[Beetroot queen]

About two years ago someone gave us half a sack of wood ash, due to the fact that all beds were full to bursting apart from one. Hubby dumped it on and dug it in.

We now have two redcurrant bushes in that bed which are doing great, but the soil is so different to the rest of the plot. It hardly ever grows weeds and it so crumbly and easy to hoe. Is this all down to the wood ash or just a good patch on the allotment.    sorry mad face deleted i missed the right one

[Trillium]

An overdose of ashes isn't good for any soil as it's alkaline and can change the pH balance.

I suspect that the redcurrant patch already had a stream of good soil there and the ashes helped balance out a slightly acidic pH there. 

[Beetroot queen]

Thanks thats usefull for future ash, hubby is a bit dump it down and look into it later, but he means well. 

[Lincolnshire Floyd]

Thanks thats usefull for future ash, hubby is a bit dump it down and look into it later, but he means well. 

Wood ash contains potash and Lawrence Hills recommends it at about 4 to 6 oz per square yard under fruit bushes. Half a sack is not much compared to the load I put round my apple trees and if it is suppressing the weeds that's an added bonus isn't it? But it's a good soil conditioner as you have discovered.

[solway cropper]

On the advice of a commercial grower I put a load of wood ash round my black currants and they grew like triffids and produce huge crops. This year I'm going to make black currant juice ice lollies!

[Stree]

I mix woodash from my stove into the compost I mix for my tomatoes, along with a bit of grit sand.
I save the woodash and keep it dry and rub it down so there are no big lumps in it.
I also spread it round the base of the raspberries blackcurrants  and apple trees..... Far as I am concerned the alkali issue mentioned is outgunned by the benefits its proper use can give.
Yes, too much of anything is bad, but people should not be put off using what is mostly a free and natural resource.

[fatcat1955]

Garlic adores wood ash as do raspberrie's

[Beetroot queen]

Garlic adores wood ash as do raspberrie's

Ahhhhh we have plenty of raspberries 

[J_B]

thanks for all the  info will try it out

[BicesterKev]

I took the ash contents of a couple of nights use from my chiminia - about 2 ice cream tubs worth and sprinkled it over my garlics and onions at the weekend. I was thinking that potash was good for them and kind of thought that the burnt wood must be similar so we shall see!

[Beetroot queen]

We can only try things and see. Its the only bed i like hoeing as its so easy, hehe that has to be a bonus.