biochar user experiments

[iHearAll]

Hey do you use biochar?

In what manor?

How'd you acquire the biochar?



you can spend a shit load of money on it by the lb online.... seriously whys it so expensive for carbonized material online??? i assume size....

Iv carbonized hulls and woods. woods have to be crushed and screened and crushed and screened. pain but the cheapest route for those who don't mill. (me obviously)

 

[iHearAll]

most recent little batch. this is just the bottom of a fire pit thats been rinsed, and a broken down.

 

[iHearAll]

i then went on to mix it into equal parts vermicastings and some bokashi. it's 2 gallons each i guess^^ i diluted it into 7 gallons of soil which will get 7 gallons of compost.
> veg/flower with just probiotic/aerated water. basic FKG fruit tree recipe implemented for 5gal pots. Should be "neato"," boom!"

 

[iHearAll]

this shits in gardening because its fucking gardening^^^

 

[RuRu.The.Half.Elf]

I have been recycling my aquarium charcoal into my "cold compost" pile. It was originally 16L coir with some rock dust, misc. soil amendments and sand in my worm bin. After a bad heatwave killing all but a few, I changed their media and put the old, partially worm cast, into a baby-pool. Since then I have added some oak leaves, grape leaves, my hair, random bird feathers (bird wars everyday in my backyard) and other stuff from my backyard (like seed shells from the base of the feeders, mud-dobber/paper wasp nests, bug molts, random mushrooms).



Each 2 filters contain ~1/3cup of charcoal, I replace them from my tank every 3 months. I should now have at least 1 cup in the mix already. Minus the possibility of heavy metals (from fish tank), it should be good. The random tomato/squash/bell pepper seeds (when it was worm chow) sprout and grow FAST.



After I pour it in the center, leave uncovered for a few days, I rake it all around, mixing the seedlings back into the pile. The pile grows 200-300% when wet (must be the coir?) and shrinks as it dries, no drainage in the pool.

 

[iHearAll]

that a cool idea! is it freshwater?

 

[iHearAll]

so this is kinda where my soil is at now. about 3-4 months of amending with bokashi, vermicastings, fermented kitchen scraps, wild peat, sand, and biochar. looks good for being free .

i dont have any cannabis ready for this stuff yet though. I'm excited to see how this performs for an Autoflowering plant. the plan is a 5gal airpot start to finish if it doesnt burn these vegetables.
sorry it's night time

 

[iHearAll]

these were just transplanted btw which is why im considering the possibility of them getting burnt

 

[RuRu.The.Half.Elf]

that a cool idea! is it freshwater?

Yes, freshwater. The filters are middle-top, cleanining water and various floating poop, extra food and floating proteins. I have a sump that cleans under gravel into a smaller tank, shrimp & various biofilters, pumping back up into the tank.

I would think the carbon entraps a lot of ammonia/nitrite/nitrates and should not "rob the soil" of much nitrogen when added. Kinda like precharging?

The random sprouts seem to be lush, green and healthy. Maybe I'll make a seedling puck and try it out.

 

[iHearAll]

Yes, freshwater. The filters are middle-top, cleanining water and various floating poop, extra food and floating proteins. I have a sump that cleans under gravel into a smaller tank, shrimp & various biofilters, pumping back up into the tank.

I would think the carbon entraps a lot of ammonia/nitrite/nitrates and should not "rob the soil" of much nitrogen when added. Kinda like precharging?

The random sprouts seem to be lush, green and healthy. Maybe I'll make a seedling puck and try it out.

i understand the point of charging but if the biochar is physically robbing the soil of nutrients, wouldnt charging with a tea just be a waste of tea? like, the outside world beyond the piece of coal wont see that tea again. wouldnt people rather charge with something less useful?

but thats generally why dont charge it

i have access to a saltwater tank but i was hesitant about using it. i think ill give it a go when it comes time to change the filters. i also may use the skimmer sludge.

 

[RuRu.The.Half.Elf]

i understand the point of charging but if the biochar is physically robbing the soil of nutrients, wouldnt charging with a tea just be a waste of tea? like, the outside world beyond the piece of coal wont see that tea again. wouldnt people rather charge with something less useful?

but thats generally why dont charge it

i have access to a saltwater tank but i was hesitant about using it. i think ill give it a go when it comes time to change the filters. i also may use the skimmer sludge.

