[smc]

hi ya guys and girls! am new to the forum have had a lotty for about a year love al the time down in the cold and a sorts,but its a bit of advise i am after really,i have two open fires at my house and burn quite alot of logs and coal and i just wanted to know if you can put the ashes into the ground or composte bin?? i heard [how true i dont know]you can use just wood ash??? but just wasnt sure about the coal dont really want to ruin the good ground i have been working  on all year cos am ready now to put my cheery trees in and loads of other stuff,when weather comes.  thanks

[kitkat]

Hi there, welcome to the forum, i'm quite new myself,from Birmingham now living in France for the past 5 years. I've been told that coal ash is toxic, but someone else will know better.
kitkat

[dugless]

Hi, I have ben putting ash from an open fire in the compost for years. not noticed any detremental effects but no dobt if there is somebody on this forum will tell us.
by the way I have installed a multi fuel stove in my lounge I use a 1/4of the logs and coal and get the room heated quicker and hotter than the open fire

[Bodger]

I'm nearly sure that wood ash is supposed to be a good addition to the ground but i'm not sure about coal ash.

[poultrygeist]

I've read that coal ash should never be used, so it goes in the bin, once cooled of course  

Not sure if it's the acidity or impurities that makes it unusable.

Rob

ps. we mostly burn coal on ours so we don't get to re-use much ash.

[Parsnip]

As the others have said..not sure about coal ash, (personally I wouldn't use it) Particularly those pre-shaped things, they stink like there have nasty ingredients in them... :?


Before I got my plot the allotment association had a little bonfire on it ( woods and weeds and things) and before it was rotavated the other week, they spread it over it..

[birmancats]

Hi.  Definately not coal ash.  To be all technical the earth's atmosphere at the time the coal was still alive was different to today and so contains lots of nasties that you don't get in wood which has grown in our current climate.

[smc]

cheers guys you put my mind at rest now then,haapy new year to you all and sure we will speak again..

[DD.]

The RHS have this to say...

"Coal ash is best avoided because it has a negligible nutrient content and its fine particle size means it is of little benefit to soil structure".

Garden Organic simply say "Don't Use"!

[MOLUSC]

According to "the hands on gardener"-COMPOSTING by liz ball

"The compost pile is  one place to dispose of ashes from a woodstove or fireplace.Used sparingly ,they are very useful to break down acidic materials like pine needles or oak leaves.Their presence in the pile adds alkalinity to offset the acidic leaves.Wood ashes do cause a lot of nitrogen in the final compost product,but it is negligible"

Hope that helps?

[MOLUSC]

forgot to say ashes from a COAL stove are listed as -what not to compost.

[PAH48]

MY  PAH Always tipped the contents from the fire onto his
rose bed 10x 20 ft , maybe bigger, solid clay, swore it broke up
the clay.( I was a weee burn then )
Be it wood, coal or whatever, believe me he kept the finest
roses you could wish for.

And his Dalia's were Second to None,


Bye PAH IN'

[Nogger]

excuse my ignorence but where does pot ash come from  :?

[Aunt Sally]

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood-coal-ash.html

says to bin coal ash.

[Aunt Sally]

excuse my ignorence but where does pot ash come from  :?

Wood ash mainly:

http://www.pda.org.uk/whatsk.html