Charcoal Success

[Smallaxe]

One of the things that Terra Preta, is being used for, is potting material. The stuff is being bagged and shipped to the U.S. as a super mix.

This year I brought in all the houseplants with my own terra preta creation. The level of improved vigor of the plants, is noticeable. No fertilizer was added when planted and I have yet to fertilize still; even so I have never seen such a deep green color, no matter how much fertilizer I put in the pots all previous winters. Flowers are proliferating with deep vibrant colors and no drain on the plants, etc., etc.

[ICT Bill]

One of the things that Terra Preta, is being used for, is potting material. The stuff is being bagged and shipped to the U.S. as a super mix.

This year I brought in all the houseplants with my own terra preta creation. The level of improved vigor of the plants, is noticeable. No fertilizer was added when planted and I have yet to fertilize still; even so I have never seen such a deep green color, no matter how much fertilizer I put in the pots all previous winters. Flowers are proliferating with deep vibrant colors and no drain on the plants, etc., etc.

Nice, it is very interesting indeed. We have been doing field trials for 1 1/2 years with what we call RhizoChar with very good to great results

There are 3 golf courses in the north east that do not use fertilizers to hydroseed anymore, none, nada, zip

Nick Christians over at Iowa state university did some nice work on sand based fields, bent grass and using char, he added char in 5% increments and looked at the results. They did 0, 5, 10, 15 , 20 and 25% the best results were from 10% and 15%, the 15% produced the best root mass with the 10% right behind

This is very interesting and right in line with what we have experienced in the field, to much is too much or a little goes a long way to improve plant health

This is all relative though, we did some trials on existing turf, not seeding, in the North west and did not have the same types of results. The SOM was 10% to 12% it did not need more organic matter

[Smallaxe]

Thanks Bill,
I will have to research Nick Christians at Iowa State and see how he applied to turf. I am thinking of simply adding innoculated Char, to compost and broadcasting. May also experiement with spraying it on, in solution.
I'll have to see what Nick did. :)

[ICT Bill]

Thanks Bill,
I will have to research Nick Christians at Iowa State and see how he applied to turf. I am thinking of simply adding innoculated Char, to compost and broadcasting. May also experiement with spraying it on, in solution.
I'll have to see what Nick did. :)

Just a note, it is close to impossible to get the small pieces out of the char, even when we screen with 400 micron we still seem to get pieces that like to stick together, because it is hygrophobic.
It will clog most fine spray tips, use flood jet type spray tips or just put a simple ball valve at the end of the hose, what I like to call "crude spraying"
It will also clog drip irrigation but not overhead

It is not a magic bullet but it certainly adds organic matter that does not go away quickly, it also helps with aggregation of soil

If innoculated first it becomes a great "carbon Condo" for microbes, it provides safety from competition and a food source to increase colonization numbers quicker and wit less competition

[ICT Bill]

it took me a minute to find it
http://www.hort.iastate.edu/turfgrass/pubs/turfrpt/2009/PDFfiles/6-4.2009BiocharReport.pdf

[Smallaxe]

Thanks for the link. The pictures showed that, just sand produced root lengths that were greater than sand and char mix @ 15, 20, and 25%.
The roots seemed thicker at the 1-2 inch depth with the heavier char mixes. It would have been interesting to see how the grass blades themselves responded to each different mix.

It is hard to tell from just photos, but it appeared that the char was washing lower into the soil profile. Especially the 25% plug looks like the lower half is mostly char.

Overall great pictures. :)

[Kiril]

It is hard to tell from just photos, but it appeared that the char was washing lower into the soil profile. Especially the 25% plug looks like the lower half is mostly char.

Without knowing anything about how these samples were irrigated, you cannot make this conclusion. Furthermore, the samples were mixed.

Pictures are nice and all, but without more data, they don't really say much.

[ICT Bill]

Since it is a university study I would have to assume that they all were treated the same, same water, same fert, same whatever

The only conclusion that I do draw from this is that too much Char seems to stunt growth, which is right in line with our own research this past year. Now why it stunts growth is another topic and one I have no idea, I have some theories but that is all they are

[Smallaxe]

Without knowing anything about how these samples were irrigated, you cannot make this conclusion. Furthermore, the samples were mixed.

Pictures are nice and all, but without more data, they don't really say much.

Actually, the best thing about pictures is that you don't have to 'picture' in your mind and you often see things that raise questions.
When you can ask the right question, you begin, to more thoroughly understand.

With Terra Preta - we remain in the 'superficial knowedge stage'.

[Smallaxe]

Just a note, it is close to impossible to get the small pieces out of the char, even when we screen with 400 micron we still seem to get pieces that like to stick together, because it is hygrophobic.
It will clog most fine spray tips, use flood jet type spray tips or just put a simple ball valve at the end of the hose, what I like to call "crude spraying"
It will also clog drip irrigation but not overhead...

When I pour the water into the pail of char, to soften it up, I get a lot of black water. I can only assume, that it is black because of microscopic bits of char, that will house, many of the microscopic critters, we want to thrive there.
Many of the colloids will settle out of the solution over a period of time, so when I pour off the liquid it may pass through the sprayer nozzle. I hope.

Then - that brings me to another thought.
It occurred to me that using black water to brew the compost tea, would not only, stimulate the growth of many beneficial microbes, but also give them a home.
I would think that the variety of the micronutrients extant, would quickly adsorb to the char particles.

I am getting excited about step number 2. :)