Composted wood chip as planting medium?

[nepia]

21 hours ago, nepia said:

So my suggestion that the plants would lack anchorage is wrong?

 

 

By 'plants' I meant larger perennial ones such as the OP's Rhododendrons.

 

I'm about to build some raised veggie beds with scaffold boards and fill them in similar fashion so I'm with you for the veggies.  Our predecessors kindly left many years' worth of composted grass mowings and raked leaves, along with a healthy ash pile from their bonfire site.  I also have some old horse manure and unwanted old topsoil to mix in.

 

Sorry for the derail @shillo ; I'm still hunting down an answer for you!

 

Jon 

[TuscanPhil]

What does the ash do for the 'planting medium'?  I have a fair bit (25Kw biomass boiler) and currently just bag it every once in a while and send it out with the domestic waste.

[nepia]

Potash boost I guess; nothing physical as large amounts scorch plants

[agg221]

2 hours ago, nepia said:

Potash boost I guess; nothing physical as large amounts scorch plants

Also pH adjustment. Ash is alkaline, most pure rotted chip will be neutral to acidic. Most vegetables prefer a slightly alkaline soil. I believe potatoes may be an exception to that (possibly also tomatoes since they are the same family?).

 

Alec

[shillo]

so if the ash is alkaline I dont really want to add it to the composted wood chip for the rhodos?

 

[peds]

1 hour ago, shillo said:

so if the ash is alkaline I dont really want to add it to the composted wood chip for the rhodos?

 

No, you absolutely don't. 

Most vegetables don't prefer alkaline soil, the tolerate it, and some better than others.  They generally perform best between 6 and 7. Don't be too trigger happy with the ash if you're already around 6.5.

[sime42]

No, you absolutely don't. 
Most vegetables don't prefer alkaline soil, the tolerate it, and some better than others.  They generally perform best between 6 and 7. Don't be too trigger happy with the ash if you're already around 6.5.

As I understand it, the potash (potassium) in wood ash promotes flowering and fruiting, hence particularly good for fruit trees.

[peds]

Yep, but it shouldn't be thrown about the place with such gay abandon that it drives the pH out of the comfortable range for those fruit trees, rendering more nutrients unavailable. Also, adding too much at once to either your compost system or directly to the earth gums it up horribly, and kills a lot of the soil biota. 

Adding it to a great quantity of woodchip and ignoring it for two years sounds perfect. Mine goes through the chicken coop with woodchip and straw (to discourage parasites), then composted for about 3 months, before going onto the garden. 

[sime42]

Yep, but it shouldn't be thrown about the place with such gay abandon that it drives the pH out of the comfortable range for those fruit trees, rendering more nutrients unavailable. Also, adding too much at once to either your compost system or directly to the earth gums it up horribly, and kills a lot of the soil biota. 
Adding it to a great quantity of woodchip and ignoring it for two years sounds perfect. Mine goes through the chicken coop with woodchip and straw (to discourage parasites), then composted for about 3 months, before going onto the garden. 

Hope you didn't think I was being contradictory, I wasn't. Just trying to add some detail on wood ash.
I agree with you about keeping an eye on the pH of the soil. Saying that though I've not tested mine around my fruit trees so no idea if I'm using too much! Each tree gets a dose about twice a year on average probably. Any idea of how much is too much?

[renewablejohn]

On 30/03/2021 at 09:07, TuscanPhil said:

What does the ash do for the 'planting medium'?  I have a fair bit (25Kw biomass boiler) and currently just bag it every once in a while and send it out with the domestic waste.

Its gold dust for converting acidic soil into useable soil.