Using Wood Ash in place of lime

wyldwulf

Senior Member
I'm hearing more and more these days about using wood ash products in place of traditional lime for raising soil PH. Our local co-op offers the ash at $15 a ton. $20 less than regular dolomitic lime. Of course I understand that it takes much more of the ash to achieve the same results as the traditional lime application. But there seem to be some other nutrient factors that weigh in for soil that is particularly poor, as ours typically is. Anyone out here had any experience with using ash products.

Thanks...
 

tree cutter 08

Senior Member
Don't know about using a bought ash product, I assume its same as what would be left over from burning a brush pile. If it is, I don't think you can get a better product. I burnt some big piles of brush in my field over 3 years ago and the grass stays just as deep green and lush all year long. Same where my garden is, you should see the difference in what I plant over a old burn area. 15 dollars a ton sounds like a deal.
 

ucfireman

Senior Member
Havent ever used it but after reading the post I put my fireplace ashes around 2 of my apples. I know it works like lime but I think it takes a lot more to see noticeable PH increase. Cant hurt.
 

dxydawg

Senior Member
We planted numerous sawtooth oaks at our camp land 20+ years ago...one of our oldest members dumped the ashes from his cabin around 3-4 of the oaks behind his cabin over the years until his death...they are almost twice the height and diameter of the other trees of same age...you can compare it to like 0-1-3 as far as traditional fertilizer but over the years can make a difference...can’t hurt
 

wyldwulf

Senior Member
Thanks guys. My thought right now is to do a test with the ash on a plot that I have already done the soil test on (PH 4.9) and follow up next spring with another test. One bonus of the ash is that the co-op is offering the use of a ground driven spreader to apply the ash. I had a copy of the breakdown of the ash material but have misplaced it of course. I'll grab another copy and do a quick computation of rate to match the lime application rate. It will be a good experiment on a landing that has previously struggled to grow anything.
 

Ihunt

Senior Member
Thanks guys. My thought right now is to do a test with the ash on a plot that I have already done the soil test on (PH 4.9) and follow up next spring with another test. One bonus of the ash is that the co-op is offering the use of a ground driven spreader to apply the ash. I had a copy of the breakdown of the ash material but have misplaced it of course. I'll grab another copy and do a quick computation of rate to match the lime application rate. It will be a good experiment on a landing that has previously struggled to grow anything.


With a ph of 4.9 I wouldn’t waste time with something that takes longer and more of to work. That is a very low ph.
 

Forest Grump

Senior Member
With a ph of 4.9 I wouldn’t waste time with something that takes longer and more of to work. That is a very low ph.

THIS^^^^^^^!!!

If you use wood ash, you will need to apply twice the tonnage of lime, which is going to be difficult to incorporate fully because of the volume.

Next, dolomitic lime contains Mg, which is 1.67X stronger than Ca at raising pH. At 4.9, your dirt is so acidic it will tie up nearly every nutrient, making them unavailable to your plants.

Pay the extra for the dolomitic lime, get your pH up, then you can use the wood ash product to maintain it cheaply; plus maybe get a few trace minerals. Lime it for a 6 pH the first time, then if you test it next year remember that it takes 3 years for Ag lime to fully dissolve & effect your soil. The effects of wood ash will be of short duration as well, necessitating annual re-application.
 

wyldwulf

Senior Member
Great info. I definitely realize the impact of the low PH. I have basically taken this spot over from another member in our club, and the first order of business was a soil test. Needless to say the lack of deer sightings and groceries were readily apparent once I reviewed the report. I intend to lime in the next few weeks and disk in lightly to help it at least start to incorporate. Fortunately I do have easy access to this spot, and a ground driven spreader I can use as well. But all told this will at min be a 2 year endeavor to correct years of poor soil performance. May be the worst starting point ever, but a challenge to make it a productive plot!
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
THIS^^^^^^^!!!

If you use wood ash, you will need to apply twice the tonnage of lime, which is going to be difficult to incorporate fully because of the volume.

Next, dolomitic lime contains Mg, which is 1.67X stronger than Ca at raising pH. At 4.9, your dirt is so acidic it will tie up nearly every nutrient, making them unavailable to your plants.

Pay the extra for the dolomitic lime, get your pH up, then you can use the wood ash product to maintain it cheaply; plus maybe get a few trace minerals. Lime it for a 6 pH the first time, then if you test it next year remember that it takes 3 years for Ag lime to fully dissolve & effect your soil. The effects of wood ash will be of short duration as well, necessitating annual re-application.

Forest Grump is good. Forest Grump is wise. :cool:
 
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