That something less useful is the fishtank water itself. It may even be loaded with microbeasties, albeit water babies, that terrestrial microbes can feed off of and replace in those nooks and crannies (damn, now I want some biscuits). So I guess, fishtank: nutrient charges, compost: bio-activates. Sounds right.

Maybe take the salty wastes and burlap it, suspended in fresh water. The Sea-90 salt flakes recommends something along those lines to remove sodium and keep most of the goods in the sack.

Now I am thinking about the sump sludge and making a fertilizer with it, like the fish hydrosolate recipe, but with fish poop instead of carcass scraps.

My biggest curiosity is on the various chunkiness of the charcoal, and does it also double as aeration. When suspended in water, the charcoal holds a lot of bubbles around it.

 

[iHearAll]

That something less useful is the fishtank water itself. It may even be loaded with microbeasties, albeit water babies, that terrestrial microbes can feed off of and replace in those nooks and crannies (damn, now I want some biscuits). So I guess, fishtank: nutrient charges, compost: bio-activates. Sounds right.

Maybe take the salty wastes and burlap it, suspended in fresh water. The Sea-90 salt flakes recommends something along those lines to remove sodium and keep most of the goods in the sack.

Now I am thinking about the sump sludge and making a fertilizer with it, like the fish hydrosolate recipe, but with fish poop instead of carcass scraps.

My biggest curiosity is on the various chunkiness of the charcoal, and does it also double as aeration. When suspended in water, the charcoal holds a lot of bubbles around it.

what would you dilute it to?

 

[RuRu.The.Half.Elf]

Well for the pure salt flakes, it is recommended at 1tsp per 1gal water for gardening. I would experiment with some at that amount and gradually increase. Since it is wastes and not flaked salts, total salt content should be lower and could be used at a higher ratio. Just speculation though.

 

[freemanjack]

I have a woodstove that produces enough fine graded charcoal for all my soil needs, I add a very small amount to my soil system, usually in the upper layers, where it would naturally occur 'in the wild'. I add all the larger chunks to my large garden composter and am always fascinated by the amount of worms attracted to it, they don't seem so interested after a few weeks, but fresh, they go nutz for it, summat needs looking into there... possibly availability of minerals in the surface layer that are too hard to access in the deeper layers? I would be hugely interested to see nematode activity in charcoal, I suspect they could burrow much deeper into the porous surface of the charcoal. Nematodes are not to be underestimated in any system, it has been recently discovered that most plant roots are carnivorous and have purpose made nematode nooses which lasso any hapless nematodes passing by, garrote them, then digest them. If you study the footage of nematodes in my microscopy vid in the other biodynamic thread you will see their tiny guts are packed with nitrate bearing microbes and minerals.

 

[iHearAll]

I have a woodstove that produces enough fine graded charcoal for all my soil needs, I add a very small amount to my soil system, usually in the upper layers, where it would naturally occur 'in the wild'. I add all the larger chunks to my large garden composter and am always fascinated by the amount of worms attracted to it, they don't seem so interested after a few weeks, but fresh, they go nutz for it, summat needs looking into there... possibly availability of minerals in the surface layer that are too hard to access in the deeper layers? I would be hugely interested to see nematode activity in charcoal, I suspect they could burrow much deeper into the porous surface of the charcoal. Nematodes are not to be underestimated in any system, it has been recently discovered that most plant roots are carnivorous and have purpose made nematode nooses which lasso any hapless nematodes passing by, garrote them, then digest them. If you study the footage of nematodes in my microscopy vid in the other biodynamic thread you will see their tiny guts are packed with nitrate bearing microbes and minerals.

think maybe it has something to do with stomach elongation? in swine we add biochar to the feed for the young to grow out their stomachs. not really sure why it works though

 

[Yodaweed]

www.buildasoil.com

they sell biochar that's been soaked in compost tea

 

[NaturalFarmer]

 

[iHearAll]

It seems these are pretty popular designs for urban growers and field farmers. Only metal barrels i have are lidless but i suppose would stil work for the pile method. Problem there is obtaining grain hulls. I wish there was a bigger manufacturer for this stuff in the states, or at least more local grain mills around

 

[NaturalFarmer]

rice hull is cheap as dirt depending where you are. I would think hardwoods would be best?

 

[DonBrennon]

DIY retort chamber.......................... a lot of work for not much char, LOL, if you can buy good hardwood charcoal, I'd go with that, it's very cheap and easy