Question for the forest burners

[livinoutdoors]

So i know burns are use to clear underbrush and renew the floor as well as use up fuel to prevent forest fires. I was wondering, how big of a role does the ash play in bringing acid soil up in ph? Ive always heard ol timers would talk about sweetenin the soil or whatever. What say you? Does the ash help fix ph?

 

[Gut_Pile]

I don't believe ash helps with PH. But I do believe it works as a fertilizer

 

[Gaswamp]

helps with soil nutrients

 

[fireman32]

It can help sweeten the soil like lime does, it also makes nutrients more readily available to plants. How much it helps is dependent on how much vegetation was burnt. Prescribed fire is a great tool in land management.

 

[doomtrpr_z71]

Soil pH is not altered by low intensity prescribed burns

 

[mattb78]

Prescribed fire doesn't do much for soil health. The resetting of dominant hardwoods back to forb production is the significant benefit.

 

[Triple C]

Prescribed fire doesn't do much for soil health. The resetting of dominant hardwoods back to forb production is the significant benefit.

Spot on. We use prescribed fire to top kill the competing hardwood saplings in a planted pine stand. Any benefit to the soil is a mere bonus for our needs.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Thanks for all the responses. Upon further research it seems the amount of wood ash needed to effect ph is more than would be created by most burns. Though i did find that wood ash has more nutrients in it than lime would have.