Biochar

If you do a search on "Biochar" you'll find lots of threads about it - including many by Carbon Gold who are one of the producers of Biochar. There are other threads too by members of this Forum.
I haven't used it myself so can't comment on whether its effective or not.

I actually attended a talk last night by my colleague Dr Francis Rayns from Garden Organic at the Nottingham Organic Growers group. Plug plug.

The reason it retains water is due to it's molecular structure; it has holes in it. It also contains phosphorus so that's why it is good for root growth.

I don't doubt that it works but so do lots of other things, most of which you can easily make yourself.

Aye, personally, I'd say use a mulch. Much cheaper.

I always think it sounds like something you order from one of those posh coffee shops, large cup of biochar please barista........double decaf with a shot of soya milk. No? Just me then.


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Decaf???? ......soya milk???..............yuk you're welcome to it (shudders) I'd rather drink a mug of compost tea .........

Or maybe worm tea?


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I did a bit of a trial with it this year, and while the plants (cucumbers) planted with it initially seemed to do a lot better than the ones without, once they were planted out in the tunnel, the ones without grew bigger and produced more fruit, than the ones with it. Inconclusive I'd say, because conditions weren't identical once in the tunnel.

But still interesting. Thanks.

Made damson jam, I had forgotten how delicious it is

Biochar is defined as "charcoal not intended for burning". That's all it is. This means pure char, without additives as in many BBQ charcoals. "Biochar compost" is just potting/planting compost mixed with biochar, and whatever other stuff the maker has added.

Biochar has important features.

First, it doesn't break down, unless what you do erodes it unnaturally. One addition works year after year and should not degrade. This doesn't mean you should only add it once. There doesn't seem to be an upper limit. Indeed windblown seeds happily colonise a plain charcoal heap if any nutrients have settled in it!

Second, it preserves the cellular structure of the woody plant it was made from. This gives it a huge internal surface area (think "football pitches per kilo"!) and a structure like a sponge. And this is its great benefit to gardeners - water and nutrient retention. If you add goodness to a biochar soil, you aren't going to lose it quickly.

Third, using it is 'carbon negative'. Think: the plant grew by fixing CO2 from the air; the plant was baked until all its soft tissue was gone, just a carbon skeleton left behind; the skeleton is now in your soil and is going nowhere for thousands of years, or until someone does something silly. The net effect is that using biochar removes carbon from the air permanently, unlike any other soil treatment.

There is a downside. Not with the stuff itself, but in sourcing it at low cost. You can buy it or make it, but making it the traditional way is a pollution disaster. You may be prosecuted. I expect Carbon Gold will respond to this and tell us how clean their biochar retorts are.

However, for the practically minded, there are ways and means. Less efficient, but not bad. Above all, you need a clean burn that will consume all the gases. You can buy a "wood gas stove", or there are videos online about making your own. To get biochar, you quench the char as soon as the flames die (all the gas is gone). Lots of steam, needs two people for safety, etc, etc. When cool, tip it into something damp and nutritious to soak up.

To apply, there's lots of advice, but strategically you are aiming for the feeding root zone. That may well depend on your planting goals. Tree Experts use an air-spade to incorporate char into a sick tree's drip zone. Great to watch (I want one for Christmas) but not exactly an amateur thing.

I'm testing SoilFixer SF90 this year see Alans Allotment: Marshalls Potato Pots & Gro Kits for SoilFixer Testing

Oh eck my trunk hurts..........

I know that charcoal is added to bulb compost to supposedly 'sweeten' the compost in anaerobic conditions with no drainage holes, but no idea of the chemistry involved.