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Uses for ash

vickyjohnston34T98p8DT8vickyjohnston34T98p8DT8 Posts: 5
in Fruit & veg
Does anyone use ash on their fruit and veg? Monty mentioned it last week as he'd used it on blueberries.  I have an open fire in the house and just empty the grate into the bin. Could I be using it in the garden?

Posts

  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,295
    Hi @vickyjohnston34T98p8DT8,

    I sieve any big lumps out and tickle it in around the daylilies. Have done this for a few years now, and I think it really helps with flowering.

    Any surplus goes on in thin layers when I make up the compost heap.

    Bee x
    image
    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I was a bit surprised that Monty put ash on the blueberries. I thought wood ash was slightly alkaline, and the RHS agrees https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=621
    It does need to be wood ash not ash from coal etc for use on plants/compost.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Hi - I use it around plants to deter snails and slugs.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    I spread it all over the place - but mainly around fruit bushes and trees, in the compost heap, and on other flowering bushes and crops...
  • Chris-P-BaconChris-P-Bacon Posts: 943
    Gooseberries occasionally.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    edited April 2021
    I started recently to use ours on various plants, any that need a boost for flowering so can’t comment on any effect as yet. Before that we put it in the compost. We only burn wood and use beeswax lighters so nothing unpleasant to worry about.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I put my bonfire ash on the garden but never my multi fuel fire ash. I used a thick layer of the house fire ash in my greenhouse as a level base under the weed matting. I have also used a thick layer under weed matting for my paths From now on the house fire ash will be going into the black sack household rubbish.
    My garden soil is thin and gritty so needs fibre and organic matter to  bulk it up
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