BioChar

dakilla187

dakilla187

Well-Known Member
Anyone use biochar?

Its quite pricey for what it is and I have been thinking of trying it out. Im pretty satisfied with my output as is and im not sure if I would see a significant differance with the added expense...

Can anyone add any input to the use of biochar?
 
jrGrow420

jrGrow420

Active Member
biochar is charcoal taken to a higher temp

It's like fine honeycomb which is great to house bacteria

It has a pole magnetic pull (trying to sound intelligent, bare with me) which actually magnetically/Molucully pulls in food stuff and holds it in your medium

you can use it at any ratio, even 100% but it goes ph up, i think best at %20 for weed

You should inoculate it with a wormcasting tea

it will last forever
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
dakilla187 said:
Anyone use biochar?

Its quite pricey for what it is and I have been thinking of trying it out. Im pretty satisfied with my output as is and im not sure if I would see a significant differance with the added expense...

Can anyone add any input to the use of biochar?
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it's basically a one time investment for a soil mix... especially in a no-till environment. I would run no more than 5-10% for the mix. KISorganics.com has really nice biochar. The company they use has done a lot of work in formulating their product. If you have any questions about, just email Tad at KISorganics. He'll definitely respond.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I run a coco mix with biochar in it for buffering- it worked brilliantly!

Tupur Royal Gold. Good stuff
 
jrGrow420

jrGrow420

Active Member
ttystikk said:
I run a coco mix with biochar in it for buffering- it worked brilliantly!

Tupur Royal Gold. Good stuff
Click to expand...
that's what i do, add it to coco just for the bacteria to live in and hold feed better, it makes it like a soil but without the density of soil.

Works a treat for me, and the guy above said it's a one time investment, it is, it last forever in soil never breaks down.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
jrGrow420 said:
that's what i do, add it to coco just for the bacteria to live in and hold feed better, it makes it like a soil but without the density of soil.

Works a treat for me, and the guy above said it's a one time investment, it is, it last forever in soil never breaks down.
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Yeah, the stuff buffers really well too, so nutrient and pH imbalances don't affect the plants as much.
 
L

loco41

Well-Known Member
Would you guys recommend 100% natural lump charcoal, like the cowboy brand stuff? I attempted my first run at making my own biochar in an old round wood burning stove. Its small and probably not the most efficient, but burned up a couple trash cans full of small branches and yard litter. I ended up with about two gallons of end product. I'm just wondering if crushing up a couple of bags of that stuff and charging it would be beneficial until I can start making more of my own.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Ok, i did some research and haven’t find anything negative about using activated carbon so, i’m using activated carbon that is produced for filtering.

I soak a couple of handfuls in a nutrient mix and mix it in to my medium with wormcastings. Let it cook. I haven’t had any negative results and to me it sounds like a good way to recirculate the materials.

I use clean stuff but if you want to reclaim the carbon inside your airfilter that should work just as good.

Whatever you choose to do, definitely soak it in with nutrients or add it to your compost if you have one going. Otherwise it’ll just strip nutrients from your mix.
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
loco41 said:
Would you guys recommend 100% natural lump charcoal, like the cowboy brand stuff? I attempted my first run at making my own biochar in an old round wood burning stove. Its small and probably not the most efficient, but burned up a couple trash cans full of small branches and yard litter. I ended up with about two gallons of end product. I'm just wondering if crushing up a couple of bags of that stuff and charging it would be beneficial until I can start making more of my own.
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That's just wood ash and very alkaline, (high pH), so use sparingly but a little is good for the plants.

Charcoal is made by heating the hell out of wood without oxygen so there is no combustion. Basically baking all the organics out of the wood leaving the charcoal which is mostly carbon and whatever mineral salts were absorbed by the trees as they grew.

Charcoal made from bone is even better for plants from what I've heard.
 
