Video Series On Biochar

[Bigbendgyrene]

Sure some members likely use prescribed burns to improve their habitat but not sure how many use biochar. Did a search on the forum and was surprised not to see more biochar related threads.

Over the past decade, I've become a BIG fan of using it. Funny thing is that my interest in it started due to DEAD spots I created when burning limbs and paper trash.

For a year or so, there would be nothing but a pile of charcoal and ash in the spots where I burned, but fast-forward to the second year and there would be near jungle-like lush growth 4 to 5 times taller than the growth outside the spot. That's when I started reading/learning about biochar and understanding growth was being retarded for a year while the char in the area absorbed water and nutrients and initially robbed from plants, but once inoculated/charged delivered stored nutrients back to the plants.

Due to my positive experiences using biochar I decided to put together a few videos speaking to the subject. This first one primarily speaks to what it is and the properties it has. Future videos I'll be posting will show how I make it, show several methods I use to inoculate/"charge" it before use, and finally use it to help many plantings, from potted plants to large fruit trees (and even enriching desired travel lanes through food plots). Hope at least a few forum members enjoy. Also ABSOLUTELY welcome any constructive feedback / corrections from ANY forum members that may be more knowledgeable on biochar than I am.

 

[The Original Rooster]

Interesting. I've noticed that the grass over the stumps in the yard I've burned is always greener and a little higher. I wasn't exactly sure why but this explains it.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Now i aint an expert by any means on the topic, and im sure it has its uses, but here is my take on it. I think the burning in place result has more to do with the liming effect of the wood ash compounded by the nutrients it contains. You see better growth after the ph has adjusted from the ash. Might be also that the microbial population gets set back from the heat for a time too. As for the biochar for it to work you have to precharge it like a battery. I have soaked mine in manure tea for a week or two to do so. Others have various formulas. In my personal trials it did not perform any better than just plain compost. Just for me anyway. I feel a lot of the attention biochar is getting at the moment is based on its carbon capture potential. The world is focused right now ( rightly or wrongly ) on locking carbon into the soil. I think this is the main reason people are using it. My two cents.

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

Now i aint an expert by any means on the topic, and im sure it has its uses, but here is my take on it. I think the burning in place result has more to do with the liming effect of the wood ash compounded by the nutrients it contains. You see better growth after the ph has adjusted from the ash. Might be also that the microbial population gets set back from the heat for a time too. As for the biochar for it to work you have to precharge it like a battery. I have soaked mine in manure tea for a week or two to do so. Others have various formulas. In my personal trials it did not perform any better than just plain compost. Just for me anyway. I feel a lot of the attention biochar is getting at the moment is based on its carbon capture potential. The world is focused right now ( rightly or wrongly ) on locking carbon into the soil. I think this is the main reason people are using it. My two cents.

livinoutdoors, not sure if you watched the video but if not it touches on pH, need for biochar to be soaked, greenhouse gas capture, and use with compost.

One thing I do think biochar likely can do that ash and / or compost can't do for LONG term is capture and hold moisture as well as last for many decades if not thousands of years. I say that as I've worked soils before that I know havent had anything burned on them for many years and found bits of charcoal in them from long-ago fires. Ash and compost certainly are benificial but can either be broken down quickly and/or washed out of soils.

 

[livinoutdoors]

livinoutdoors, not sure if you watched the video but if not it touches on pH, need for biochar to be soaked, greenhouse gas capture, and use with compost.

One thing I do think biochar likely can do that ash and / or compost can't do for LONG term is capture and hold moisture as well as last for many decades if not thousands of years. I say that as I've worked soils before that I know havent had anything burned on them for many years and found bits of charcoal in them from long-ago fires. Ash and compost certainly are benificial but can either be broken down quickly and/or washed out of soils.

Well if its working then keep at it. Every soil is different and no doubt thing work better or worse depending on location. I guess im just not sold on it as the be all end all to long term stable soil fertility. But like i said im no expert.

 

[ucfireman]

I feel a lot of the attention biochar is getting at the moment is based on its carbon capture potential. The world is focused right now ( rightly or wrongly ) on locking carbon into the soil. I think this is the main reason people are using it.

I feel the same.
And doesn't it release carbon into the atmospheres when making biochar?

I used to spread ashes in the garden and have spread them around fruit trees. The ashes help.

And isn't ashes just burnt up biochar?

I'm not saying there isn't some benefit to it, just not the savior folks seem to think it is. Same with Solar, wind or any other "Green technology".
And no I didn't watch the video but did see the Dirty Jobs show where they talked about it.

 

[livinoutdoors]

I feel the same.
And doesn't it release carbon into the atmospheres when making biochar?

I used to spread ashes in the garden and have spread them around fruit trees. The ashes help.

And isn't ashes just burnt up biochar?

I'm not saying there isn't some benefit to it, just not the savior folks seem to think it is. Same with Solar, wind or any other "Green technology".
And no I didn't watch the video but did see the Dirty Jobs show where they talked about it.

