How to prepare an infusion of ash: proven recipes

Ash is one of the simplest and most familiar fertilizers for any gardener.
But this simplicity is apparent; in fact, it is fraught with many surprises and is not suitable for every garden crop. What beneficial substances for plants are contained in this substance? Is the powder left over from burning trees and herbs equally good? How to properly feed different vegetables and fruits with gray ash?

What is contained in ash

After parts of trees or grasses are burned, all the chemical elements they contain except nitrogen become an integral characteristic of the gray fine residues. Three dozen minerals, including potassium and iron, magnesium and calcium, manganese and phosphorus, take on a form that is easily absorbed by crops cultivated in the garden.

The specific impact of individual components of burnt wood on crops is as follows.

• Calcium carbonate stimulates seedlings to grow faster, and in some crops it shortens the ripening period. Flowers become larger, inflorescences more pronounced.
• Plants do not always absorb fertilizer elements. Calcium silicate helps improve this function .
• Calcium sulfate affects the greening of seedlings, increasing it significantly.
• Calcium chloride helps trees become more resilient and survive harsh winters . It also makes it possible to cultivate, for example, grapes in cold climates. This element “dries out” crops and soil. It is necessary to prevent tomatoes from turning black and carrots from cracking. Thanks to it, the grapes do not fall off prematurely and the strawberries do not become moldy.
• If the summer is dry, rock salt will ensure the vital activity of vegetables and fruits: it is because of it that moisture is preserved and retained in the cells.
• Potassium salt promotes winter hardiness of trees and is useful for garden flowers.
• Magnesium is indispensable for rose roots ; it also has a beneficial effect on metabolism in cereal crops.
• Sodium interacts with enzymes that do not come into contact with other elements. Because of sodium, enzymes begin to participate more actively in chemical reactions.

Ash for tomato seedlings

Ash is a unique fertilizer due to the presence of phosphorus and potassium in a form easily digestible by plants. It also contains calcium, iron, magnesium, sulfur, and zinc. The exception is nitrogen, which volatilizes during combustion. But at the initial stage of formation of the root system and stem, tomatoes need a sufficient amount of phosphorus and potassium.

1. With the emergence of seedlings, phosphorus plays a decisive role, promoting intensive root growth. A complete root system will ensure further successful growth, earlier flowering and accelerated ripening of fruits.
2. For full development, young tomatoes need potassium, which is involved in the process of stem formation. Traditionally, nitrogen-potassium fertilizers are used. But an excess of nitrogen at the initial stage of growth leads to fattening of plants, delaying fruiting and increasing the chances of diseases.
3. Each element in the composition of ash fertilizer affects the development of tomatoes. Copper improves the breathing process, enhances protein and carbohydrate metabolism. Manganese affects the absorption of carbon dioxide. Calcium participates in metabolic processes, affecting its speed. According to scientists, the valuable product contains about half of the elements included in the periodic table.

Using ash for fertilizing, you do not have to worry about an excess of chlorine and the consequences associated with its influence. Ash does not contain chlorine. The impact of fertilizer in general has only a positive effect.

Attention! The best composition is considered to be ash obtained from burning sunflower tops, buckwheat plants, pine and birch wood.

Which ash is better

Burnt wood varies in composition.
It depends on the age and type of burnt shrub or grass. Young wood produces more potassium, while older firewood has a much higher calcium content. Hardwoods, such as oak and poplar, elm and ash, have more potassium in their composition than soft spruce, pine and aspen. When leaves and dry grass burn, they leave behind a lot of potassium. Important ! Ash intended for feeding must be environmentally friendly: polyethylene waste, printed materials or painted boards must not get into the fire or oven.

What is the best burnt substance for the garden? The question is ambiguous. It all depends on what the gardener’s goals are: why complex watering is carried out and what microelement is deficient in a given vegetable. For example, phosphorus will be contained in greater quantities in oak ash, and potassium in buckwheat straw. Spruce firewood burns, leaving behind only a modest percentage of potassium, but this residue is rich in calcium like no other.

Ash as fertilizer

Ash is a non-combustible mixture of mineral salts remaining after the combustion of any fuel. Wood is widely used to feed plants. Peat and coal also found their use, but rather specific ones. They are not used when growing tomato seedlings.

