I have 10 five gallon buckets full of wood ash and don’t know how strong or week it is compared to lime.
JEROMY
Comments
I wouldn’t use ash as a replacement to dolomite as the two are different. Ash has potassium and trace while dolomite is made up of calcium and magnesium. If you are on a light soil dolomite is good but lime(use pH low) or gypsum
(use if soil pH is high) is better on a heavier soil. If your pH is low it would be good to use these products with a bit of ash as a trial do the rest of the area to gradually get the pH to 6.4.
Regards
Tim
Depends on so many things. The species of plants, where it was growing, etc. If I was to use wood ash, I’d be careful, the constituents can be unpredictable and out of balance. I’d say, use it as a supplement, not as a substitute to something else.
Pound for pound, ashes raise the soil pH the same as lime. (this came directly from our local county extension agent)
The neat thing about wood ash…. the effect is available immediately, no waiting for a year the way you do with lime. Also, wood ash adds other nutrients to the soil, such as phosphorus, and other stuff.
