Wood Ash: Good for Fruit Trees?
January 20th, 2014 · 3 Comments · Posted in farming
My first chore of the day takes me to the wood stove in the living room to start a fire. Usually this involves first removing the ash from the previous days fire so that air can better circulate through the floor of the stove. What to do with all that ash?
As you may be able to make out in the photo above, I use a traditional fireplace shovel to move the ash into a small, metal trash can. We keep the can outside the house to avoid any fire hazard. After a few weeks it fills up. To empty the can, I’ve been spreading the ash around the young fruit trees in our orchard.
Wood ash acts as a liming agent, raising the pH in soil. Our soil is slightly acidic–around 6.2 on the pH scale. Wood ash also contains a significant amount of calcium and other nutrients such as potassium. But is spreading them around young fruit trees a good idea?
One source says wood ash should be used only sparingly if at all around apples and peaches–the predominant fruits in our orchard. Another says potassium is so readily available in wood ash it should only be applied once growth is in full swing. Does that preclude applications in winter?
Being entirely new to orcharding, but possessing lots of wood ash, I’m a bit confused. I wonder if readers have any experience with wood ash and its use as a fertilizer in the orchard.
Wood ash is good for keeping squash-bugs off zucchini, etc.
Food News Tuesday, January 21 - Food News Journal : Food News Journal // Jan 21, 2014 at 8:48 am
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