BioChar/Charcoal added to soil. Opinions?

Have been a working a bit with this and wonder if anyone on board has experience with using charcoal (real charcoal, not ashes and not stuff from the barbeque briquets). Would love to hear victories and defeats and lessons learned....

TIA Carol

I have never heard of using charcoal, where do you get it and how do you use it. I have a wood stove and do use lots of ashes with good results.

I tend to think that the "science" for bio-char is limited. I also think that there probably is some need for a companion like shards or maybe ceramics to enhance bio-char.

To find proven victories might be hard.

Hmmmm guess I shall just have to stick with what I am experimenting with. I do know that soaking charcoal in, say, fish fertilizer (diluted with water) gives a wonderful slow release of the fertilizer that won't leach out and won't get bound up in clay. Will post anything else I learn....

I think that Amazon bio-char was linked with shards. The following link has an interesting twist underThe Use of Pot Shards in Green Manuring....about half way down the page.

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/HI/HI4.html


I am wondering how soaked EM-X ceramic terra powder might be of benefit.

Biochar's been addressed a few times here on DG. There's some pretty good info:

http://davesgarden.com/tools/tags/tag.php?tag=biochar

Yes, it has been discussed before.....but do we have much more than here-say? Where are the "double blind studies"....especially with shards also? For that matter, where are the "double blind studies" for moon sign gardening? That one is an old following but it would look like there would be more definitive proofs by now.

Sorry Indy. Some of don't lurk here and haven't been up to date on all the subjects. I do believe double blind studies have been done somewhere...if not, why is there so much really great data on it. One can read papers and studies...I am asking for personal experiences and opinions. I learn much more that way....

Indy Wrote

"I am wondering how soaked EM-X ceramic terra powder might be of benefit."

It's exciting. I'm new to Dave's Garden, and I really am an engineer. When working, I make fertilizer.

Terra Preta, the Dark Earth of the Amazon. Cornell, one of the pre-eminent agricultural Universities in the world, has researched it thoroughly, as have many others. See http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/research/terra%20preta/terrapretanet.html for example.

The soil in the Amazon (map http://www.gerhardbechtold.com/TP/BrazilTP3.php ) is shallow and poor, yet the natives before the Spanish invasion were able to support huge civilizations using the Terra Preta principles. If we used it in the US corn districts, it might eliminate the enormous dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

My guess is the secret is biochar AND microbial action.

"My guess is the secret is biochar AND microbial action"

Yes, I agree somewhat. Seems to me it all comes down to putting/keeping life in the soil, eh? It takes a Living Earth to support one.

WELCOME TO DG, Enginer. I've read quite a bit about bio-char, especially anything by Cornell. I'll click your other link and read that later this evening. Thanks!

What kind of "fertilizer" do you make, by the way? Would love to hear more!

Again, Welcome. See you around the site!

Shoe

Yes, Welcome Engineer! Will read your link too. As Shoe knows, DH is involved in getting Biochar and Fish Hydrolosate projects going...small now but hopefully big production soon. I am using biochar mixed in my medias for the vegetable garden... I started this thread because I understand the "concept" but am curious about actual hands on experiences other have had.

Would love to know of the fertilizer you make.

Biochar perking in compost is awesome!!!!!

Charcoal as I understand it is a very broad term. The best charcoals, actually carbon used in laboratories or for marine or freshwater aquarium fishes can be fairly expensive because of the materials used and the processing procedure. The cheap stuff made from charcoal has limited capabilities in removing harmful substance and is not generally recommended for the more advanced aquarists. I purchase the good stuff and save it once it has performed its task of removing dissolve nutrients from the water such as nitrogen and phosphates. Even the good stuf has a limit to its capacity to remove nutrients which can only be quantified by testing the aquarium water. I just change mine on a routine basis and save the carbon for possibly potted plants. I really haven't had any experience here and thought you all might have some suggestions. I also save diatomaceous earth which is also used to clarifiy aquarium water. It too seems to have some benefits in gardening practices as I understand it. Since both of these compounds once used contain a small amounts of nutrients, I would presume there may be some value in adding to germination mixes. Any thoughts would be appreciated...???

AlohaHoya, as and added thought, since you seem to be on something of a comercial basis, you might consider contacting your local Aquarium or aqurium businesses for their spent carbon. Sort of like collecting coffee grounds from Starbucks! Just a thought.

We have a population that probably supports 5 large aquariums, and one pet store that sells them. Not a hot item.

Charcoal is also used by people with gas problems as the minute particles in a pill attract and carry away the stuff causing it. I believe charcoal is charcoal. It is very hard to breakdown. I would use your charcoal in your garden....

AlohaHoya, big garden and not that much charcoal. What are you suggesting I use it for? I am still not clear on its application here.

Activated carbon and charcoal are not exactly the same thing, but both have immense internal surface areas and lots of pore volume. The devil is in the details. The pores have to be the correct size to trap toxics in an aquarium, for instance.

Engineers like activated carbon because the properties are reproducible. Many uses which trap volatiles and organics see the carbon "burned off" over and over and reused, until non-volatiles plug up too many of the pores.

But we are talking about plants. As I understand it, the charcoal in terra preta was made by charring organic matter by arranging some kind of fire with insufficient oxygen. This is, in fact, how a charcoal kiln works.

The microbe mix in terra preta is diverse, but I have always thought it took plant roots and root acids to actually dissolve charcoal carbon. Research proceeds on this even now, to understand the biochemistry. One thing we know, these active soils chelate nutrients and make them automatically "slow release" instead of letting them wash thru the soil and be lost. In areas where fertilizers are banned, this might be a defense against those laws.

As I understand it, the optimum mix of charcoal to soil is about 10 to 20%...and if soaked in Fish Hydrolosate the charcoal acts as a slow release of nutrients which are all chelated. Use it where you want the best growing... I use it mostly in my vegie beds!!!

Carol