Special thanks to Amol Palshetkar for his support in bringing this article into this website.
Soil is a living thing! A teaspoon of healthy soil has
more living organisms in it than all the people on the planet. Plants used
living soil to stay healthy and strong relying on it to deliver water oxygen
and nutrients to communicate and shared resources through networks of microbes
in a natural environment. Soil quality is naturally brilliant so everything
works as it should but in towns and cities golf courses, football pitches and
even gardens and allotments the soil has become much lower quality than in
woodlands. In some cases where fungicides and pesticides have been overused
soil becomes barren much to the detriment of the grass, flowers, trees and
crops we rely on but there's an easy solution to permanently improve soil
quality in all environments.
Biochar
Biochar is a very porous and high carbon form of charcoal
that has three beneficial effects on soil physical biochar’s microscopic
honeycomb structure improves the aeration, water holding capacity and nutrient
retention of soil and stops it from getting compacted. Meaning all the
essentials that plant roots need are readily available and easily accessible.
Biologically this structure also provides the perfect housing for beneficial
microbiology which defends roots and fights off pests. Chemically Biochar is
very high in carbon which is good for a process called cation exchange which
essentially means more nutrients are retained in the soil and available for plant roots because of biochar’s purity. It doesn't degrade so
it is a permanent improvement to your soil and because it's so high-end carbon
it's preventing carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere one ton
of carbon locked away in biochar is equivalent to three tons of carbon dioxide
permanently removed from the atmosphere.
So what is biochar?
Carbon Gold.
Stabilized biochar is produced from biomass waste like
wood chips, plant residue, twigs or manure transformed into a more stable form
of biomass carbon. Unlike compost the biochar can hold moisture, nutrients,
carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years and avoid microbial
degradation. Biochar sets up a carbon reef system where microorganisms have
protection from predation and a carbon structure in which to thrive.
One of the most important advances of biochar research is
the loading of nutrients applying this in thorough at prop seeding as well as
an additive in manufactured potting soil in restoration sites. Biochar is one
of the most efficient absorbers of organic contaminants especially pesticides, antibiotics, heavy metals
and dioxins. Far exceeding activated carbon and performance and cost applied in
animal bedding funds. Biochar traps moisture, organic and inorganic nitrogen
compounds depriving pathogens of their nutrient base while reducing ammonia
emissions.
Gardeners know healthy soils grow healthy plants. Master
Gardeners have a secret its “Biochar” a tailored charcoal specifically
made for the benefit of plants consisting of materials obtained from the
carbonization of biomass. Biochar
is created when plant materials are cooked at temperatures under 700 degrees
Fahrenheit with very little or no oxygen. After forest fires natural biochar
seeps down into mother earth and result in an explosion of flourishing plant
life due to the nutrients made available by stimulating microorganism activity
in the soil. This is no surprise for science, decades of research in Japan and recent studies in the U.S. show
that biochar stimulates the activity of beneficial soil microorganisms and can
greatly affect the microbiological properties of soil with billions of
microscopic pores biochar provides a perfect habitat for microorganisms
protecting them from drying out, while providing carbon, energy, and mineral nutrients and adding biochar to soil is nothing new
being applied to soils for centuries to boost yields and maintain healthy
soils.
Biochar has a negative charge that naturally develops on its surface which retains nutrients and reduces soil acidity decreasing liming needs CEC stands for Cation Exchange Capacity, cations are positively charged islands for example calcium potassium, magnesium these simple elements are what plants take up through their roots by simply adding biochar to your soil it increases your cation exchange capacity and dramatically improves the nutrient holding and delivery capacity of your soil. This prevents nutrients from just washing away while improving the delivery of nutrients from soil to root. Biochar can improve soil tilth and composting processes and improve the increased nutrient and water retention microbes reduce off-gassing increase pH and overall quality of mediums.
How to make biochar
Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svNg5w7WY0k
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IwEGvb1O00
Part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Lj_SsYpto
How to activate biochar:
Method 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UiW3-IMfME
Method 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOEyIPVn2r0
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