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Any experienced gardener will agree with the fact that to get good tomato yields, they definitely need a variety of fertilizing. It would seem that in stores and on the Internet you can now find fertilizers for every taste and budget. They can be mineral or organic, or even complex, including a variety of growth and development stimulants. But for some reason, like hundreds of years before, ordinary ash is still popular as a top dressing for tomatoes.
It is probably not for nothing that most gardeners prefer to fertilize their tomatoes with ash, because the quality of its components can be monitored personally, while no one will tell you exactly what was used to make certain mineral fertilizers.
Ash, its composition and types
Ash obtained by burning various organic materials has been used as fertilizer for plants for a very long time.
However, back in the 19th century, an approximate formula was derived that indicated the approximate ratio of various substances found in 100 grams of wood ash.
This formula is very valuable for understanding what the real value of ash is, how fertilizers for tomatoes. Since different substances can be responsible for different processes in the life of plants, in this case tomatoes. Some are able to accelerate growth and development, others help in the fight against diseases, and others improve the quality of fruits.
Wood ash composition:
- Calcium carbonate -17%;
- Calcium silicate – 16.5%;
- Sodium orthophosphate – 15%;
- Calcium sulfate – 14%;
- Potassium orthophosphate – 13%;
- Calcium chloride – 12%;
- Magnesium carbonate – 4%;
- Magnesium sulfate - 4%;
- Magnesium silicate – 4%;
- Sodium chloride (Rock salt) – 0.5%.
Calcium and the role of its salts
Calcium is necessary for tomatoes throughout the entire growing season, its presence is important for the normal growth of seedlings and it helps to ensure balanced nutrition of tomato bushes until the end of fruiting.
Calcium carbonate is able to increase the speed of movement of various substances through plant cells and normalize the course of biochemical processes. Thus, when using wood ash as a fertilizer for tomatoes, active growth and accelerated ripening of tomatoes is observed.
Calcium silicate helps the active absorption of vitamins from the soil and other materials used for fertilizing. In addition, this substance, when combined with pectins, can glue cells together, holding them together.When using ash to feed tomatoes, this salt can help saturate the fruit with vitamins.
Calcium sulfate is usually included in superphosphate, which is one of the most popular mineral fertilizers. Moreover, when feeding tomatoes in the composition of ash, it has a less strong, but more long-term effect on tomato bushes than when contained in a mineral fertilizer.
Calcium chloride
Despite the fact that many sources deny the presence of chlorine in wood ash, this statement is not true. In fact, a small amount of chlorine is necessary for the normal development of tomatoes. Let's start with the fact that the green mass of tomato plants always contains at least 1% chlorine of its total weight. Calcium chloride is able to activate the formation of enzymes and have a positive effect on photosynthesis.
Thanks to this, ash can be used to combat many diseases caused by stem and root rot, as well as to improve the health of the earth.
Interestingly, the presence of calcium chloride in the soil also allows the conversion of ammonium nitrate into a nitric acid salt, which plays a decisive role in plant development. Thus, although ash does not contain nitrogen in its composition, its use as a fertilizer for tomatoes makes it possible to additionally supply the tomatoes with a certain amount of active nitrogen.
Potassium and phosphorus
These two elements are contained in ash in smaller volumes than calcium, but in sufficient quantities to normalize metabolic processes in tomato plants.
Potassium orthophosphate can help regulate the water balance of plants. If there is not enough of this substance in tomatoes, then ammonia will accumulate in the roots and leaves, which inhibits plant growth. Potassium is also responsible for abundant bloom and fruiting of tomatoes. And phosphorus directly affects the functioning of the roots.
Sodium orthophosphate is especially useful for tomatoes, since they can be classified as natriphiles, that is, plants that respond positively to the presence of sodium, especially in conditions where there is an insufficient supply of potassium. In addition, sodium orthophosphate is able to activate some enzymes that do not react with other substances from the ash.
Magnesium
Wood ash contains three magnesium compounds. In general, magnesium is part of chlorophyll and is a participant in plant photosynthesis. Magnesium usually acts as a “partner” of potassium, and together they are involved in the production of energy by plants.
Magnesium sulfate, in addition, takes part in the formation of carbohydrates, which become the “building blocks” for the formation of cellulose and starch.
A lack of magnesium causes slow growth of tomatoes, delayed flowering, and tomatoes do not ripen.
Types of ash
Above was the formula for the approximate composition of wood ash. But besides this, other types of ash obtained by burning various organic materials can be used to feed tomatoes. Their composition will differ somewhat from each other. The table below shows the approximate content of essential nutrients depending on the type of ash. This information may be useful for choosing the optimal fertilizer for tomatoes in your conditions.
