Before going to the store to buy chemical products for your plants, check what is around you, that is, what nature gives you, in order to practice the ecological gardening, an increasingly popular alternative that is adopted by a growing number of people.
In ecological gardening, ashes are very well used as they have many uses. It is a natural product that you can use on your plants and it comes from the combustion of wood. In the countryside, this input is very popular, although few people in cities incorporate it into the garden.
pest control
While the wood ash has various uses in landscaping, one of the most common is pest and disease prevention. It is a product widely used in organic farming because protects plants from worms and fungi.
If you notice whitish spots on the plants, it is likely that a fungus has attacked it. You can sprinkle the ash on the top and bottom of the leaves or dissolve it first in water (5 tablespoons of ash in a liter of water) and then apply it to the plant. It is also common to place it at the base of the stem to serve as a barrier to the advance of earthworms.
The amount of wood ash to use will be in relation to the size of the plant and the number of leaves of it.
Fertilizer
Another reason why wood ash It is widely used in the ecological gardening it is because it is a great natural fertilizer for plants because of his high potassium content, which improves the quality of the plant in general, both the leaves and the flowers and fruits. It is usually added during the soil preparation phase, dusting between 0,5 and 1 kg of ash per square meter of soil. Once sprinkled, you have to mix well to integrate them.
Remember to use the ashes only when they are very cold and avoid dusting the ground on very windy days. On the other hand, remember that wood ashes increase the PH of the soil so avoid this fertilizer if the soil has a PH higher than 7,0.