The chemical composition largely depends on the substances removed from the soil by burned plants during the growing season. That is, the amount and ratio of minerals in the ash can vary greatly.

Ash as a fertilizer consists of 31 elements. For plants, the most important are:

• potassium;
• calcium;
• phosphorus;
• sulfur;
• iron;
• silicon;
• magnesium.

Other microelements are presented as impurities. There are no nitrogen and chlorine compounds at all, or they are present in the form of traces - when burned, the substances turn into gas and evaporate.

At home, obtaining ash looks like this: plant residues are piled up and set on fire. Or they use what’s left after cooking kebabs.

But it’s still useful to know at least approximately the composition. The table shows the maximum content of the main elements in percentage.

The ash remaining after burning paper is similar in properties to wood. You can use it for tomatoes, unless covers or polymer-coated cardboard got into the fire. Lead is no longer used in printing, so the heavy metal will not get on the tomatoes.

Whether the culture has enough phosphorus or whether additional doses of the element will have to be added depends on the chemical composition of the ash. The ratio of potassium and phosphorus when feeding should be approximately 2.4:1, this can be seen from the agronorm of tomatoes - 36:19:45 (N:P:K).

Gardeners will find the following information useful:

• the maximum amount of potassium is contained in dried greens - weeds, herbs, above-ground parts of garden crops, young shoots;
• there are more nutrients in the ash from the tops of deciduous trees than in the ashes of the trunk, old branches, roots, or conifers;
• the product yield is greater when burning crops grown in dry conditions;
• There is a lot of calcium in hardwood and vines.

Ash loses most of its nutrients if stored in rain or high humidity.

How to get ash for feeding

A special place should be allocated in the garden for the disposal of trees, dry grass and shrubs. There should be a distance of five to ten meters from the fire pit to the plantings. The material should be burned only in calm weather, and the strength of the fire should be controlled. Firewood or straw is added to the fire gradually.

Many gardeners, trying to minimize contact between fire and soil, burn wood waste on iron plates. This is not always effective. The remaining substance is collected cold, after a couple of days, and from an open space under a blowing breeze it can be sprayed throughout the garden. Iron barrels with a volume of 200 liters are more suitable here.

The resulting product is stored in tanks with lids. You should not collect it in plastic bags and close them tightly, as condensation may form. The wood powder itself must be dry and fine.

Preparation of ash solution

To improve garden crops, ash solution is most often used. It is diluted simply and is ready for use immediately after preparation. If we are talking about a solution for soaking seeds, then take 200 g of water and dissolve a teaspoon (2 grams) of sulfur suspension in it. The seeds are disinfected in it for two to five hours (depending on size), dried and sent to cups with soil.

To work on the scale of the entire garden, take one and a half glasses of powder (150 grams) per bucket of water and, without allowing solid particles to settle to the bottom, the contents of the bucket are poured under the trees.

Concentration of ash infusion for fertilizing and against pests

Plants are watered with ash infusion at intervals of 12-14 days throughout the summer season.

Irrigation of the above-ground parts of plants infested with parasites is carried out using a spray bottle. Ash-soap infusion against pests is used after dilution 1:4 and dissolving 50 g of laundry, tar or sulfur soap in it for every 10 liters of biological insecticide. The frequency of treatments is from 3 to 6 times with an interval of several days, depending on the reaction of dangerous insects to spraying.

Ash effectively repels aphids, cabbage moths, cruciferous flea beetles, and codling moths. Use sifted ash powder, generously dusting the leaves with it.

From aphids

An infusion of wood ash is used against aphids:

1. Pour 300 g of ash into a liter of boiling water.
2. Keep in a water bath for 20 minutes.
3. Cool, strain and bring the volume to 10 liters.
4. Add 1 tbsp to a bucket of solution. a spoonful of liquid soap for better adhesion of the composition to the leaves.

Video recommendations for using aphid ash:

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To repel slugs and snails, sprinkle the soil around the plants with a mixture of wood ash and lime.

Preparing a decoction from ashes

The ash decoction takes a little longer to prepare, but the period of its effect on the roots is extended. To prepare, add the combustion product to a bucket of boiling water in a 3:1 ratio. The mixture is infused for a couple of days, filtered and filled into a spray bottle.

