Biochar Compost 2021

[indaswamp]

Wow...

 

[indaswamp]

Depends on where you live...some places around the world naturally have a higher degree of biochar that has been incorporated into the soil, i.e. milosols (grasslands from forest fires). IF you already have this soil, adding more biochar is of little to no benefit.

 

[daniels]

I just put the ashes from my smoker directly on the garden the way the original 'biochar' masters thousands of years ago spread camp fire ashes on their garden soil. Works fine.

All you need to know about composting your garden:

 

[indaswamp]

Ashes are not the same as biochar...

 

[daniels]

Both ashes and biochar add carbon to the soil. Biochar is just a semi-intelligent sounding term for identifying substances that haven't completely burned to ashes yet.

They have both worked for millenia.

 

[ddufore]

Biochar is not burned at all. Rather it is “cooked” in an oxygen deprived environment to release all of its volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). There is no ash in the container of biochar. Just my semi-intelligent response. )

 

[indaswamp]

Both ashes and biochar add carbon to the soil. Biochar is just a semi-intelligent sounding term for identifying substances that haven't completely burned to ashes yet.

They have both worked for millenia.

Well, bit of confusion then. Ash by definition is wood residue left from complete combustion so all the carbon has been burn off. And what you are referring to is defined as charcoal. Charcoal is not biochar. Biochar has gone through a biological process which transforms the surface of the char. It is this process which allows the char to hold nutrients in the soil.

 

[daniels]

Biochar is not burned at all. Rather it is “cooked” in an oxygen deprived environment to release all of its volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). There is no ash in the container of biochar. Just my semi-intelligent response. )

So you're saying I could just pound some lump charcoal from Wally World and deem it 'biochar'.

 

[indaswamp]

Also, if you take un-composted raw charcoal and mix that into your garden soil, it will retard plant growth for up to two years. The reasons are many... one is high pH. Until the surface of the char has been transformed through biology, the pH will remain high. Two- the charcoal will absorb nutrients from the soil and will not be plant available until the char is transformed through biology.

This is not to say that ash has no benefit-it most certainly does.

 

[indaswamp]

So you're saying I could just pound some lump charcoal from Wally World and deem it 'biochar'.

Nope. you will just have crushed charcoal dust.....
and not good biochar material. Most lump charcoal is pyrolized at a lower temperature so that not all the wood has been converted. There is still a lot of tars, oils, and lignins which when burned give flavor to cooked food.

 

[daniels]

Since the beginning of 'biochar' started thousands of years ago and was recently discovered in the Amazon I wonder how those people knew all of this?

Got to admit, I'm a skeptic and know that this all started by putting camp fire ashes and ashes from clearing land for farming in the gardens. The modern 'biochar' idea is a bunch of hooey. My father's family used wood ashes on their garden plots at least 100 years ago and it improved the productivity of their garden. After a while soil becomes acidic from the decomposition of biological matter. Ashes and charcoal on the soil help to neutralize the acidity but don't overdo it.

I'm going to gracefully bow out of the conversation now since I'm not buying any of it. It's pretty basic (pun intended) and definitely not rocket science.

 

[indaswamp]

definitely not rocket science.

You are correct-not rocket science, but there is science involved. A lot of it is organic chemistry.

 

[Twomorestrokes]

I'm retired so have plenty of time but still like to keep my composting simple. I have a three bin system made from pallets with gates out in the woods that I add all my kitchen scraps and lawn refuse to. I also clean my fire pit and dump it in there. Core temperature in the spring summer and fall stay is so high that I frequently have to turn it to cool it off a little. I use the first two bins back and forth to do this and then when it stops heating up it ends up in the third bin and use it after the season for composting after running it through my quarter inch screen. I used to put a lot more work into it but there's really no need.