FROM ASH TO PLANTS

For a while I have been wondering what the ash I pile up in my garden could do for plants in the garden. I burn dry leaves, wood and other organic materials in the garden resulting in a pile of ash. I ensure that I do not burn them together with other wastes like plastic. Sometimes I collect some of the ash I have piled up and deposit it in flower beds in the garden. I put it in the flower beds without knowing its value to the plants in terms of nutrients. It was not until I did my last two posts. In researching the two posts I got to know that from ash of vegetation plants can get two vitally important nutrients. These nutrients are potassium and phosphorus. Well, another thing I have learnt is that piling up ash as I do is not good because it could leech salts into the ground when it rains.

By ash I mean the white/grey powdery stuff that remains after burning the dry leaves, wood etc. Ash contain other nutrients as well. Ash contains both macronutrients as well as micronutrients. Some of the other nutrients are calcium and magnesium. The nutrients I have mentioned so far are macronutrients.

In this post I am going to focus my attention on how the nutrients are extracted from ash into the plant, and thereby providing materials for the generation of energy and life.

Plants get their nutrients through their roots from soil. Nutrients like phosphorus and potassium need water before they can flow to where the roots are. Phosphorus and potassium as elements are elusive. They are found in compounds. They combine with other elements to form compounds.

Nutrients have to be soluble before they can be absorbed by plants. When they get to the surface of the roots, intake of nutrients by plants takes place through absorptive hair-like projections on the root. The absorptive hair-like structures on the root stick to soil particles thereby creating an area of interaction between soil and plant. A chemistry have to occur before phosphorous and potassium leave soil into plants. Ions of the nutrients (phosphorous and potassium) enter the hair-like structures on the roots to enter the plant. It is speculated that certain molecules in plant cells act as carriers of nutrient ions from the soil into plants. Ion is an electrically charged particle or an atom that has lost or gained electron. A little diagram follows:

Ash   →   Soil  →  Phosphorus/Potassium   →  Water and Phosphorus/Potassium  →  Roots (absorption)

When phosphorus, potassium and water enter the roots of the plants they are transported by tissues (Xylem) to the leaves for photosynthesis to take place. Photosynthesis provides energy for plants to live and develop.

This post is simply saying that from the leaves and wood (for that matter other wood waste) you gather from your garden you can get phosphorus and potassium among others, from the ash they generate when burnt. The ash if properly applied it should provide phosphorus and potassium, life-giving nutrients, to plants in your garden. The phosphorus and potassium are absorbed by the plants through their roots from the soil. The nutrients so absorbed are needed and used by the plants to provide and sustain their energy requirements and life.

The lesson I am imparting to you is that using organic nutrients for plants reduces the use of chemical fertilizers which leave poison in the soil. Use of organic nutrients supports, and is in tune with the push for a clean and balanced natural environment.