What Happens When You Use Ash in the Garden?

have you recently had a barbecue or a bonfire in the backyard can be a real lot of fun but did you know that the ashes from one of these fires can be spread around the garden to produce more bigger better healthier tastier fruit and vege get a I'm my from self sufficient million in this video I'm gonna explain what happens when you use ash in the garden let's get into it [Music] [Applause] [Music] ash contains potash which is important for healthy plant growth and lots of other things that I'll mention soon potash the name comes from the old way of making potassium fertilizer by burning plants and wood in pots pot ash and then collecting the ash to use in the garden in fact the name potassium itself is derived from the word potash I like to crush down the larger chunks of charcoal into smaller pieces and still use them in the garden because I think it adds extra structure to the soil and good water-holding capabilities as well as extra nutrients and minerals you want to use these ashes as soon as possible especially before it rains or a big storm because much of the potash or potassium will leach out of the ash and be lost into the soil or the surrounding area Oh crikey she's pretty heavy the white ash as opposed to the darker stuff or the dark charcoal is better for potash it has more potassium in it so the whiter the ash the bear it is in the garden using ash isn't a new concept at all it's been around for hundreds of years and humans have known about it but Nature has known about this for much longer I mean think about the revival after bush fires how devastating say even in Australia the devastation a bushfire can cause going through a bush or forest and leaving basically nothing but ashes behind and then how soon and shortly after things sprout up even better than ever before in fact there are some plants and seeds that will only survive or only germinate after they've been burnt through a fire potash or potassium is the third major nutrients that crops require after nitrogen and phosphorus so you know how you see on the packs of fertilizer NPK or the K actually stands for potash or potassium you'd think it would be NTP wouldn't you but it's not the K is Latin or something like that or means some it's the element so yeah so what's so good about potash how does it help plants to grow and thrive firstly potash itself helps to strengthen the cell walls of a plant and that gives it better immunity against diseases and fungal attack it makes fruit and veggies taste better by improving the nutrient pick up and flow of water and sugars to develop that fruit better it improves water holding in the soil so you don't have to water as much and that plant can get access to moisture when it requires it without it drying out so fast potash improves flowering and therefore more flowers means more fruit so bigger productivity and bigger harvests and it can even make your food crops look better and more colorful because they're more vibrant and healthier adding potash to the soil or straight ash like this makes the soil more alkaline so what does that mean it makes the soil sweeter that's the best way I can explain it it's like humans you know some humans are real sweet tooth they like lollies and cakes and and other humans like more acidic type foods they're into their pickles and they're more savoury just like humans most plants are sweet tooth's so they like a more alkaline or sweeter soil plants like brassicas broccoli cabbage lettuce beans peas spinach etc and fruit trees like stone fruits mangoes and avocados and there are some plants that are very savory and only like an acidic type soil like blueberries potatoes and even sweet potatoes other plants aren't as choosy and will tolerate sweet and acidic soils plants like the tomatoes behind me chilies dill and cucumbers alright come on let's get into the veggie garden and spread this stuff around we've got garlic in these two beds here this one here is a smaller garlic it's a Glenn large funny yeah well smaller compared to this one which is a elephant garlic a nice big large bulb garlic is part of the onion family which does like a more alkaline or sweeter soil so all I'm gonna do is just simply grab handfuls of it and just sprinkle it around you could probably wear a face mask for this I probably should be but I want to talk in this video and not sound like well because otherwise I'd sound like a muppet then you wouldn't be able to hear what I'm saying you'd probably switch off nice big handfuls and you know generously sprinkle it around I'm almost using it like a thin mulch I'm not going to worry too much that some of the dust is settling on believes because later on once I'm finished I'm gonna water this in any way and that will penetrate and wet this agent which will in turn release that potash get it into the roots and the soil which makes it easier and more soluble for the plants to take it up so once I start wetting it those that dust that's on the leaves will get washed off anyway there is also an interesting different tonight between ash collected from a fire pit compared to wood heaters or stoves and that is whilst they're both alkaline sweet the fire pit or bonfire ash is richer in potash and the reason why is due to the smaller twigs bar leaves etc that is incinerated contains more nutrients than ash made from just the core wood from a large tree I will do this round bed next I tell you what this stuff goes a long way we're only down about four to five inches from the top of this bucket and we've already done basically two beds full of garlic I'll just give myself a clap and you can see just how easy and well it just goes straight into the soil there's hardly a sign that there's been any ash thrown on top of this now all getting washed off the leaves [Music] talking about free fertilizer you can't get any freer than this or easier to make or easier to use nice generous amount so how much potash or potassium ez Nash well as a general rule you can expect about 10% so for every hundred grams of ash there should be about 10 grams of potash let's put some around these blueberries hey should spark them up a bit what's that oh I'm not supposed to because blueberries are an acidic loving plant so don't do it mark is that what you're saying good Anja well-spotted thanks for letting me know that's right I almost forgot you can't put ash in with these blueberries that might even hold their growth or make the leaves die back they can't take up einar's good they'll go yellow great point same with these potatoes here even though they look nice and healthy you think maybe if this is great for other plants could it be good for potatoes no it might stunt the growth and again make it hard for the plant to thrive and take up other nutrients same for the sweet potato behind me here I would not bother around this big beautiful garden bit of sweet potato because it could probably hamper growth rather than improve it so there is a few more plants up the top here having a fire pit in the backyard is magic on so many different levels but only does the food taste great on it but it's actually using up the fallen timber you don't have to chip it you just burn it burn it to ash such a simple and easy way to get rid of garden life you can see this one bucket is doing quite a lot isn't it leeks part of the onion family as well and will love a little bit of this as you can see I don't measure anything out I'll just sprinkle the ash liberally around the base of the plants spinach absolutely loves this stuff and who doesn't love spinach Hey make your strongest Popeye and if you've got mangoes stone fruit or avocados throw a little bit under them as well well that'll do me I think I'm gonna keep this and save it for another time for something special that I just need it for rather than just throwing it around the garden willing nearly at the moment store away in the shed much better then stored down there in the fire pit where I could get all wet and soggy and leach all those great nutrients away so if you've got a fire pit or a fire or ashes from something use it in the garden I hope you enjoyed this video if you did give it a big thumbs up and also subscribe if you haven't already share the video around and that is what happens when you use ash in the garden thanks a lot for watching bye for now what a great use I suppose there's plenty of other uses fash I just can't think of any at the moment maybe I could do some face painting or something our face mask maybe you know is supposed to be good for your skin probably could do with some of that on my skin my son all right let's go put this away and get into something else Cheers

Channel: Self Sufficient Me

Views: 4,149,085

Keywords: use ash in garden, how to use ash in the garden, use wood ash in garden, use wood ash in the vegetable garden, ash, vegetable garden, garden, potash, potash for plants, how to use potash for plants, make potash fertilizer, potash fertilizer, use ash for fertilizer, use ash from fire in the garden, how to use ash, potash from ashes, potash from wood, wood ash, wood ash in garden, ash as fertilizer, ash as fertiliser, fertiliser, fertilizer

Id: 61ryiTNYneQ

Length: 11min 49sec (709 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 20 2019

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[u/haptiK]

tldr anyone?