Amending soil with biochar

3 years ago

I've been very pleased with hügelkultur and been thinking of incorporating biochar with it and/or adding biochar to compost when stored. Judging by cost if bought the stuff is like gold. Lots of conflicting info coming from experts. Some say it has no nutrients others call it fertilize. Some say it accelerates deterioration others claim it causes wood to deteriorate extremely slow. The way I figured to use it is dig a hole and fill with varying size wood,set wood on fire then cover it with dirt after it is burning well. It's sorta sketchy as to whether it's necessary to extinguish fire with water to prevent total consumption. I know from experience wood fence post can be preserved by charring before burying so I'm concerned wood will not rot if charred. Anyone made and/or used biochar and if so what do you think?

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armoured

3 years ago

@klem1, what specific advantages of biochar are you hoping to get over other soil amendments? What problems are you trying to solve? I think the short-cut answer is mostly that msot of the perceived benefits of biochar can be achieved with hugel or other organic amendments - particularly moderating soil ph, improved nutrient profiles, etc. Personally the only large-scale credible claims I've heard to my ear are longevity (if properly done, in a C-form that not many organisms eat). And here we're talking in some circumstances (not much air), and timeframes well beyond your lifetime.

To me the rest of the claims are either handwaving / semi-magical, or very specific circumstances (really bad soil in amazon, and on that - note that mostly the terra preta was in middens - trash/sewer heaps - where other additions may have been more important).

I'm being a bit dismissive because I take the general view - if you have organic material, use that directly or compsot it, and burning to char is polluting, dirty, a waste of energy that microbes would get, and well, that's enough. If you ahve some biochar about, sure, toss it in. But to manufacture it in your backyard for an uncertain benefit seems really burnt logic to me.

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Comments (6)

Embothrium
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Hugelkultur you say?

(PDF) HUGELKULTUR: WHAT IS IT, AND SHOULD IT BE USED IN HOME GARDENS? (researchgate.net)

What about burning and burying you ask?

Finally, I hate to see people (and they are out there) who are now taking their pruning debris, arborist wood chips, and other organic material, burning it, and burying it. Ideally, both bio-oils and biochar are made from excess crop residues and other debris generated in agriculture. Arborist wood chips and other plant debris generated in a home landscape need to go right back onto the soil as part of a compost/mulch layer. To burn this valuable resource strikes me as the classic “penny wise, pound foolish” mentality.

Should we use biochars in our gardens? – The Garden Professors™
klem1
Original Author
3 years ago
I feared my questions would lead to links but as stated,depends on which link you want to believe. Being such an old practice you would think there would be agreement before now. I'm facing another possible problem since my soil is alkaline and biochar reduces acidity of soil. I've seen enough people dump fireplace ash in gardens with negative effect to know that's a bad idea where I live.
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Embothrium
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Scientific advancement toward understanding of what constitutes reality is not on par with choosing individual candies from a boxed assortment - for one thing there is a quality control system called peer review wherein experts in an area weigh in to assure that a single researcher's ideas aren't allowed to prevail when based on flawed information. With the latter day popular notion that there actually are no true facts so a body might as well believe anything being politically motivated.
klem1
Original Author
3 years ago
Incidental to using charcoal made on site to reclaim a 3 acre pond biochar came to view and stirred curiosity of it's use in horticultor. I've yet to find first hand experience so that pretty much says benefit isn't what retailers claim. Since I'll already have resources at my disposal I'll put it to test in a few spots and document for benefit of someone in the future.

Thank y'all for your opinions.
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beesneeds
3 years ago
You douse biochar to stop the burning process while it's still char and before it starts to turn to ash. Kind of like how one blanches a veggie then shocks in cold water to stop the cooking.

Layering your char pit as it is burning leads to more even and better made char than starting a pit and burying it. Buried pit burning can lead to a more uneven mix of ash or not consumed wood along with char.
klem1 thanked beesneeds