I've grown red and black raspberries for 35 years and the it never fails to amaze me how much the plants produce. This year, with so much rain, they really came in big time.
They get a good dose of compost and compost tea each year but I have a question about wood ash. Raspberries are a great source of potassium in our diet so I wonder if, over the years, the soil potassium levels have significantly declined as the berries have been taken. I have a lot of wood ash from burning wood in the wood stove during the winter. The ash also contains lots of phosphorus and calcium from chicken, steak and rib bones that are thrown in the stove as well.
Has anyone who grows berries previously used wood ash as a fertilizer for them? If so, what kind of results did you get?
Thanks
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vermontkingdom
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CharlieBear
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Wood ash is potash not potassium, it is best to put it in the compost pile. Potassium is the most difficult of the n-p-k to put in the ground organically. There is crushed rock you can buy that is a good source of very slow release potassium, but it is only about 3 in value. Some use Fish meal, but that depletes the oceans further.