Well if you do it right then biochar doesnt really release anything. They do it like charcoal. Burning the wood in a sealed environment. Just regular buring gets you some charcoal and a bunch of ash. I Iike ash as fertilizer. UGA has a good article on it.

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

And no I didn't watch the video but did see the Dirty Jobs show where they talked about it.

Big Mike Rowe fan and watched that episode too. No offense to the video they did, but quite different different scope/focus.

Made my initial video to be as concise as possible (under 7 minutes long) and to speak to numerous properties of biochar that actually answer some of the points that have been brought up.

As livingoutdoors answered, biochar actually retains carbon that otherwise would escape into the atmosphere through the process of decay above ground. The carbon skeleton of the wood is retained which is why it holds moisture and nutrients so well. The thumbnail of my video shows a larger chunk and how porous/plated lump wood charcoal can be, but it's even more porous at the microscopic level. As shared in the video and the pasted screenshot below, a square inch can hold the surface area of a football field. The pores shown become housing for moisture, nutrients, and microbial life that can continually then feed roots.



And agree with livingoutdoors that ash is great when comes to temporarily lifting pH, but it is unlike biochar in that the carbon skeleton is NOT retained so it isn't as effective drawing/holding nutrients and will wash through soils more easily than char that stays in soils for up to thousands of years.

It's the skeletonized carbon structure that makes biochar effective (for those who believe it works, and I do as I've been using it for years and will soon put together a video showing positive results).

By the way, my interest in no way due to concerns with climate change concerns... only became interested due to what I actually witnessed at my paper trash/limb burning sites as well as with prescribed burns in my neck of the woods which visually showed me how incredibly it could work on my land.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Big Mike Rowe fan and watched that episode too. No offense to the video they did, but quite different different scope/focus.

Made my initial video to be as concise as possible (under 7 minutes long) and to speak to numerous properties of biochar that actually answer some of the points that have been brought up.

As livingoutdoors answered, biochar actually retains carbon that otherwise would escape into the atmosphere through the process of decay above ground. The carbon skeleton of the wood is retained which is why it holds moisture and nutrients so well. The thumbnail of my video shows a larger chunk and how porous/plated lump wood charcoal can be, but it's even more porous at the microscopic level. As shared in the video and the pasted screenshot below, a square inch can hold the surface area of a football field. The pores shown become housing for moisture, nutrients, and microbial life that can continually then feed roots.

View attachment 1297066

And agree with livingoutdoors that ash is great when comes to temporarily lifting pH, but it is unlike biochar in that the carbon skeleton is NOT retained so it isn't as effective drawing/holding nutrients and will wash through soils more easily than char that stays in soils for up to thousands of years.

It's the skeletonized carbon structure that makes biochar effective (for those who believe it works, and I do as I've been using it for years and will soon put together a video showing positive results).

By the way, my interest in no way due to concerns with climate change concerns... only became interested due to what I actually witnessed at my paper trash/limb burning sites as well as with prescribed burns in my neck of the woods which visually showed me how incredibly it could work on my land.

Yessir goid info right here. I will also add that one study i read said it had a more dramatic effect in acidic sandy soils. Im guessing since you live in Florida that may be the soils you are working with. An interesting topic for sure!

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

Yessir goid info right here. I will also add that one study i read said it had a more dramatic effect in acidic sandy soils. Im guessing since you live in Florida that may be the soils you are working with. An interesting topic for sure!

Yep. Much of the soils I have on my place range from 5.2 to 5.6 or so.

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

Sharing the second video of the series... this one shows how I use a single / simple OLD rusted-out barrel to make the charcoal that subsequently is "charged" to turn it into biochar.

One piece of information I forgot to include in the video is that I've discovered it helps to leave the charcoal I produce in a pile through a rain or two so that when I get around to chopping it, doesn't make for clouds of charcoal dust floating through the air (and into the lungs).

Obviously, the pores in the charcoal are taking in some of the rainwater, but when I get around to inoculating it I leave it "charging" for a long enough period that I doubt it hurts the nutrient-holding / microbial activity too much. Will share the charging process next when time allows.

 

[Red dirt clod]

Looking forward to your next 2 videos

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

Due to some health issues in my extended family, been slowed down on putting out the final two videos on charging biochar and putting it to use with plantings, but did put this quick short share together... shows how when made well, charcoal will produce a clinking sound similar to glass... and the sound can be used as a bit of a test on the quality of a batch of charcoal.

Basically, once "cooked" well the charcoal is hardened enough that when dropped against another piece of charcoal the vibration created can travel along the hardened surface and create the "clinking glass" sound much like sound travels through a metal tube in a chime. If NOT "cooked" well, any remaining softer wood left inside the charred wood will dampen and scatter the vibrations and prevent the clinking sound.

May have to turn the volume up to hear it, but the sound is there.

 

[blood on the ground]

Very informative thread.