4

4ftRoots

Well-Known Member
loco41 said:
Would you guys recommend 100% natural lump charcoal, like the cowboy brand stuff? I attempted my first run at making my own biochar in an old round wood burning stove. Its small and probably not the most efficient, but burned up a couple trash cans full of small branches and yard litter. I ended up with about two gallons of end product. I'm just wondering if crushing up a couple of bags of that stuff and charging it would be beneficial until I can start making more of my own.
Click to expand...
This was the first biochar I used and still my most productive. My new mixes contain horticultural biochar but I actually see more productivity with lump charcoal. I ferment for weeks with alfalfa and kelp to get it ready for my soil. I never ever mix more than 10%. I found a video a while back showing that more than 10% is counterproductive. Additionally, you can add clay aeration to create a Terra Pretta like soil. I use my soils for everything from cacti to trees, they all love it the same.
 
L

loco41

Well-Known Member
4ftRoots said:
This was the first biochar I used and still my most productive. My new mixes contain horticultural biochar but I actually see more productivity with lump charcoal. I ferment for weeks with alfalfa and kelp to get it ready for my soil. I never ever mix more than 10%. I found a video a while back showing that more than 10% is counterproductive. Additionally, you can add clay aeration to create a Terra Pretta like soil. I use my soils for everything from cacti to trees, they all love it the same.
Click to expand...
Nice, thanks for the info. I ended up just making a few batches of some homemade "biochar" in an old over-sized kettle type thing hah. It was a nice deep bowl shape so as I was doing some yard work, I would add a little more litter to it and continue on with my work. I would continue adding material to it until it was about half way full of smoldering material, hoping to limit much of the oxygen working it's way down into the smoldering wood, then just let it smolder overnight or for a couple days. not truly sure what you would classify my end product as, but ended up just mixing it all into the compost bin outside. It is definitely present in the mixes I have now, but a very small amount, so I figure even if I butchered the process, it won't cause too much harm. I broke most of it up with a hammer, some pieces are still fairly large, but i am able to break these into smaller pieces by hand as I notice them and am mixing either the compost or soil mix it is in.

What is your process for "charging" it with the alfalfa and kelp? Do you just mix the kelp/alfalfa meal in with some water and let them soak together?
 
4

4ftRoots

Well-Known Member
loco41 said:
Nice, thanks for the info. I ended up just making a few batches of some homemade "biochar" in an old over-sized kettle type thing hah. It was a nice deep bowl shape so as I was doing some yard work, I would add a little more litter to it and continue on with my work. I would continue adding material to it until it was about half way full of smoldering material, hoping to limit much of the oxygen working it's way down into the smoldering wood, then just let it smolder overnight or for a couple days. not truly sure what you would classify my end product as, but ended up just mixing it all into the compost bin outside. It is definitely present in the mixes I have now, but a very small amount, so I figure even if I butchered the process, it won't cause too much harm. I broke most of it up with a hammer, some pieces are still fairly large, but i am able to break these into smaller pieces by hand as I notice them and am mixing either the compost or soil mix it is in.

What is your process for "charging" it with the alfalfa and kelp? Do you just mix the kelp/alfalfa meal in with some water and let them soak together?
Click to expand...
I've never had the ability to try homemade. I would imagine it is even better than lump charcoal with the ash that is blended with it. I made 2 big beds outdoors at my families house this last year and added maybe 1% biochar to 1 bed. It definitely out produced the other even when using fresh compost so I don't think quantity is that important. It really supports soil life well so even a little bit is going to go a long way.

Yeah that pretty much it. I'm big on fermented teas because it is a full breakdown of the plant material. Charcoal has a huge surface area and it attracts cations better than clay. I use alfalfa so it doesn't steal nitrogen from my soil and kelp for the high mineral content. I let it go until it is really stinking then let it go a couple more weeks if I need it fast. Sometimes I pee in the tote to add a little love to it hahaha. I make it in 55 gallon totes and add maybe a cup of alfalfa and kelp.
 
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