Some gardeners boil the compound, diluted in the same proportion, over a fire for half an hour. If you add regular laundry soap to it, when sprayed it will stay on the foliage and branches longer and additionally protect the crop from aphid invasion.

You can also cook a concentrated mixture (a glass of suspension per liter of water). Three liters of this cocktail are diluted with water for irrigation up to 10 liters of volume. Watering is based on a bucket per one and a half square meters of area occupied by vegetables or flowers.

Plants can also be perfectly fed with bread.

Use in the garden

“Kiln gold” is useful for most garden crops. Carrots and beets, cabbage and potatoes fertilized with it grow faster, produce a large harvest, and tolerate winter frosts well. According to the standard, per 10 square meters of area occupied by vegetables and fruits, there is from a kilogram to two kilograms of gray matter.

The product of wood combustion is indispensable on lands with an excess of clay. It makes the soil fluffier, looser and lowers the acidity level if up to 7 kg of powder is distributed per 10 square meters.

On such lands, bulk matter is added during digging, which is done before winter. In the spring, gardeners use it on soils with a high amount of sand.

Unlike the bulk of chemical fertilizers sold, the natural substance affects soils for up to 4-5 years.

Important! Ash mixed with manure or ammonium sulfate is not suitable for use in the garden. If lime is included in the mixture, plants will not be able to absorb phosphorus from it.

When measuring the required number of grams of the substance in question, you should keep in mind: 1 teaspoon holds 2 g of suspension, 1 tablespoon holds 6 g. A standard 200-gram glass holds 100 grams, and a liter jar holds half a kilo of powder.

Fertilizer methods

You can feed the soil, as well as use ash decoctions, powder or solution in the garden in different ways. Their choice depends on the ultimate goal of preventive measures.

Feeding the roots

Adding ashes directly to the roots is effective. The main rule here is not to pour pure powder and not to spread the roots on it. Be sure to mix the ash with soil or other ingredients, and only then start planting.

At the stage of planting seedlings, each hole requires from one to three tablespoons of the substance. A glass of gray “flour” is added to bushes at the time of rooting, and about a kilogram is added to fruit trees.

Foliar fertilizer for plants

Foliar feeding primarily includes sprinkling and spraying with bulk matter.

Sprinkles

You can scatter the remains from the fire in the garden throughout the season.

When fruits begin to set on trees and shrubs, wood suspension is not only scattered around the trunk, but also on the leaves to repel pests. In the fall, this substance is added to the soil during pre-winter digging.

Ash is also sprinkled on layers of compost to improve decomposition processes. Proportion – per 3 square meters of area – 1 cup of powder.

Important ! You cannot sprinkle ash on top of the soil and leave it in that state. The earth becomes covered with a hard crust, preventing air access to the root system.

Pollination can also be useful if the roots of the shrub are damaged. This approach will help them recover as soon as possible.

Spraying

The spraying process is carried out either with an ash solution or with a strained decoction. The object of spraying can be not only stems and foliage, but also tubers and seeds of garden crops. Spraying is done with a spray bottle, so the mixture must be filtered before use.

With direct access of the powder to the vegetative organs, its microelements are absorbed more quickly by the plant than when sprinkled under the roots. This method allows you to get a denser foliage cover, brighter bud colors and, at the same time, get rid of a number of pests and fungi.

This is interesting ! The inner part of the leaf is more susceptible to fertilizers, while the outer side of the plate has more protective functions. Therefore, when spraying, you need to treat not only the stem and top of the leaves, but also their underside.

Using ash in the garden

Using wood ash, you can protect trees and shrubs from diseases and pests, such as powdery mildew, bud mite, codling moth, cherry sawfly, etc. To do this, plants are sprayed with a decoction prepared according to the same recipe as for foliar feeding of vegetables. Do this in the evening in calm weather.

Ash is also good as a fertilizer, which stimulates plant growth and improves their immunity.

Fertilizing strawberries with ash

Strawberries (garden strawberries) are sprinkled with sifted ash at the rate of 10-15 g per bush immediately after flowering. This prevents the spread of gray mold. If this procedure has to be repeated, then half as much ash is consumed.

