Hey brother @spaceman. How much bio char do you mix in soil? I hear too much can be detrimental. THX
Not really sure it qualifies as an ‘oxymoron’ but definitely has some sort of irony to it. I’m pretty sure the chain started off as everything $1 in it. However obviously demands change over time. But I’m sure you can but toothbrushes and shit like that for $1
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lol yeah go figure,
It really was $10 not $9.99
Badfishy1 I think it was a “dollar general” type store, not many things are a buck there.
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oleskool, I’ve used up to 30% in my vegetable pots but no more than 5-10% with cannabis.
Depending on the source material, biochar has a tendency to raise ph. So too much can have a detrimental effect. The oxisol soils of the Amazon are very acidic so terra preta neutraled them out.
Every 3rd or 4th batch of hardwood material I use pine bark chunks and run that in the stove.
Usually lights up my stove as the retort gases burn bright and hot. Pine char is somewhat acidic.
Animal bones are a small portion of my char, not sure what it does to the ph but the ancients had bone in their mixes so I have some in mine.
DavesNotHere uses a method for charging the char I have not used before but charging the char is absolutely necessary for potted plants. I make char all winter then mix it with fresh grass clippings and autumn leaves in spring for a hot, active compost pile and turn it every few days. The compost usually finishes in 2-3 weeks once the pile stops heating up after turning. The char is wet and heavy almost indistinguishable from the compost and has a rich earthy smell.
I could write a book about various methods of crushing char but it would have a sad ending.
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Need to try 99cents Only. Except for some “big” stuff, it is all still $0.99.
I take it you use a like a gas camp stove for the Char?
Yes but I wouldn’t recommend it. I get about 90% full char and 10% half char after about 3-4 hours of cooking in the old burn barrel
@spaceman had mentioned he runs a batch of pine on his stove, that is what I was asking about. Though I can’t really see how it would be different as use use a flame source below the Char. Whether this is a wood/charcoal fire or a camp stove it should still be fine, shouldn’t it?
Has anyone tried using one of those portable patio fire pits? Can’t really start a fire in the middle of the lawn.
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Thank you for that @spaceman. Very useful info. It’s going right into oleskool’s Big Red Book of Aquired Knowledge.
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VWMoon,
No. I’m too cheap to use gas that way although it probably would work.
I pop the flour canister into my wood stove and it actually adds a bit of heat to my home.
An outdoor fire pit would work pretty well especially if you covered the retort with hot coals or build the fire on top of it, the coals will ignite the gas and reduce the smoke.
Dollar stores are great for sieves, funnels, turkey basters, all the stuff other stores rip you on.
One store near me sells these neat light bulb adapters that let me use screw in led bulbs in an array.
I mount these in aluminum cupcake tins and solder these together in parallel and voila! LED Ghetto panel!
Here’s one on ebay, the dollar store variety has two per pkg for a buck so don’t pay ebay prices!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-Pack-Plug-In-Outlet-Socket-Adapter-Plug-to-Light-Bulb-Socket-Converter/251899846959?hash=item3aa666a12f:g:oVkAAMXQVERSxkCl:rk:4:pf:0
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Don’t want to seem like I’m hijacking the thread but heres a way I do it using a silvefire rocket stove I run it with a few handfuls of sticks and a # 10 can with 6-8 holes punched in the bottom and heavy foil doubled up to seal the can well I run it for about and hour and probably get 90% + converted haven’t tried it with rice hulls but love the idea
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oleskool830,
You’re very welcome, hope it helps as it should. I’d start slowly with just a few pots if growing indoors.
A scientist at Cornell wrote that biochar examined under an electron microscope reveals tremendous porosity in its structure, a gram can contain many square feet of surface area. He likened it to a “reef” that was populated by beneficial microbes during the composting process.
Once it’s in the soil, it can last thousands of years due to its inertness.
Since I recycle my indoor soil I only add it once to the initial batch.
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Not by any means buddy. I’m glad to see more people interested in making biochar beside us two crazies lol
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I’v recently read as an optional way to charge the char is to use human urine at a ratio of 2 parts urine to 1 part char soaked for a week or two!
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I read that paper. If I remember right it was some crazy number like 500+ square foot per gram. One gram of char is like the size of a pencil eraser.
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I heard about that too. Easiest way is to pee on the pile once a day (preferrably in the morning) until it stops smelling like char.
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I’v heard some crazy shit that it’s hard to believe that like a chunk like 1x1 inch piece has about square foot area of a football field , I’v put some dust under a microscope once and there’s a shit ton of holes in it that’s for sure!
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Need to read that link above in post one thanks for sharing @DavesNotHere sound as if it might be quite interesting!
Yep each particulate is like a microscopic honey comb just waiting for microbes to come make a home.
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Maybe I’ll reactivate my microscope thread and place some biochar pics in this thread also .
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Tinytuttle,
Nice setup! You can make char any time of year.
I confess I have not found a good way to crush the char.
For the garden I made a ball mill out of a cement mixer and tumble it for hours using round rocks as balls.
But it’s noisy as hell and messy since I use rainwater to keep down the dust.
The small amount I use indoors isn’t a problem, pliers in a plastic bag works well.
Any ideas?
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