Hello Friends! Today we will look into - what is wood ash and what is Bio Char and charcoal
ash, what are the uses of wood ash in your garden as a fertilizer and other benefits
and details like How to use it and how much to use it. I will also demonstrate the effect
of wood ash on the PH of your soil using a Soil PH Testing Gadget. Wood Ash is a very
cost effective organic fertilizer used commonly in nurseries which is the top secret for healthy
plants you see in plant nurseries. Also At the end of the Video, will also tell you how
to make ASH TEA for your plants. Then Finally on very important DONTs and precautions for
using wood ash. All Thats coming up.. Welcome back! If you are a hobby gardener
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So, What is Wood ash: Its nothing but the residue powder left over after the combustion
of wood, such as burning wood in a home fireplace or an industrial power plant. It is used traditionally
by gardeners as an organic fertilizer and it�s very a good source of potash. The PH
value of wood is between 8 and 9 � thats alkaline ph.
One more point to remember is � there is something called Bio Char � those small
pieces of wood that have burnt completely but not converted into powder. These pieces
are excellent material to mix in a succulent soil mixture. You can use biochar if you do
not have charcoal pieces or as a substitute to charcoal. But for soil amendment, when
it comes to charcoal ash � that�s obtained by burning coal pieces, its better to avoid
this for plants as this comes from burning of coal and it contains higher amount of metals
which might harm your plants. Well, Coming back to Wood ash, it has a very
high potassium carbonate content, which makes it an excellent choice as a fertilizer. In
addition to potassium, wood ash is a rich source of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.
Additionally, it contains small amounts of useful micronutrients like: Molybdenum, Manganese,
Copper, Sodium, Boron, Zinc and Iron. It is a purely organic fertilizer because
it�s created through the combustion of plant materials that is wood. Its been used by gardeners
and farmers since ages as a natural soil amendment. Woodash is also recycled, packaged and sold
at garden stores and it would have an N-P-K value of 0-1-3 or something like that. You
can make your own ash by collecting the ashes from your fireplace or by burning wood and
collect the wood ash powder and use it in your garden. You can preserve wood ash for
longtime by keeping them sealed airtight bags, away from moisture. The one you are seeing
here is Organic Recycled Wood Ash purchased online, you can find the link to purchase
this in description of this video. Well, Now we will list out the best uses of
wood ash in your garden and how to use and how much to use in descending order of its
value. 5. Deter Many Surface Feeding Pests like Aphids
and Whiteflies and also soft bodies surface feeding insects like Slugs and Snails: which
can eat way a lot of your garden in the dark. And wood ash sprinkled on and around plants
can be very effective to keep them away. If its rainy season, you might need to reapply
after every rain. 4. Control or slow down the growth of algae
in your water plants and also on the top soil of your plants. Sprinke small amount of it
on the affected area. 3. Improves Compost Quality: Adding wood ash
to your compost bin can enhance its nutrients, especially potash which is a key nutrient
for flowering plants. Here one thing to remember is adding too much uncalculated wood ash can
be bad for acid loving plants, as it can make it too much alkaline. So the recommended dosage
is sprinkle a layer of wood ash every six inches of your compost approximately.
2. AS A FERTILIZER: The main component of woodash, that is potassium is important for
photosynthesis, plant vigour and overall growth of the plant. Here an important thing you
should know before adding wood ash to your soil is whether your plant is acid loving
like you should avoid this in acid loving plants which I shall list out some acid loving
plants at the end of the video. Well.
a. First benefit as a fertilizer is to fertilize your lawn � just sprinkle some wood ash
and spray water so that the nutrients enter the soil, which can boost your lawn health.
b. For Calcium Loving plants like tomatoes and other veggies: though you can use eggshells
effectively, sprinkle very small amount around these plants can be very effective. So, One
thing you must remember here is If you have a PH soil tester, it really useful in testing
the soil ph before adding wood ash as a soil amendment. Vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli,
cabbages, beans, asparagus, beets and many root vegetables prefer neutral to slightly
alkaline soil with pH level around 6 � 7.6. How to use wood ash: Before sprinkling rake
the soil well and sprinkle a thin layer around the plant and then water the plant.
Here am using a Soil PH Testing Gadget bought online. Though it�s a low cost gadget, its
really handy when it comes to testing Soil PH, Soil Moisture and light conditions. Here
for demo purpose, I am inserting the gadget probes into a soil sample to root level. You
can see the value is acidic for this soil � that�s between 5 and 6. This is too
acidic. Now a gonna sprinkle some wood ash and then pour some water and lets see the
effect after an hour. Now you can see the wonderful effect of wood ash on this soil
� its increasing from a PH of 5 to 6 to 6 to 7 and may turn more alkaline after some
more time. Based on this testing you can adjust the amount of wood ash you sprinkle on your
plant soil. 1. Well now Lets quickly learn How to make
Wood Ash Tea: You might be already aware of something called
Compost Tea, similarly you can exclusively make woodash tea or you can even mix it into
your compost tea. For those who do not know about Compost tea
� its just an organic liquid rich in nutrients made by mixing compost into water plus adding
few other components. There are many ways you can make compost tea. Will make a separate
video on this topic some other time. For now, to Make Woodash Tea, depending on the size
of your compost bin, you can pour some amount of woodash in a cloth bag or any cloth like
a small pillow cover or anything and tie it up and suspend this bag into your bin and
fill with water and leave for about 1 week. Then use this water as Wood Ash Compost tea.
This is a very rich all-purpose fertilizer that can help cure plant problems such as
leaf yellowing patterns due to deficiencies, brown spots and discoloration at edges due
to potassium deficiency, stunted plant growth, curling leaf tips and low crop yields.
Now One BONUS Benefit for you AS USUAL! You can Protect your Seeds from Fungus while preserving
them. Mix the seeds in some woodash powder and seal them for storage. You can use any
moisture absorbing material for this like charcoal powder, milk powder, or even small
pieces of newspaper. Precautions
1. Wear eye protection and dust mask while handling fine wood-ash powder.
2. Do not mix and apply wood ash with nitrogen fertilizers like ammonium sulfate, urea and
ammonium nitrate. These fertilizers emit ammonia gas when come in contact with high pH level
substance like wood ash. 3. Do not apply wood ash on seedlings.
5. Do not apply wood ash on Roses, Berries, rhododendrons, azaleas and potatoes. First
research on the soil type requirement for your plant, before using woodash as soil amendment.
So, there we have it folks. If you like the video, please like, share and comment on the
video. If you are new to the channel, consider subscribing. Happy Gardening!