This summer I've changed from grilling with charcoal briquettes to using lump charcoal. I'm also no longer using lighter fluid but using a chimney. So no chemicals. What do I do with the ashes. I knew I shouldn't use the old charcoal briquette ashe in the garden, but do I have more "organic" ashes now? Is there anything I can do to recycle them? I'm not putting them in the compost as I don't want to kill my worms. Is there something else I can do with them? Mix them with dirt or something? I did a little googling but got mixed results. I think some don't distinguish between briquettes and lump charcoal. Can I dispose of the ashes as if it was wood ash from the fireplace? I don't grow lilacs or lavender so not sure what plants would benefit from the ash as a fertilizer.
I burned a bunch of slash last year directly on my garden plot and then hand tilled the ashes in the the soil (which was pretty poor at that point). I think if you put too much in it will raise the pH of the soil. You can always balance that by adding other things to the soil. I tilled in a bunch of compost later in the year and the plants are growing vigorously so I don't think it had an adverse effect.
So I could mix a little ash and the compost from the worm bin and they'd sorta even each other out? I have a plot under the kitchen window with nothing but weeds right now. That's the next area to get worked on. I'll try it there. Thanks.
Blueberries, wisteria, evergreens, and other acid-loving plants might like a little. You can contact the Extension office of the state university, too. They will have the answer for you
No blueberries or evergreens. But I do want to plant a wisteria. I have citrus trees, apple and apricot trees, roses, fuschias and geraniums. And vegetables. I have two spots where I plan to plant wisterias.
Didn't you ever read the Little House on the Prairie books? Or the Firefox books? You drip water through wood ash, it makes lye, for soap, a strong alkali, not a strong acid. Spread it on your garden to reduce the acidity of soil. Here in the East, with pedalfer and generally acid soils, you don't think twice about spreading wood ash. I used to dump my bar-b-q grill on the garden all the time. Same concept as spreading lime. In the West, with generally pedocal soils, you'd want to check soil Ph first. Unless it's already alkaline, spreading the ashes on the garden is a good thing. Dump 'em to kill a weed or two, then till them in eventually to reduce soil acidity.
I have no idea if I have acid soil. I know San Diego has mostly clay. How do I know what I have? I don't want to pay to have my soil analyzed.
I don't know how it is in the West, but here, you can either tell by what plants thrive, or for that matter you can buy at $10 meter that'll tell you. Here, if you have a lot of wild violets in the lawn, and your azaleas and rhododendrons do well, it's a pretty good bet the soil is acid. But the only gardening problems arise at the extremes, as some nutrients get too bound up in the soil for some plants, if the soil is too acid or too alkaline. A modest amount of wood ash will add micronutrients and is unlikely to change your soil Ph by much anyway.
If your soil is mostly clay, it needs all the compost it can get. Dig down deep and mix it in thoroughly to improve water retention and nutrients. Most plants prefer a neutral ph soil - not too acidic, and not too alkaline. Judging by San Diego's dry location near the ocean, I'd guess the soil is already on the alkaline side, so using ash, as you would lime, to raise the soil's ph may not be the best thing. Your local gardening supply store should have soil test kits for not very much; or borrow some litmus paper from a lab at school. Depending on where you've added compost already, different areas of your yard will have different ph levels.
Just a wild thought here, Why not just put them in the container of your choice, and throw them away? What ever do you do with your fireplace ashes???? Here is SoCal you could wait for the Santa Anna's to whip up and blow them to the 4 winds!!!! Of course theres always the garden, just not too much! 73 de Pat KK6PD
I don't have a fireplace. I'm cleaning out the grill soon and I can't see throwing them away (container or not) when I could recycle them in the garden. I just don't want to kill my plants.
I don't think that there's a "safe" way to use charcoal ash in your garden or compost pile. Remember, charcoal and wood ash are different. In general, I try and recycle everything that I can, but everything I've ever read says that you should put the charcoal ash in the trash. I know that's not very satisfying, but try drop "charcoal ash recycle" into Google and pull the handle.....
These aren't ashes from charcoal briquettes. It's from lump charcoal which is basically wood, like you burn in the fireplace. No chemicals.