Garden strawberries fed with ash fertilizer produce more flower stalks and, accordingly, berries.

Dry ash also protects garden strawberries from pests

Fertilizing grapes with ash

The grapes are fed 3-4 times per season: a decoction of ash is sprayed on the leaves of the plants after sunset. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that all sheet plates are covered evenly.

However, the grape vines themselves can be a good source of nutrition. In the fall, after the end of fruiting, all cut shoots (they must be absolutely healthy) are burned. The resulting ash (1 kg) is poured into 3 buckets of water and allowed to brew. The resulting product is stored in a cool place for no longer than a month, stirring occasionally. Before use, the infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:5 and shavings of laundry soap are added there.

Feeding trees and bushes with ash

When planting seedlings of fruit trees and shrubs in the soil to a depth of 8-10 cm, 100-150 g of ash per 1 sq.m. is embedded. This fertilizing promotes rapid adaptation of plants to new conditions and rapid development of the root system.

Mature trees and shrubs are fed with ash once every 4 years: about 2 kg of ash is added to each trunk circle.

In order to prevent diseases and pests, it is useful to spray fruit and berry plants with ash infusion on the leaves

Fertilizing seedlings

It is worth starting to take care of the harvest long before the seedlings begin to delight the owner with succulent foliage. We disinfect them and stimulate the active development of seeds: soak them in an ash solution for five hours.

Then, before lowering the seed into the hole, add a mixture of ash and soil to it. In order not to damage the roots with a high concentration of wood dust, take a liter jar of soil, pour it into a container and add a tablespoon of our product there. This will avoid diseases that traditionally affect seedlings.

If the soil is not fertilized and the seedlings are already rooted, you can feed them with an ash solution. The first such watering is carried out a week after planting (12 grams of “gold from the stove” per 1 liter of water). Stir, leave for a day, filter and water at the root.

Spraying of young, just planted stems can be done with the same decoction. A surface spray will repel harmful insects from the leaves.

Feeding nightshades

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants at the seedling stage are fertilized with ash twice: 7–10 days after picking and 2–3 weeks before the expected date of planting the seedlings in a permanent place.

• For feeding, a nutritious infusion is prepared: the ash is poured with lukewarm water at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon per 1 liter and leave at room temperature for 3 days. The resulting suspension is watered strictly at the root of the plant, periodically shaking the liquid so that the particles of ash powder do not settle to the bottom.
• When transferring the bushes to the garden bed, add 3 tbsp to each hole. spoons of dry ash or apply fertilizer for mechanical tillage during spring preparation of the site at the rate of 3 cups of ash per m².

Just a few days after feeding, seedlings of tomatoes, peppers or eggplants look stronger and healthier: the natural color of the leaves is restored and growth accelerates. Seedlings fertilized with ash tolerate stress more easily after transplantation and adapt more quickly to new conditions.

Fertilizing in the greenhouse

Greenhouse plants require special attention from the gardener and more frequent feeding with beneficial microelements. Although there is also a reasonable limit here: for example, combustion products can be added to greenhouse crops no more than six times per season.

Before planting seedlings, we fertilize the soil in the same way as described above. When the stem produces the first two or three leaves, we perform the second treatment. As soon as the first inflorescences appear, it is the turn of the third feeding. The next watering is carried out with the appearance of the first fruits. Next, we turn to the product of wood combustion as needed.

Ashes can be delivered to the plant in different ways: by sprinkling (but after it, be sure to spill the soil with warm water), pour it over with infusion or ash decoction. This scheme is acceptable for greenhouse cucumbers.

When you can’t use ash, other nuances

There are a number of contraindications to the use of the nutrient, important features.

1. Ashes should not be combined with fresh manure, as this reduces the amount of nitrogen. Substances that are not absorbed by the root system are formed.
2. You cannot use ash and nitrogen in parallel; they are added at different times of the year.
3. Ash is not used on alkaline soils.
4. When planting crops, ash powder is mixed with the soil to avoid burns to plant tissue.
5. The product is not added to fresh compost, this prevents the accumulation of nitrogen.
6. It is prohibited to use ashes obtained by burning garbage, plastic, or wood coated with a layer of paint. This is dangerous for crops, animals and human health.

