Wood ash is a very useful thing for your garden and plants. Whether you want to do organic gardening or cut expenses on fertilizer or pesticides/insecticides, you will find wood ash very useful. Wood ash contains a high amount of calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. Apart from calcium (20 percent), potassium (around 4 percent) and phosphorus (about 2 percent), wood ash also contains magnesium, aluminum and sodium. Therefore, wood ash is a good substitute for calcium, potassium and phosphorus-based fertilizer. Wood ash raises the pH level of your soil, if your soil is too acidic, you can use wood ash to neutralize soil or change it to alkaline quality.
Here are 6 uses of wood ash in your garden.
Wood ash protects your plants from frost
During the winter, if frost is eating your plants, you can use wood ash to protect your plants from frost. Just sprinkle wood ash on the leaves and stem of the plants.
Wood ash protects your plants from bugs, slugs, and other pests
If caterpillars, beetles, and other bugs and pests are eating your plants, you can sprinkle warm wood ash over the affected area to get rid of bugs, slugs, and pests. If your garden is invaded by ants, you can also use warm wood ash to get rid of ants and protect your seeds and seedling from ants. Make sure, wood ash is not too hot.
Wood ash is a good source of potassium, phosphorus, and calcium
If you use a good amount of wood ash in your gardening soil, you do not have to use other potassium or phosphorous based fertilizer for your plants. Wood ash also contains calcium, you can enrich your soil with calcium by using wood ash in the soil.
Wood ash raises the pH level of your soil
Since wood ash contains calcium and potassium, you can raise the pH level of your soil by adding wood ash. Wood ash is good for the plants that need alkaline soil.
Wood ash kills weeds
Mix the moderate amount of wood ash on your gardening soil 1 week prior to planting seeds or seedling. This will stop the weed from growing in your garden. You can also sprinkle wood ash after planting seeds/seedling.
Wood ash increases the quality of your compost
Wood ash contains a lot of minerals. You can also mix wood ash in your compost to increase the quality.
Conclusion
Wood ash is considered low-grade fertilizer. It is very safe to use in the soil if you are growing plants that does not need very fertile soil, tomatoes for instance, or the plants that love alkaline soil, for instance, asparagus, kale, beans, etc. Wood ash is highly beneficial for root vegetables. Therefore, you can use wood ash on potatoes, carrots, radish, etc. When you are using wood ash in your garden, make sure it does not come from chemically treated woods (painted woods, seasoned woods, etc).