Ash | Content of main elements in% | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Calcium | Phosphorus | Potassium | |
Deciduous trees | 30 | 3,5 | 10,0 |
Coniferous trees | 35 | 2,5 | 6,0 |
Peat | 20 | 1,2 | 1,0 |
Cereal straw | 4 — 8 | 4,0 – 8,0 | 10,0 – 20,0 |
Buckwheat straw | 18,5 | 2,5 | 30,0 – 35,0 |
Sunflower stems | 18 — 19 | 2,5 | 36,0 – 40,0 |
Slantsevaya | 65 — 80 | 0,5 – 1,5 | 1,0 – 1,5 |
For example, if you are interested in the maximum potassium content in the ash, then instead of firewood you need to burn a certain amount of sunflower stems or buckwheat straw.
Methods of using ash
How can you use ash as a fertilizer for tomatoes? There are several ways, each of which is good in its own way.
Using dry ash
The easiest way is to add ash to the ground:
- When making soil mixture for seedlings;
- When planting seedlings in the ground;
- For sprinkling around tomato bushes during fruiting period.
This will help loosen the soil, serve as additional protection against fungal diseases and, of course, provide the sprouts with essential nutrients.
During the period of planting tomato seedlings in the ground, you can either first add ash to the soil (in an amount of about 200 g per 1 square meter), or pour it into each hole when planting (about two tablespoons of the substance are consumed per bush).
During the flowering of tomatoes, as well as during the fruiting period, you can regularly feed the tomatoes by sprinkling the ground around the bushes with ash. This procedure must be carried out after rain or heavy watering, every two weeks, using about 50 g per bush. This feeding will help make the tomatoes sweet and ensure their health and growth.
Finally, sprinkling ash on the plants themselves is used to repel pests and diseases.The most effective way is to mix ash with tobacco dust in equal proportions and dust the tomato bushes with this mixture several times. The procedure must be carried out in calm weather, and in greenhouses you can simply close all doors and windows. The product works well against the larvae of Colorado potato beetles, slugs and cruciferous flea beetles.
Preparation of ash solution
Ash as fertilizer for tomatoes, most often used in the form of an ash solution. It is used mainly for periodic feeding of already mature tomato bushes. It's quite simple to prepare. 100 grams of ash are diluted in ten liters of water at room temperature, left for several hours, and the resulting solution is watered at the root of the tomato bushes. For one bush, it is enough to use about half a liter of ash solution.
Only the concentration of the solution will be slightly different. First, the ash must be thoroughly sifted to get rid of excess impurities. Then in two liters of hot water you need to dilute 1 tablespoon with the top of the ash and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. Afterwards the solution needs to be filtered and it is ready. You can soak tomato seeds in it for several hours, or you can water young sprouts when the first two true leaves appear.
After watering tomatoes with an ash solution, its effect in the form of increased plant growth is observed within a week. A solution for foliar feeding with ash acts even faster, while it is somewhat more difficult to prepare. You need to take 300 grams of carefully sifted ash and dissolve it in three liters of water.The resulting mixture must be boiled for 30 minutes. Then water is added to it so that the total volume is 10 liters. Add about 50 g of laundry soap to the diluted mixture and let it brew for about a day. This mixture is good for spraying tomato bushes as an emergency solution for a lack of nutrients or to repel pests, such as aphids.
To prepare them, you need to pour two glasses of ash with two liters of hot water, leave for two days and strain. Add 10 g to the resulting infusion boric acid, 10 g of iodine, dilute the mixture 10 times and spray the resulting solution on tomato bushes during flowering.
Herb tea
Very often, ash is used when feeding tomatoes with “herbal tea”. First, a variety of herbs that grow on the site and nearby are collected: dandelion, clover, nettle, gooseberry, plantain and others. Fill any container to ¾ of its volume with the prepared herbs, fill it with water and cover with a lid. The herbs are infused in this form for about a week. When a characteristic odor appears, about 300 grams of ash is poured into the container and everything is thoroughly mixed. One liter of the resulting infusion is added to a bucket of water and the tomato bushes are watered with this mixture. This fertilizer, as a rule, contains almost the entire periodic table in a form that is easily digestible for plants.
Conclusion
Ash is the most accessible type of fertilizer for most gardeners. And given its organic origin and versatility in use, it is not surprising that for many years it has not lost its popularity among everyone who is in one way or another connected with the earth.
