Why use soot in the garden?

Is soot good for the garden, and if it is, what would you use it for?

 

Using soot in the organic garden
Could you please advise regarding the use of soot on an organic allotment; would its use deter slugs?


Soot is not recommended for use in the organic garden. Although it has been used by gardeners over the years, it has been found to contain toxins, which are easily leached into the soil. On contact with plants, soot can cause severe damage to the growing tissue. It is also possible to cause health problems to whoever is handling the material.
There are several products available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue that are recommended for slug deterrent. A useful leaflet 'Slug Control' is also available for 25p.

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Kedi-Gato, is soot from burning wood rather than coal have the same toxins? I always assumed it was safe.

 

We have a large fireplace and only burn wood. (We do have central heating too!) We put the ash in one of the three compost heaps but a few times have scattered it thinly directly in the garden. We have never used soot, actually didn't know that it could be used, always thought of it as being toxic, whether from wood, coal or anything else. So, we both advise against using it. The Garden Organic advises against it too. Don't chance it.

 

I can't see how soot from wood can be toxic. If decomposed wood is ok for gardens, wood smoke (soot) surely can't contain toxins that are not already present in any wood you add to a compost heap. Wood ash is recognised as beneficial to fruit and I save all our bonfire ash to use as a top dressing in late March.
When we had a coal fire I used to use soot by immersing hessian bags of it in water and then diluting it as a high nitrogen feed. I also used small amounts of soot mixed with compost when sowing carrots as a carrot fly deterrent. However it looks like horticultural science has moved on and identification of toxins has improved. I now have an excuse, other than age, for my greying hair

 

The "rum owd boys" where I come from used to weather soot by leaving it out in the rain before they put it round plants - especially leeks, if I remember right - and I think it was supposed to keep slugs off!

 

I guess what you say is true Dave W about wood ash being OK and so would wood soot. But we are so used to thinking that soot is toxic, from the old coal-fire days, that we can't see past this point. Also, can't see either of us s****ing soot out of our chimney even if it is beneficial. So I will withdraw my "Don't chance it" if anyone wants to try it.