If the given restrictions and proportions are observed, no harm will be caused to the crops.

What plants benefit from ash?

Ash is the most affordable fertilizer for the garden; almost all cultivated plants are happy with it.

The effect of the treatment will be noticeable in the shortest possible time on pumpkin, tomato and cucumber beds. They will delight you with more frequent ovaries, active growth and fruit size.

The lack of elements contained in the woody bulk substance in beds with cabbage will be immediately noticeable: its tops begin to turn red, it practically does not grow. An ash solution or a simple sprinkling will help reduce the acidity of the soil and activate growth.

Zucchini, common radish and carrots are fed with a sprinkle of ash (1 cup per 1 sq. m of soil). Onion and garlic plantings require variety: feeding with powder alternates with bird droppings. The main thing is not to carry them out right after each other. The plant should be given time to absorb nutrients.

Plum and cherry trees only need one ash fertilizer for three years. The solution is poured into pre-prepared grooves and covered with earth on top. One hundred grams of powder per plant will be enough.

Currant bushes also increase the number of berries from such spills. A mixture of water and gray suspension is poured into the root zone.

How to prepare an ash solution for feeding onions?

Ash solution for onions is used for both root and foliar feeding. Using this product you can eliminate mushrooms and some pests. Using an ash solution, you can prepare seed for planting. The composition of acidic soil improves and its acidity decreases. Promotes better preservation of seeds in winter. You can use the ash in its pure form to feed onions, or mixed with compost. They prepare very good fertilizers with the addition of other ingredients.

How to prepare an ash solution for feeding onions:

• You need to take a large container, add 3 cups of sugar and 15 g of dry yeast. The mixture is stirred, add a little warm water and leave for 15 minutes. After this, average again, and when foam appears on the surface of the product, bring the solution to 3 liters with water.
• Leave for another three days. Use a large container. An old bathroom is best suited for these purposes. Approximately 2 kg of ash and compost are added to it. 5 kg of chicken manure and 10 kg of humus are also added here.
• To improve fermentation, you can add 1000 ml of kefir and 3 liters of mash. Mix everything thoroughly and leave for a week in a warm place. Before applying under the root, the mixture is carefully averaged and diluted with water in a ratio of one to one.
• Grass feeding with ash has proven itself well. It is necessary to mix 5 kg of ash, 15 kg of compost. It is necessary to fill the mixture with water and add a small amount of chopped chamomile, nettle and plantain. The mixture is covered with a lid and left for 14 days. Before pouring the resulting solution on the onions, dilute it 10 times with water.

Country work
If you are into gardening, we recommend reading the articles on our website:

• Planting, picking and growing eggplant seedlings at home
• Planting and growing tomato seedlings at home: methods
• Weeds in the garden: varieties, names, control methods
• Green manure mustard - when to sow and dig: recommendations for a gardener

Do not use ash obtained from the combustion of household waste and wood that is coated with paint or varnish. During the combustion of such raw materials, a significant amount of carcinogens, heavy metals from lead, is released, which can deteriorate the quality of the soil. Such ash is not used in the garden.

Plant nutrition

Despite the fact that the general principles for processing horticultural crops are the same, the approach for specific types of plants has its own nuances.

cucumbers

We feed either by scattering or watering with a solution. Cucumbers are capricious and delicate, so they should be treated with ash no more than 4-6 times during the entire season. Additional application of the substance can be done during the general autumn digging of the garden.

Liquid version - 2 tablespoons per liter of water (infuse and filter), dry - a glass per square meter. To combat aphids, you can spray the leaves by adding laundry soap to the solution.

Tomatoes

To fertilize the tomatoes, pour one and a half cups of the product from the stove into a bucket of water. One stem requires half a liter of mixture for full development. We dig shallow grooves around it, fill it with liquid and level it with soil.

To prevent diseases, prepare the contents of the spray bottle: pour 3 cups of wood dust with water, boil for 30 minutes, cool and leave for 24 hours. Strain and dilute in a 10-liter bucket of water. Add 50 g of laundry soap. This will not only protect the tomatoes from diseases, but will also repel pests. If the plant suffers from slugs, simply scatter the ash near the roots and loosen the ground.

