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ashes from coal fire?

Hi Guys

Would I be able to use the ash from my coal fire as a sort of compost? We burn allsorts in it.... wood, paper, coal, vegetable peelings etc. I just thought there might be a lot of good stuff in there?

Gx

Comments

  • Antispam
    Antispam Posts: 6,636 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Not coal though
  • Abbafan1972
    Abbafan1972 Posts: 7,202 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    In this weather you could use it to grit your path. :j
    Striving to clear the mortgage before it finishes in Dec 2028 - amount currently owed - £17,496.34
  • PharmaAl
    PharmaAl Posts: 80 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    I add mine to the compost heap but no coal as it contains toxins. Wood ash is highly alkaline but it is also a good source of potash. As always add a mix of ingredients to the compost heap not lots of any one.

    I think you can use it around fruit bushes/trees in spring due to high potash
  • conradmum
    conradmum Posts: 5,018 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Wood ash is great stuff. I put it around all my fruit bushes except the blueberries. It's also the best and only natural slug repellent I've ever found that works really well. It does need topping up after rain though, it only works when dry.

    I use it in the greenhouse too, where I have a problem with ants farming aphids on my pepper and chilli pepper plants.
  • Bunny82
    Bunny82 Posts: 205 Forumite
    As others have said don't use coal ash as it's not so good. I have a wood stove and sprinkle the ash over my veg beds. It's also good for chickens' dust baths. :D
    Dry January: 31/31 days. :T
  • davemorton
    davemorton Posts: 29,084 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Car Insurance Carver!
    The main things I grow are rhubarb, strawberry's, raspberry's, apples, plums and tomatoes. Is the ash from my wood stove good for all of these, and do I just sprinkle it around them??
    “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
    Juvenal, The Sixteen Satires
  • conradmum
    conradmum Posts: 5,018 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    davemorton wrote: »
    The main things I grow are rhubarb, strawberry's, raspberry's, apples, plums and tomatoes. Is the ash from my wood stove good for all of these, and do I just sprinkle it around them??

    I've used wood ash around all of these except rhubarb, with no ill effects.
  • saveman
    saveman Posts: 34 Forumite
    gayle21 wrote: »
    Hi Guys

    Would I be able to use the ash from my coal fire as a sort of compost? We burn allsorts in it.... wood, paper, coal, vegetable peelings etc. I just thought there might be a lot of good stuff in there?

    Gx

    watch it if the things you burn have paint or similar toxins on them
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