What is Biochar? How to Make & Why You shouldn’t use Raw Biochar
John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ goes on a field trip to Josiah Hunt’s Farm […]
Date Posted:
February 8, 2014
John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ goes on a field trip to Josiah Hunt’s Farm to share with you what is biochar, how its made and why you should never use raw biochar in your garden or farm. In this episode, you will discover how biochar can be made in a pit with wood and then how it is processed into a mature biochar. You will also learn why you should not use fresh-made raw biochar, but how it should be matured before use for best result.
Finally John will share the proper mixture of biochar to soil you should use in your garden or on your farm to get the benefits of adding the biochar to your land. After watching this episode you will be on your way to making the dark, rich, fertile terra preta soils that was discovered in South America that allowed the native people to flourish.
About the Author: Climate State
First at last
I don’t want to add to the world’s carbon pollution footprint,no biocharing
for me.Non Char wood chips are just as effective as biochar for fungi,and
microbes.I see the fungi growing and use to try to get rid of it,now I know
it’s beneficial.
How does he inocculate his biochar? What’s the process?
Great video as always John. Thanks for all the great info…
Great video as always John. Thanks for all the great info…
Nice to know!! Hope you having a great time in HI!!!
Great video, as usual. Did you know though that you shouldn’t use BioChar
in California?: http://feedly.com/e/4jHPljHU
What is biochar? It’s charcoal. Why do we need another word for it? Is it
easier to market that way?
Making charcoal in pits is the traditional method used for thousands of
years but it is highly polluting to the air. 55 gallon drum methods and the
like achieve the same end product but are a much cleaner burn
I’m doing a research practical on biochar, basically I will analyze the
endophytic microbial community (microbes living inside plant tissues) and
especially what they’re doing. Results will be ready in late spring. For
optimum humus stability, biochar should be ground quite finely (like
coffee) and mixed with rock dust prior to mixing it up with compostable
materials. Terra Preta soils are believed to be this stable because of
humus-clay-char complexes.
I’m curious to see how the plant microbiome is altered in the presence of
biochar!
AaLLLLOOOOO HAAAA ! Rock dust > bio char
Excellent! I know very little about biochar, but what I have heard is
remarkable. Can you find out what the Specific Surface Area of biochar is?
That is, if you filled 1L container with biochar, how much surface area
would that provide? thanks!
Haha! That dog is the same color as the biochar.
What an interesting video post this week from Learn Organic Gardening from
Growing Your Greens. I’ve never seen a coca tree before, where our
chocolate comes from. Thanks for the post, What is BioChar? How to Make &
Why You shouldn’t use Raw Biochar for.
I love your video’s, John. But every time you go on a ‘field trip’ we get
commercials for whom ever paid your airfare, it seems.
If you have access to hardwood logs, an smoker grill, and live where you
can build a fire, making biochar is pretty easy. All you are doing is
getting logs going, then depriving them of oxygen.
thanks john! very informative as usual ^^
john Biochar and homic acid are the same ?
I don’t think the product *must* be ground up; afterall, I seriously doubt
the ancient societies in the Amazon ground up their raw biochar. It’s
fairly evident they just buried wood as it was on fire. They probably did
add compost on top or in the mix; but who knows? Certainly adding compost
is a great idea – or, adding biochar to your compost is also a great idea.
I’m SUPER excited about the next episode! John – if you come up to Oregon
again, there’s a company in Corvallis, OR that manufactures Biochar on an
industrial scale in an industrial machine. It’s the only one out there, as
far as I know. It’s an off shoot of a OSU project.
I burn natural lump charcoal in my BBQ and I put the ash into my composter.
I know you’re not supposed to use to much because it can my your soil to
alkaline, but I’ve read that some is beneficial for alkalinity and carbon.
Does this sound right to you John?
The main benefit for using bio char or charcoal is its use for
filtering/capturing minerals and other stuff in it’s pourous structure.
Minerals and other nutrients get captured raising their concentrations in
the soil and giving plants ample time to absorb them. Its pourous structure
makes it well suited for the task. Its still used for water filtration
today. Brita, Pur, etc all filters use it. Its also used in gas mask.
john,the walking talking meteorite.
like the intro
Before adding biochar, you need to perform a soil test. Biochar makes the
soil more alkaline, so should only be added to acidic soil. The carbon will
be stable in the soil for hundreds or thousands of years. You can add it,
but you can essentially never take it back out. Perform some controlled
experiments in pots first so you understand what you’re getting into.
Biochar can be a miracle adder for certain soils, but it depends on the
situation, and you have to be careful.
Video number 900? Great work, John!
I take the charcoal out of my fireplace and put it in my finished and
screened compost pile to sit for a while and then put in my beds.
did I miss the interview? I did not see it in the video?
hey, have you done any videos on rare food to grow like jelly melons or
like some of the blue tomatoes? my kids really think that growing food like
that is fun and keeps them more interested in gardening than just normal
plants. thinking about growing some different food . if there is one guy I
would want the information from it would be u buddy!
fan request !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John are you aware you live in a dictatorship. Thought id let you know. Go
to Alex Jones to learn more of Obamas dictatorship of using executive
actions and so on.
Hi John, excellent video. I would be interested in experimenting with
matured biochar in my deep mulch system if you can educate us on an
affordable way to access it or make it in an urban area. In my urban area,
we have anti-burn laws.
Also, Interesting points about the chocolate seeds. I’ve always been
allergic to chocolate…and my theory is because it is a highly processed
food and not natural for most animals to eat in nature. Chocolate is a
seed, and most plants don’t want their seeds to be digested, so they
produce toxins. I would love for you to go deeper into this in another
video. Generally, I think we should be avoiding eating processed seeds, and
even nuts in our diets, and sticking with our greens!
You lucky guy hanging out in Hawaii :) so happy for you :)
Buy yo char if ya want, I get it free. Like mother nature who never ships
it from Hawaii, like Quar, the greedy little bar tender on the starship
enterprise, only not.
So for those of us that are already messing with so many other details and
just want to buy some BioChar, whats the best brand? That’s the one detail
I didn’t lift from this video.
pH = 9-10 so beware in alkaline soils
John,
I just found this on the following website, page 2:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn358-biochar.pdf
“Health Risks Associated with Biochar:
Biochar can contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): a group of
toxic chemical compounds, some of which have been identified as
carcinogenic. Toxic compounds in biochar could potentially pass into soils,
plants and the food chain.
Biochar is also a form of black carbon that can accumulate in the lungs as
a result of prolonged inhalation. Black carbon has been declared as
possibly carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on
Cancer.”
*____________*
I am not sure if the amount of carcinogens are enough to be concerned with,
but I will wait for more studies to be conducted before I will use it in my
vegetable garden.
John. Loved the Makuu MKT episode. However. Wished you had also talked
about the Morninga tree and the charismatic kalo or taro. I watch your show
to learn about organic soil building. Aloha, Donna
what’s going on?
I have close to 2 acres with a lot of trees
we are always cutting down oak limbs and burning
them along with pine needles. Carbon absorbs some pollutants ?
I was able to negotiate a special deal with the Soil Reef Biochar company
for my viewers. 20% off their products and FREE shipping (normally
included)
http://www.soilbiochar.com/
and use the discount code GYOY for 20% discount.
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In Newfoundland , the year after a forest fire…( and for yrs afterward )
the wild blueberry crops were phenomenal. The very first year, when the
ground still smelled burnt. So, do u really need to wait for it to
compost???
This was an awesome episode. Can I make biochar in my fireplace? ie. if I
just stop the burning process before it turns to ash?
coupon expired John…