I have to agree for sure! I have really learned a lot from Jeremy. I like his philosophy for the company and for growing. While it can be expensive, to your point its a good investment, and he encourages you to source it locally for a more reasonable price, if possible.
2 Likes
I have a thread here !
2 Likes
South American Indigenous People feed thousands of villages and Millions of people [even though most modern scholars have said there is no way the Amazon could support that many people { which makes little sense, where do the nutrients for the trees, plants etc… in the jungle come from}]with the help of biochar, fish, and other things (I remember watching how they dug down so deep and buried layer upon layer to enrich the soil) , its was shown in I think a PBS or National Geographic documentary many years ago.
mike28086
3 Likes
@mike28086 Ya it’s ridiculous that terra pretta soil iv heard that they scape it away and haul it off for uses and it rebuilds itself at an alarming rate ! Now that’s definitely something that makes ya go Hmmmm!
2 Likes
Easy to make with a brush pile lit from the top and put out with a hose. I often wonder about all of them apparatuses knowing full well that the ancient origin of this is lighting and wildfires giving indigenous peoples worldwide that knowledge of slash and burn. It’s pretty simple even though it can be complicated. I’ve also noted eBay is pushing a sellers Bamboo Inoculated Biochar from China. Thought I had seen it all - smh
3 Likes
Perhaps they would swap for a nice large jar of fresh air? Perhaps taken from a fresh pine forest somewhere.
3 Likes
But the one you have here is almost two years old and from reading it I have no idea of whether you decided it was worth the effort/price? Did you reach a conclusion?
2 Likes
Ya this thread definitely hasn’t seen much action recently I think it’s worthy of placing biochar into your soils if your all about microbes Iv placed a small amount under a microscope in the past and there’s a tremendous amount of surface area in the stuff that’s for sure!
4 Likes
I think I may not have answered your question correctly what was your question regarding effort/price? If it’s about the teas it was inconclusive as I had not increased my micro bugs to high levels to make for good observations.
1 Like
This is a great thread. I did a little research on biochar and had to bust out the old Websters dictionary.
Basically what I found was biochar is obviously a soil ammendment. I guess that part of it only works if it’s charged with nutrients. But how does it aid in microbe production?
Second is that it isolates co2. How does isolating co2 in the roots benifit the plant?
2 Likes
It’s a microbe condominium in essence a hang out of sort ,cat house whatever what ya want to call it
Biochar over time can become inoculated Imo Iv heard it can have negative effects when not charged on certain crops … brassicas family comes to mind
3 Likes
How would I go about charging say a gallon of biochar? What and how much would I have to charge it with? And also how about it isolating co2? I know oxygen is good for roots hence fabric pots and other mediums. Do u know what kind of affect co2 has on roots? I’m doing a lot of asking because I’m seriously thinking about adding this as a staple of ingredients in future grows
2 Likes
I use prepared biochar from a local vendor in both our indoor cannabis, our outdoor gardens, and potted plants. When I first started using it a few years back I was convinced that I would be making my own very soon but alas I did not, choose to support my local organic garden supply shop. About 3 months ago we bought a smoker for smoking fish, veg and olives 
and it gets some use and produces nice char!! I have been collecting it up and will charge a batch when I start to get low with Nutrient Tea, dry and bag it. As usual @Tinytuttle great thread, love my water only organic soil and it just wouldn’t be the same without biochar!
2 Likes
Do you think it’s plausible to grind up some biochar and water it in?
1 Like
Piss on it! You could and let it steep for a few days or you could get a batch of tea going and bubble char in it!
1 Like
When I up pot I place about 25g (small coffee spoon) of specific K rich biochar on the roots (Growtek Black Pearl) of the plant before it goes into it’s new pot, really helps with transplant shock. Any that gets sloppily applied will stay on the surface of the soil forever- doesn’t water in. This is quite fine material often 1-3mm ( below 1/10th of an inch in freedom units ) squares.
I don’t see why not but as you likely know by the question you asked it is not the typical delivery method and therefore you may not see the best of results. The place to have biochar is in your rhizosphere (below the dirt) so that it can house microbes close to the areas that they affect the most benefit. Many microbes are otherwise sensitive to light like most beneficial ones and only live in the soil. Watering in biochar may leach whatever nutrients into the soil but you likely lose nutrients to evaporation and dilution instead of a longtime nutrient deployment/soil structure combo below the soil line.
2 Likes
Yes, urea or uric acid is a way of charging char but there are many others. I would likely go with nutrient teas like kelp, fish or even fermented anything really, place the char a bin of the desired “nutrient” let it absorb for a few days until it is fully saturated and then let dry out a like over a wire rack or something that can drain somewhere cool. I use it in my water only soil when mixing up batches, love it on everything that is running soil
2 Likes
Not sure what the isolating CO2 Is all about In soil but, all Iv every is it’s beneficial to get a carbon source in poor soils guess compost might be considered carbon as well ( all once live organisms ) you have the source ? Like to give it a read
1 Like
Would plain woo ash work for covering roots while up potting
3 Likes