Important ! When fertilizing tomatoes, you should not combine the wood product with manure, since the ash neutralizes the nitrogen contained in the manure. Experts recommend fertilizing the soil with manure in the fall, and after winter with ash.

Pepper

An excellent food for peppers is ash mixed with nettle. Mix a tablespoon of powder and 10 tablespoons of burning shoots and add water. Leave for a day, strain, add to a 10-liter bucket of water and feed the seedlings.

If you are going to work with a spray bottle, you should reduce the concentration of the wood component so as not to burn the leaves. The water for spraying should be warm. Spray the mixture over the entire leaf - both on the outer and inner sides; the stem must also be treated.

In addition, “gold from the stove” is brought into the ground during autumn digging.

Onion

Onions respond especially gratefully to the product of burning birch, which has a high potassium content. This fertilizer increases the amount of vermicompost in the soil, particles of plant origin rot faster in it and the soil becomes more fertile.

If a wood product is used, onion heads last longer and do not rot. The ash contains potassium, which is extremely important for onions. If it is deficient, it turns yellow and dries, and yellow spots are visible on the arrows.

Onions are treated with a woody substance at the stage of preparing leek seeds (soak for six hours in a mixture of powder, 1 tsp, and water). Bulbs intended for planting are sprinkled with ash the day before.

Fertilizer is applied in the form of:

• two-day infusion (250 grams per 10 liters of water - at the root);
• daily infusion for spraying against pests (100 grams per liter of water);
• dry sprinkles (100 grams per sq. m.).

Garlic

The fungus, which often attacks garlic heads, disappears if the bed is treated with a mixture of oven dust and soap diluted in plain water. This can be an elementary solution (100 grams of ash per 10-liter bucket of water), or it can be a decoction (pour 20 g of powder with water, boil for half an hour - and dilute it in the same bucket).

Treatment takes place twice a month or as needed when diseases, pests or signs of micronutrient deficiencies appear. To prevent powdery mildew, garlic is treated in the second decade of June with a decoction, to which an additional 50 g of laundry soap is added.

Let us remind you that, along with fertilizer, one of the most effective means of prevention is timely weeding of garlic.

Potato

When using a wood burning product, potatoes are less affected by the Colorado potato beetle, tubers contain more starch and are not susceptible to late blight. When the gardening season comes to an end and the potato patch has been harvested, it's time to think about the soil. If the soil is clayey, during autumn digging, 100 grams per sq. m are applied; if it is sandy, the procedure is carried out in the spring.

Before planting, sprouted tubers should be dusted with ash: a kilogram of granular product is scattered onto a bag of potatoes. At the time of planting, 40 g of suspension is added to each hole. When the first flowers appear on the stems, half a glass of the substance is poured under the root.

If fertilizing is done with a solution, dilute one and a half glasses in a bucket of water. We water in the morning so that moisture does not remain near the growing tubers overnight.

Cabbage

Cabbage seedlings will be less susceptible to slug invasion if you periodically apply an ash decoction or scatter dust from the stove around the plants. If the weather is not pleasant, the rains do not stop, treatment should be carried out more often than in the dry, hot summer.

When planting seedlings, 40-50 grams of the product are poured into each hole. This will protect the crop from diseases such as clubroot and blackleg. When digging up the soil at the end of the gardening season, add 100 grams per square meter to the cabbage bed.

Carrots, beets

Gardeners always have beets and carrots nearby: they are sown at the same time and harvested on the same day. Often the beds are nearby. It is not surprising that the proportions of fertilizers required here are almost the same. This is fully true for ash compositions.

When the bed is dug up in anticipation of sowing seeds, add a glass of powder per square meter. If you sprinkle the substance on already dug up soil, it may form a crust. In this case, it will be more than problematic for the seeds to break through to the light.

As soon as the first shoots appear, we again sprinkle the beds with woody substance. Immediately water the seedlings generously so that the fertilizing seeps into the root crops. This approach will not only fertilize the soil, but also protect the crop from pests.

Zucchini

If the land intended for planting zucchini has a high clay content, add washed river sand, a tablespoon of superphosphate and three tablespoons of ash per square meter.

