared solution into the ground and directly putting the dry matter into the hole.

Application of ash fertilizer in the garden:

• Cucumbers need a potassium supplement if there is a delay in flower formation or if you want to improve the quality of the crop by accelerating the ripening of cucumbers. It is best to apply root watering of seedlings with ash infusion at the beginning of the growing season and repeat the procedure twice more, with a pause of 10-12 days. In total, for one plant, it takes 400 ml of infusion from burnt grass or wood.
• Tomatoes and sweet peppers perfectly tolerate top dressing with dry matter, while ash can be sprinkled on the soil both when planting seedlings in open ground - 50 g per hole, and before watering at a time when the seedlings are blooming. Dry soil is simply sprinkled with a small amount of ash, and an hour or two after watering, deep loosening is carried out.
• All onions require a good ash top dressing at least twice during the period of active growth. For abundant spilling of furrows, use a medium concentrated infusion.
• Ash, as a fertilizer for potatoes, is used in several ways - first it is applied during planting, falling asleep under each potato in a small handful, then - with deep loosening, distributing at least 100 g of fertilizer per 1 m ^{2 The next two feedings of potatoes occur at the beginning and end of flowering, during hilling, during which they are applied: for the first time - 30 g of fertilizer under a potato bush, for the second time - 70 g. Another way to feed potatoes with ash is in irrigation of tops with ash decoctions.And, finally, the third way to use ash is to protect potatoes from pests by dusting the tops with crushed ash.}
• When fertilizing cabbage with ash, it is important not to “overfeed” the seedlings and measure into each hole when planting seedlings, no more than 1 full tablespoon of dry fertilizer. Later, when heads are formed, you should constantly keep the ash infusion prepared and use it for spraying as often as possible at the first sign of pests in the garden.

Ash can be replaced by superphosphate and potassium sulfate, which have become familiar to many, and, if necessary, the application of phosphorus fertilizers - even the popular nitrophoska. The only thing that cannot be avoided when using ash is the use of nitrogen fertilizers, because this particular element is lacking in this category of mineral composition.

Ash fertilizers in the garden

Ash can also be used as a fertilizer for trees and shrubs. For these purposes, ash from coal is suitable, which is ground before being introduced into the soil with a small amount of peat. For 1 m^{2, which is based on planting, it means - per tree, at least 2 glasses of this composition are added. Later, when the seedling gets stronger and requires stimulation of development, the same amount of ash is already mixed 1: 1 with manure and the mixture is introduced when digging the trunk circle.}

As well as for trees, ash is useful for feeding shrub crops - black currants and gooseberries take it especially well. Coal ash, as a fertilizer, is not very suitable in this case, but light ash from grass or leaves is perceived by plants as a full-fledged top dressing that does not require supplements.

How to prepare ash solutions?

Where to get ash for top dressing? As you know, ash is a product obtained by burning parts of wood, grass, leaves and flowers.If you plan to use ash as fertilizer, you need to take only unpainted and not moldy material that does not contain fungal spores and traces of chemical treatment.

How to make liquid fertilizer from dry matter? A glass of ash, lightly rubbed in the palms for grinding, is poured into a 10-liter container with water, stirred and allowed to stand for a week. The result is an infusion of medium concentration, which can be strengthened or weakened by changing the amount of fertilizer applied.

This infusion is good for watering potatoes and other vegetables immediately after thoroughly moistening the soil, in addition, it is also prepared for foliar feeding, that is, for irrigation, grape and nightshade crops.

What can enhance the effect of ash? To introduce a nitrogen component into the fertilizer and make top dressing more complete, the preparation of a mineral-organic mixture of ashes and moistened peat 1:3 will helpThe resulting mass must also be allowed to brew, but not more than 2-3 hours, after which the fertilizer is distributed throughout the garden, combining the action with digging.

Quite often, all cold solutions and mixtures, like fertilizers from ash, are replaced with a decoction, also called "base". On its basis, multi-component mineral supplements are later prepared, but it is quite suitable for independent use. For a decoction, take at least 8 full glasses of dry ash and dilute it in a bucket of water, after which the liquid is boiled for 15 minutes. Each liter of cooled broth must be diluted with 9-11 liters of water and only then used for irrigation.

How to replace ash or competently make up for the missing amount? Most gardeners use dolomite flour and even fluffy lime for these purposes, but neither one nor the other meets the ash structure and can make it difficult for plants to absorb the main substance, phosphorus.

The same categorical answer is given to the question of whether it is possible to prepare mixtures based on ash and manure, or take chicken manure for the nutrient base. All these substances, belonging to the aggressive type of organic matter, in common with the mineral substance give an unfavorable and complex chemical reaction that can only harm the plant, but in no way contribute to its development.

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