Ashes of wood-burning ovens. I Effects of using wood Ash as an alkaline amendmer in acid soils of southern Chile

Abstract

Wood combustion has become an energy source of growing importance for Chile. As a byproduct, wood ash offers a growing potential resource for use as a soil amendmer. Ashes are inorganic, mostly composed of mineral elements present in the wood tissue, such as K, Ca, Mg, or others. These oxidized elements hydrolize with water to form alkaline hydroxides. This effect, when wood ash is applied to acid soils as an amendmer, raises pH one or more units depending upon the quantity of ash added. As a result, use of wood ash as a soil amendmer is valuable to regulate soil pH and promote plant growth.