Before planting, squash seeds are soaked in a liter jar of water, where 2 tablespoons of wood combustion product are diluted. When green peppers appear on the stalks, water the bushes with a mixture of urea (1 tablespoon), wood product (2 cups) and 10 liters of water.

If the leaves are affected by brown spots or begin to turn yellow, they can be poured with a solution of 200 g of powder in a 10-liter bucket of water. In dry form, the medicine is sent from the oven into the grooves around the root of the squash.

Strawberry

Wood fertilizer is allowed in the strawberry bed three times per season: at the beginning, when the snow melts and the top layer of the earth warms up a little in the early spring sun, after harvesting the berries, and in the fall, during the global digging of the entire garden.

When the first green leaves break through the layer of last year's foliage and gardeners begin to clean and loosen the bed, it's time to add sulfur suspension. Approximately 15 grams of the substance not only stimulates more active growth of greenery, but also prevents the occurrence of gray rot.

When the last strawberry has left the garden bed and the harvest is sent to be preserved in jars in the form of compote and jam, the bush does not cease to exist. It is during this period that the buds of the next harvest are born and the roots grow. Each bush should be spilled generously with an ash solution or infusion.

Traditional fertilizer in the autumn is no different from other crops: a glass of powder per square meter of soil will allow strawberries to survive winter frosts and snowfalls.

Grape

The climbing plant does not like frequent intrusion into its world: ash additives can be added no more than four times per season. The first - sprinkling - is carried out in early spring. The second - at the beginning of summer for preventive purposes. If signs of disease appear on the leaves, you can spray the plant in July.

Grape processing is carried out in the evening after sunset. 350 g of powder is diluted in a liter of water, infused for 24 hours and stored in a cool cellar. The infusion should be used within a month. Before spraying, dilute the concentrate in five parts of water and add grated laundry soap so that the spray lingers on the foliage.

The last treatment is carried out in the fall after the grapes are removed from the branches. Each root is shed abundantly with water in anticipation of wintering; we pour 350 g of ash into the last bucket for each trunk. It is enough to carry out autumn fertilizing once every three to four years.

Trees and bushes

At the time of planting the seedlings, a mixture of soil with 100 grams of woody matter should be added to the hole. This feeding allows the roots to quickly adapt to a new place, air flows freely to the root system.

If shrubs and trees have been growing on the site for several years, to prevent diseases and saturate the plant with potassium, phosphorus and calcium, it is enough to fertilize them once every three to four years.

This can be done either by adding a couple of kilograms of “gold from the stove” to the grooves around the trunk, or by generously spilling the area around the trunk, adding 450 grams of wood dust to the last bucket.

Flowers

Feeding flowers always has two goals: to grow a stem that will support the weight of the inflorescence, and to grow luxurious buds.

Annuals are fed a couple of times during the summer: 20 days after planting to strengthen the stems, and at the moment the buds appear, to stimulate their development and prolong the life cycle. Perennials are fertilized three times, including the application of ash before wintering the flowers. When planting, flowers are not fertilized.

Methods of feeding - sprinkling, watering with a 2-day infusion (10 g per liter), spraying (20 g per liter). Flowers are fed either early in the morning, before the sun has risen, or late in the evening, when it has already set.

Indoor plants are fertilized using the same methods, adjusted for the area occupied by the soil.

>Recipes for using ash solution

There are different concentrations of solution or infusion of ash for use in various situations: feeding vegetables, flowers, treating pests.

Top dressing from nettles and ash

Fresh nettle is often used to make “green manure”. This infusion of fresh nettle grass and other weeds (shepherd's purse, tansy) is prepared for 5-7 days, adding the Baikal preparation or a little yeast (fresh bread or crackers) to speed up fermentation.

To increase the effect of fertilizing, add ash to the container with grass, about 200 g per 15 liters.

Before use, the finished infusion is diluted 7 times with clean water. It is used to feed all vegetable crops, except garlic, onions, and legumes. When burning plant debris on the site, be sure to collect cooled ashes. It should be stored in paper bags in a dry place. Moistening the ash leads to a decrease in the concentration of potassium and other useful substances.