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Wood Ash - An Overview

posted 4 hours ago

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(Photo credit to Nancy Reading)

What is wood ash?

Wood ash is the residual material left over from the combustion process of burning wood. Wood ash is a fine black/grey powdery substance. Wood ash is primarily made up of calcium carbonate (Around 20%-50%) but also contains a variety of other mineral compounds. The combustion of wood creates roughly 10% ash as an end result. Hardwoods are reported to create more ash than softwood species. Branches and leaves produce more ash than heartwood.

Uses

Liming Agent - Wood Ash is caustic (PH of around 10 to 12) and can be utilized to adjust soil PH.

Mineralization - Wood ash is a source of calcium and potassium.

Nutrients - NPK 0-1-3

Traction Aid for Snow/Ice

Ingredient for making Lye

Glass Cleaner - Paste made of ash and water..

Deoderizor - Wood ash can help keep offensive oders down.

Nixtamalization

Considerations

Wood ash is a caustic material and can cause harm if not handled with respect. Consider using both skin and breathing protection when handling wood ash.

Wood ash mixed with high nitrogen materials can encourage volatilization of the nitrogen into the air.

Ensure the source of your wood ash is free of contaminates that could persist into the ash. Burning only firewood and natural materials is recommended to ensure good quality wood ash.

Wood ash can introduce salts to soil so care should be had to avoid overapplication.

Applying too much wood ash at once (especially in the rain) can lead to potassium runoff issues.

COMMENTS:

Timothy Norton

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posted 3 hours ago

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I used to consider wood ash to be waste but now it is a welcome component to my homestead.

I try my best to apply it to the ground in the winter season. This gives moisture time to mellow out the salts and buffer the soil before the growing season sets in. I'm especially pleased this year with the growth of my brassicas in the areas that have been treated with wood ash.

Historically, wood ash was turned into potash to use as a fertilizer. This was accomplished by soaking the ash in water to settle out the solids and then boiling the lye rich liquid down into a white powder (potash).

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Anne Miller

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posted 3 hours ago

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What is the difference between wood ash and biochar?

Is it that wood ash is a byproduct of some other application?

Or that wood ash is powdery and biochar is chunk like charcoal?

When added to soil does it make a difference?

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Alexandra Malecki

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posted 2 hours ago

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wow, thanks for creating this! I also have wonderings about how much of the remaining coals are considered biochar. I think I need to do more research.

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Phil Stevens

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posted 24 minutes ago

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Anne Miller wrote:What is the difference between wood ash and biochar?

Is it that wood ash is a byproduct of some other application?

Or that wood ash is powdery and biochar is chunk like charcoal?

When added to soil does it make a difference?

Ash is all the stuff in wood that won't burn. Biochar is elemental carbon from wood (or other biomass) that has been heated but not completely burned. The minerals that make up ash are in biochar, but the carbon in ash is in carbonate form.

Ash tends to be powdery because all the structures that held it in place are gone. In a really hot fire it sinters and forms slag and clinkers. These are the chunky bits that are hard to grind, and are a bit like volcanic glass. Biochar can be chunky or powdery depending on what it's made from and what you do with it after you make it.

Ash and biochar do very different things in soil. Ash is mostly a chemical modifier, adding alkalinity and minerals. Biochar adds structure, water and nutrient capacity, aeration, homes for bacteria and fungi, and its surface area has electrochemical properties that do all sorts of cool stuff.

Phil Stevens

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posted 21 minutes ago

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Alexandra Malecki wrote:wow, thanks for creating this! I also have wonderings about how much of the remaining coals are considered biochar. I think I need to do more research.

All of them, unless there are bits that haven't carbonised all the way through. The first human use of biochar was probably unintentional, as the remnants of cooking fires were dumped and mixed into garden soils. The gardeners noticed the benefits and we can pretty safely assume that at some point they started doing it on purpose.

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