wood ash as potassium supplement

i was told wood ash is a good organic soource of potassium. my question is as to how it is applied as a fertilizer. is the ash simply sprinkled onto the top-soil or is it supposed to be mixed in with the liquids when watering..?

The potash bump you get from woodash isnt very good compared to how much it affects the ph of your soil. You would be much better off finding a new alternative.

To answer your question, should you choose to use it:
Mix it into your soil and allow it to 'cook' for a month or so. Make sure to stir the mix every day or atleast every other day.

any idea how much of a ph increase i might expect from using woodash?

Depends on the ph of your starting/base soil and how much you try to apply to that base.

Here is a quick read for ya:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/woodash.html

thanks for the info it's good for general knowledge i guess.

my current plant is just for learning purposes really, i burned down a cup of cherry wood chips and mixed the ashes with a little less than 1/3 a cup of blood meal and 24 oz. of rainwater and am gonna try using that on my plant every other watering for a week or two and see what happens. if your interested in the results let me know and i'll keep you updated.

Keep us updated.

What was your starting soil?
Was it amended? if so, with what?
Do you know the ph of it?