Biochar or charcol for your fruit trees

[palmtreeluke]

Anyone going crazy with biochar soil amendment?  Im looking to improve the sandy florida soil and I think this would be great to act as a water and nutrient strange base for the sandy soil that leaches organics so easily. Of course inoculating it with tons of manures and compost and tilling it in sounds like a magic formula.

im planning on doing some experimenting with it.

[nullzero]

Anyone going crazy with biochar soil amendment?  Im looking to improve the sandy florida soil and I think this would be great to act as a water and nutrient strange base for the sandy soil that leaches organics so easily. Of course inoculating it with tons of manures and compost and tilling it in sounds like a magic formula.

im planning on doing some experimenting with it.

Yes I was planning to add lots of biochar. Was thinking of getting one of these: http://www.survivaledge.com/Deluxe-Metal-1-Door-Stove-p/1dst.htm

Then using it to BBQ things and using dried wood obtained from the yard. I would think over time you can use it on all the new planting areas, and using extra to dig into cleared spots.

[Finca La Isla]

Yes! We are making and using lots of biochar.  I had been applying microorganisms and mulching for years and now we have been incorporating biochar into a sort of trinity for soil improvement.  I don't apply any conventional fertilizers or haul compost into the orchards, just inoculated biochar as a soil amendment mixed into mulch/leaf litter.
We are getting pretty good fruit production with this regimen.  A big plus is that this program seems to have improved the quality of our mangosteen fruit.  The incidence of gamboge and hardened fruit pulp is way down on mangosteen fruit now.
We are producing the biochar from prunings that we process in an adapted steel drum that works very quickly and is pretty much smoke free..
Peter

[Saltcayman]

Very cool!  What microorganisms do you inoculate the biochar with?

Yes! We are making and using lots of biochar.  I had been applying microorganisms and mulching for years and now we have been incorporating biochar into a sort of trinity for soil improvement.  I don't apply any conventional fertilizers or haul compost into the orchards, just inoculated biochar as a soil amendment mixed into mulch/leaf litter.
We are getting pretty good fruit production with this regimen.  A big plus is that this program seems to have improved the quality of our mangosteen fruit.  The incidence of gamboge and hardened fruit pulp is way down on mangosteen fruit now.
We are producing the biochar from prunings that we process in an adapted steel drum that works very quickly and is pretty much smoke free..
Peter

[val]

It made a big difference in my vegetable garden.  I have very sandy soil amended with manure, organic materials and finally (years later) added biochar.  The soil is very rich. Fruit trees are next.

[franciscu]

Val,  I need to improve my sugar sand soil too. I'm getting into composting now. I've been reading stuff about boosting soil 'cation exchange capacity' by means of amendments that have microscopic structures for holding minerals and moisture. Biochar is often mentioned.

Where are you getting your biochar from?  Making it yourself?  Buying it?  Grinding up regular charcoal? I've read about biochar, but never actually seen it or touched it. Is it fine like talc, or chunky, or pebbly, or what?

Also, how do you apply it? And about how much?

Also, in addition to biochar, is anyone using other kinds of inorganic amendments to boost soil CEC -- such as zeolites, vermiculite, ...?

-- Frank

[val]

We had a large brush pile from tree trimming with large branches/logs. When it was burnt down almost completely , I put the fire out with a garden hose.  I was left with ashes, small chunks and larger 1" x 2-3" chunks. I scattered these like you would fertilizer but a little heavy handed.  I read somewhere that if you use too much ashes,  salts can build up.

The soil made a seemingly permanent change.  In south America, they grow year after year in old burn spots and the soil seems to renew itself.  Now remember I had lots of added of compost, leaves, mulch and manure but real change came after adding charcoal.

As for microoganisms,  I make a pile of horse manure with the sawdust and leave it set for a six months to a year undisturbed and rained on.  When it has fungus growing through out,  I use it to inoculate the garden/ trees.
 
 I also use tree parts meaning sawdust, wood chips and leaves as mulch. I think its important to use all parts of the tree for improving the soil. Get as much wood chips as you can or stall cleanings. The advantage of the stall cleanings is the wood is in smaller pieces and break down quickly.
Sometimes I mulch with manure/ sawdust straight from stalls to garden and plants did fine but more often I let it sit first.

