I have a BIG supply of wood ashes.  I have a growing collection of fig cuttings.  When I repot into larger containers should I maybe add a 1/4 cup of wood ashes to the potting medium?

I've killed three gnats around my cuttings.  Does that mean I have an infinite population percolating underneath the soil?

One of my cuttings wasn't doing anything so I cut some off the bottom and discovered the center was hollow and threw it away.  That hollow center, plus no leaves and no roots does indicate it wasn't viable, correct? 

It seems a risky to apply ashes to potting mix for newly rooted cuttings.

Caution use only ashes of untreated lumber and for plants that like alkaline soils (Figs are one of those plants).

Ashes have a high PH >9 are mostly calcium carbonate and they also have potassium and phosphorous.  It is only recommend that it is added to the ground soil and mixed in.  So I think it would be OK for in-ground figs.  Piling up ashes leads to salt build up.

Last year I experimented and added ashes to my soil mix for up-potting container figs and it seemed to burn the edge of the leaves and change the tone of the leaves.  The figs seem OK but I think they were stunted a bit.  I will save my ashes for my in-ground figs this year.

Thanks Pino.  I don't burn any treated wood.  I guess I'll forgo the wood ashes for figs since I don't have any in ground.  Zone 4.  :=0(   I did notice that after I put my big cutting in rotted animal compost it really took off.  I'm planning on switching more over to this black gold this week.  Can't smell any worse than the fish fertilizer...

Nice video.  We do have lots of wood ash... fireplaces burn wood only, BUT our soil is already alkaline!  I wish we had a little acid somewhere, but no where I know.  I might use it to deter slugs though.

Suzi

Thank you for sharing the video.  I know the wood ashes stimulate the grass to grow in the pathways where I spread it in winter.  I'll keep it away from the rhubarb and the blueberries.  I can also use it to mix in with pine needles for mulch.  The 2 should sort of cancel each other out acid wise...

Greenbud!  That is a great idea!  We do use pine straw for mulch because we have 3 pine groves and thus a lot of pine straw.  Mixing with the ashes for the perfect mulch sounds great!

Suzi

Suzi, I still have an unopened container of battery acid that I bought to mix with water in very tiny proportions to apply to my acid loving plants.  I have to back and research the "correct" way to do this.  I will be totally protected when I do this.  I think I can't be too careful...

By my understanding, you don't want ashes in your compost. the micro-organisms that make the compost like the acid. Put compost on in the spring so the nitrogen will boost leaf growth, then do a side dressing of ash when the plants begin to flower because that's when they need the potassium.

The charcoal from the wood ash is another subject. Research biochar, and terra preta.

I'm confused.  Isn't the potassium more for root development and the phosphorus more for flower and  fruit development?  I've been thinking about what liquid I can use to develop roots faster.  The broth from chard and other green vegetables should have a lot of potassium as should a dilution of black strap molasses.  Bet those gnats would just love the black strap...

I will look up biochar.  I've read a little about it and it's effects on crops.

I may have them mixed up. Which ever is which, the ashes go on when bloom starts.

Biochar is good, terra preta is better. Charcoal makes a great habitat for the beneficial soil microorganisms. You usually just work the biochar into the soil, the terra preta you compost first and it acts like biochar on steroids.

They tend to downplay the living aspect of terra preta these days. You make the charcoal for that at a lower temperature... out of hardwood only, and mix it with your compost. There are inoculations you can buy, or just use leaf mold from a local forest, but once it gets going it grows on it's own (although very slowly). There are deposits 6 to 9 feet deep. Natives with stone tools didn't till it in that deep it grew down from a garden plot in the 2,000 to 2,500 years since that native culture was making it.

Here is something else on soil microorganisms that is pretty important. I buy spore from Paul Stamets anyway, I'm going to get some of the variety for that bed the bees like so much.

Greysmith, thank you for sharing that video.  I hadn't watched until now because usually the tv is on and I couldn't hear it.  I had never heard of Paul Stamets but I had ordered the Fungi Perfecti catalog a year or two ago so I guess I didn't look at it too closely.  My mistake.  What he said made a lot of sense to me.  He is definitely passionate about this line of research.  I hope his work helps slow/stop the CCD.  Here in WI I have seen very few honey bees in the last several years.  Also toads are rare.  Things are changing in both nature and society and I keep trying to understand just what the heck is going on...  Also an anti-viral that does not, hopefully, make us susceptible to other viral infections would be a God send...

I will look more into biochar and terra preta.  Do you buy spore to inoculate the ground or to raise mushrooms for you own consumption?  Our future son in law is planning to keep bees like his father does so I will make sure that they get to see that video.  Again thanks for opening up a whole new line of thought!

I raise some for my own consumption, blue and pink oysters so far. I don't have a room with all the humidity and temperature controls it needs yet. I have a friend with a lab setup for multiplying up the inoculant. I've been getting enough reishi from him to have a cup of tea every day as a preventative.

If you want a good antiviral check out elderberries. I've been growing them, see my Hey, an update. I made up nearly 5 gallons of syrup last year. The wife and I have each been taking a tbs. a day as a preventative, and this is the first winter we haven't had the flu, and it's not because there hasn't been a lot of flu around. Reishi and elderberry are both neuro-boosters too, good for your brain, and at my age that's getting to be important.

I'm thinking of getting the spore to do a wood chip tray like he had that the bees were raiding. Got to watch the video again and take notes to be sure which type of mushroom it was, and what kind of wood it was in.

I transplanted 2 wild elderberry plants last fall and they look like they made it through the winter okay.  I really like the taste of any kind of elderberry product.  I did the same as you and the Mrs. about 5 years ago.  I harvested lots of elderberries from a public place and cooked them down with a little sugar.  I took a couple of T spoons if I felt off.  That syrup looked and tasted just as good as the day I made it over a year later.  My goal is to have several of my own elderberry trees/shrubs producing in a year or two.  I also have honeyberry plants and they fruited in the pot before I planted them last summer.  I think that we will really appreciate the flavor as we get use to them.  I am planning on using them in meat dishes and smoothies...

I will go to your update in a minute or two.  Thanks for the info!