Subject: Re: gardening chemistry question
From: drmoore@nsp.mail.gte.net (Dennis R. Moore)
Organization: gte.net
Date: 11 Oct 1997 14:43:10 GMT
Message-ID: <MOD$971011.25688@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$971010.17474@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
On Fri, 10 Oct 97 11:56:30, #gondwana wrote:
>
>What would happen if equal parts coffee ground and fireplace ashes were
>placed together (with nothing else) and allowed to decompose?
>
>True, the resulting product wouldn't be nutritionally complete (or would
>it?), but might it be useful as a supplement (like, say, fish emulsion)?
>What would the chemical make up of the product be exactly, from a
>fertilizer standpoint (i.e. NPK and trace mins).
>
>Wood ashes are very alkaline, but very high in potash. Coffee grinds are
>(I have heard . . . please correct me if I am wrong here) highly acidic,
>but nutritionally empty. Combining the two, I am guessing, would
>neutralize the severe alkalinity of the potsh in the ashes, and maybe
>make it mose useful. In fact you need to actually make the mixture
>slightly acid in order for the nutrients to be available to the roots of
>many plants.
>
>
>Any comments, ideas?
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>David Deutsch
The average fertilizer composition of wood ash is 1.8% P205, 5.5% K20,
23% Ca, 2.2% Mg. 100 pounds of wood ash has an effect on soil reaction
equivalent to 57 pounds of Calcium Carbonate. Fresh coffee grounds
contain 1.84% N, .03% P205, .12% K20. I could find no data on the acid
equivalent for coffee grounds. BTW, as I'm sure you know, "P" is the
symbol for Phosphorous, not for Potassium as a previous poster
suggested.
--
Dennis R. Moore (remove "nsp" from address to reply via e-mail)