Ruud Kleinpaste: Protecting your soil from severe frost

Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

You’ve heard me talk about the winter months for Yeeaaars! The big message is one of slowing things down and protecting your soil from heavy frosts.

Keeping everything protected end give the earth a rest.
Seeing most plants are now absolutely dormant they have shut down the growth; That means: no more taking up fertilisers (N-P-K) into the root systems – and no more transporting these goodies into the leaves to help with photosynthesis.
Besides: the sun is basically low over the horizon which reduces the amount of energy that comes down on earth and onto the plants.

But there are some plants that are forming flower buds right now: Cymbidium orchids have taken in a heap of nutrients during summer and early autumn – especially Nitrogen. It resulted in new bulbs and new stalks, from which the flower spikes will grow.
Now’s the time to turn everything into flower buds and a little bit of K (Potash) will keep the buds in good shape, ready to blossom in late winter.
An Orchid Flowering fertiliser (high in potash) will ensure a decent display in a month or so.

A few of the most common questions I get on talk-back radio are about this “potash”.

Question 1. “why is my fruit tree not producing any fruit?”
The answer is found in the make-up of fertiliser regime: The Potash (K) is used by the plant for reproduction; it lets the plant grow Flowers and subsequently Fruit.

That means that many of our flowering and fruiting plants would really appreciate a dollop of Potash in spring and early summer. I often suggest a fertiliser with a higher percentage of “K”; stuff such as Tomato fertiliser or Flowering fertiliser.
The Wet & Forget “Seaweed Tea” is a liquid fertiliser that brings the potash in an easy to absorb formulation.

Question 2) “Can I use the ash from my fireplace to deliver Potash?”
Yes indeed you can!

The origin of the word ”Pot-ash” indicates that the ashes from your fireplace and Ultra-Low Emissions Burner is quite high in Kalium (the word for “Potassium Carbonate” used in Germanic Languages in the 17hundreds).
It’s a long and chemical story, but we ended up naming Kalium “potash”.

The way to spread the potash over the soil underneath flower-bearing or fruit-bearing plants, shrubs or trees is literally by spreading it on a windy day when the tiny particles are dispersed. Make sure you don’t put a too heavy load on the soil, as the white powder could “set” like a very thin, brittle concrete layer.

So: little bits at-a-time; and before a good rain shower would be perfect timing! The droplets will wet the potash and push it lower into the topsoil. A good dose of water from your hose will also spread it around.
Potash doesn’t stay in the soil profile for very long periods of time, I understand, but 3 months is all you need for the roots to wake up in spring to start feasting on the Kalium

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