[val]

I forgot to add, I don't mix the mulch or charcoal in. Just lay it on top and it magically works its way down. Eventually it gets mixed in the garden of course but I try to avoid that by mulching heavily enough to keep out weeds and then pull the mulch away from a spot and put a plant there.

[Finca La Isla]

We make the biochar, as I mentioned, in a specially adapted steel drum that converts the wood or other combustible material to char in about two hours at a high temperature of about 800C.  Consequently, the process produces practically no smoke!  A cubic Centimeter of this char has the surface area of a football field.
There are many ways to inoculate the char from using urine to scavenging all matter of naturally occurring microorganisms and adding yeast and yogurt, etc.  we started with commercial EM and currently use a similar microorganism concentrate made here in CR along with a humid acid and minors mix.
We break the char into random sized pieces, not intentionally making dust, and load it into a 15-20 gallon sealable container and add about 5 gallons of microorganism mix and leave for a week.  We then broadcast the saturated char in the orchards and use it when planting new trees, returning to add more char as the drip line advances.  We feel that you HAVE to have biomass/mulch for this to be effective.
When the farm conditions are damp we periodically apply more microorganisms to the char treated areas.
Peter

[Finca La Isla]

Here's a look at an example of the drum we use to make the char.
Peter

[val]

We make the biochar, as I mentioned, in a specially adapted steel drum that converts the wood or other combustible material to char in about two hours at a high temperature of about 800C.  Consequently, the process produces practically no smoke!  A cubic Centimeter of this char has the surface area of a football field.
There are many ways to inoculate the char from using urine to scavenging all matter of naturally occurring microorganisms and adding yeast and yogurt, etc.  we started with commercial EM and currently use a similar microorganism concentrate made here in CR along with a humid acid and minors mix.
We break the char into random sized pieces, not intentionally making dust, and load it into a 15-20 gallon sealable container and add about 5 gallons of microorganism mix and leave for a week.  We then broadcast the saturated char in the orchards and use it when planting new trees, returning to add more char as the drip line advances.  We feel that you HAVE to have biomass/mulch for this to be effective.
When the farm conditions are damp we periodically apply more microorganisms to the char treated areas.
Peter

Thank you. Very nice explanation.  I would like to try a drum.

[gunnar429]

this may be ignorant, but what is the difference between burning the wood in a firepit vs using the drum?

[Finca La Isla]

Traditional charcoal is made in a pit where the fuel wood is covered over and its smolders for days.  This produces a lot of smoke and the char is made at a low temperature that doesn't succeed in burning away a lot of the volatiles so you have created a lot of smoke and your char is not as permeable.
You could still use this kind of char but the process to make it is quite contaminating and, while good for a BBQ, it is considered inferior for agriculture.
Peter

[gunnar429]

ok, so the does the drum just contain the smoke, or is it a slow-cooker kind of process?

[snhabegger]

This is a very interesting thread, thank you for starting it.  Could you describe, or include pictures, of how you modified your drum?  I have wanted to try to develop a crude biochar cooker in Thailand, and use both trimmings and rice husks in it -- but I'm not good at things like that, I need a model.

Secondly, what do you think about soaking the biochar in urine?  I've never heard of inocculating it with bacteria before, where did you get the original mixture?

[Vernmented]

Here's a look at an example of the drum we use to make the char.
Peter

How are those extra large holes in the afterburner working out for you? I am about to make my second top/afterburner and I might try your design.  Mine has small holes around the top and on the bottom of the chimney. It works pretty good but there are times that I get smoke. It is most likely from the material not being bone dry though.

[Vernmented]

Here is a pic of mine blazing away at night. I LOVE LOVE LOVE biochar. I innoculate with AACT from worm castings with fish and seaweed emulsion. I pee in it as well from time to time. So far everything is growing very well. I just put my first bareroot trees in with the 20% biochar dug in before planting. I'll see how they do but all three are budding out nicely. I'm not sure why my pic is uploading sideways. HAHA

 

[Finca La Isla]

The large holes work well as long as it is not windy.  A breeze can cause smoke to appear and a friend has a panel that he hangs on the windy side if necessary.  It's important with this unit that the wood is pretty dry, especially large stuff although we have been successful with 1-2" diameter sticks that oozed liquid out the ends.  Once you get it going there is really a lot of heat which is important to make the best char.
Peter