diy biochar?

[Brando CalPankian]

Does anyone have a recipe of diy biochar? There used to be a local guy who supplied the area who no longer does so.

 

[evo]

Does anyone have a recipe of diy biochar? There used to be a local guy who supplied the area who no longer does so.

This time of year you can go to where the active slash piles are and ask to gather the charcoal.. on a commercial level, good luck, unless you can afford a few tons at a time

 

[Chaplain242]

Biochar is cooked with oxygen starvation (ie set alight and buried etc or cooked in hoppers to exclude air) - so maybe better off making yourself if you have a sand pile etc to cover the fire pit (and loader of course)

 

[Brando CalPankian]

Both very good ideas. I do have a burn barrel. There is a ton of active logging within 10 minutes of me too. I'm going to start experimenting. Could at least provide what I need for work.

 

[Jehinten]

DIY for a small scale, not sure if this is a time efficient method for the amount that your looking for.

 

[ATH]

You can probably scrape up deer carcasses off the highway and use those too...

I've tried to make regular charcoal with limited success. I would think it's going to be very difficult to maintain the temperatures you need for real biochar on a small scale. But on the other hand it can't be that difficult as they did it a few thousand years ago!

 

[Brando CalPankian]

DIY for a small scale, not sure if this is a time efficient method for the amount that your looking for.

Thank you so much my friend! This is exactly what I was looking for. That is awesome.

 

[southsoundtree]

How is it used, specifically?

How does one market it and a sell it?

 

[Brando CalPankian]

It's used as a soil amendment. I believe it has nitrogen fixing properties, helps to remove toxins from the soil, and adds organic matter, cec (cation exchange capacity), and water holding capacity to the soil. It's often used post root crown excavation, premulching, and as root invigoration backfill. Pairs nicely with mycorrhiza as a soil repair agent.

 

[Chaplain242]

It's used as a soil amendment. I believe it has nitrogen fixing properties, helps to remove toxins from the soil, and adds organic matter, cec (cation exchange capacity), and water holding capacity to the soil. It's often used post root crown excavation, premulching, and as root invigoration backfill. Pairs nicely with mycorrhiza as a soil repair agent.

It is activated carbon which provides porous harbours for fungi and bacteria, whilst providing an electrostatic bank for minerals, plus the absorption of toxins and harmful concentrations of salts/minerals as stated.

Mayans and Aztecs used it to create gardens in the desert and sandy environments, with added humous, and complicated aquaducts. Lots of research opportunities here if one has the time to do so. They would prime the biochar with the microbes and minerals and fortify their soils with it.