I've been getting it by the 50# bag at Sam's, but it's a huge, backbreaking chore to smash it all down and sift it. Yesterday, I got the bright idea to run it through my electric wood chipper. The result was pieces about 1/4" to 3/8" in size, which is perfect for my tastes. I learned three things: 1) Don't do this if you are sweating. 2) Do this BEFORE you shower. 3) Use clothes you plan on throwing away, or do it naked. I'm also going to have to hose the chipper down, but this only took me 45 minutes, as opposed to 5-8 hours.
Consider making a ball mill from a steel drum. You can make it relatively airtight and also add some water so you don't have to breathe in all that dust. If you or someone you know can weld, then you're in business.
@@josiahhockenberry9846 I second the ball mill idea, much better to throw charcoal into a big drum and let an electric motor do the work than to try and smash it by hand.
A tip for making it easier to get into the bad is cut the string stitching on the top of the bag & pull them & it will open like a zipper (one way doesn’t work but the other does, so trial & error to find the correct side) than you could spray a light mist of water into the bag to try help with the dust. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the informative video. When I made it, I put a tarp over the bucket to keep the small particulates inside while I smashed it. I also pre-smashed it by driving on the charcoal between two tarps.
If you crimp two cans together and punch a tiny hole on one end, you can fill it with wood, sticks, even bones, and let it sit on a grill or fireplace. It'll spew the wood gas out the hole in a flame jet and once that stops (roll it around with a poker to be thorough) you can wait for it to cool and youll be left with a little bit of charcoal.
I swear by biochar. I've had great results making my own version of Terra Preta. One thing; you definitely must wear a face mask if you need to pulverise. Even if you *THINK* the wind or air current is blowing the black charcoal dust cloud away from your face, an hour later when you sneeze or spit out you'll notice that the mucus will be jet black from the super fine airfloat charcoal. While charcoal is not as toxic to breathe in as, say, asbestos or silica dust, it is best to avoid inhalation of particulate matter into your lungs, no matter what. You can actually buy pre-pulverised horticultural-grade charcoal, depending on your location (you can find it online) and/or how much you are willing to spend (pre-pulverised might be more expensive due to the labour and energy costs involved in producing a charcoal granulate). Tip: wetting the charcoal chunks prior to pulverising will produce less dust.
Tell you what: I had the same problem with perlite. They tell you to wear a mask, and I didn't. I was coughing up perlite dust for 5 minutes. Stuff is nasty.
I have just been exposed to the idea of making biochar. The process reminds me of what I have read of Terra Preta, the super productive agricultural soil made long ago in the amazon area. Thanks for verifying that.
@@MarkTrades__ I've tried that, but bizarrely enough, dust is still generated. You see, charcoal initially has a high degree of hydrophobicity/water-repellency. The surface of the charcoal chunks were wetted, but the water never soaked though into the interior of the chunks. Not even after soaking for a day. So, when I attempted to crush what I assumed was entirely wettened charcoal, the bone dry interior of the charcoal chunks generated a lot of dust.
I'm a newbie gardener and I honestly have just been absorbing and applying all that your videos have taught me, thanks for the awesome videos MIgardener!!
I’ve gardened a few times and noticed some problems, now I’m learning all new techniques from this guy, I also watch Epic Gardener and Self Sufficient Me for great tips. Never would’ve thought of container gardening to save garden space, let alone what to plant in containers without the advice from these guys.
The temperature at which the wood pyrolysis occurs as well as time of the process affects the composition of the "char". During the pyrolysis process much of the volatile components are driven off (and usually burned). Correctly made biochar will emit very little smoke if ignited in the air. I have examined BBQ charcoal and correctly made biochar. My simple examination shows a difference between the two. Is there a difference in the soil? Some researchers say yes. Do you own searches.
I put a 30gal barrel with lid inside a 50gal barrel to make charcoal. Hardwood inside the small barrel with a small hole in the cap. Make a fire inside the big barrel that the small one sits in. Super easy and contained. Great stuff. Good luck my friends ☮️
According to my research, you can also use ALL NATURAL HARDWOOD CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES because the only additive these briquettes have (which are made from lump charcoal dust) is a binder, such as cornstarch. If you soak them in a nitrogen rich solution (ie pee) they will dissolve into a slurry. you don't have to grind the lump charcoal down and risk ingesting the dust.
I only BBQ with hardwood lump charcoal, and all the crumbs and dust (usually the bottom 10% of the bag) just goes in the compost along with the ashes. I’ve always laughed at garden centre prices for “biochar.”
A couple of points: 1) biochar doesn’t break down in anywhere near 3 to 5 years. There are deposits in the Amazon that are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. It may take 3 to 5 years for the biochar to become fully charged up if one doesn’t put it full of nutrients before dumping it into the ground. That may be where there is some confusion. 2) I have read on a few websites that hardwood charcoal is somewhat less effective than true bio char carbon produced in a stove specifically meant for producing bio char. However, it is for easier and probably for cheaper to simply buy the hardwood charcoal and use a bit more of it (say 15% -20%, vs. 10% “true” biochar) to obtain the same degree of effectiveness. FWIW, I think that the idea presented in this video is fantastic, as it will encourage many more people to start using bio char. I have purchased three bags of hardwood charcoal over the last week or two, and I definitely plan on grinding it up and mixing it with compost for my upcoming garden. I am also going to be using worm castings as part of my compost, and I am seriously considering growing my compost pile completely through the use of worms. Apparently, if the biochar bits are small enough, the worms swallow it along with food waste and other decaying biological material, and charge up the tiny bits of biochar from inside their digestive system. This is a way to combine the benefits of both bio char and worm castings.
You are certainly correct about charcoal's longevity, but I've got to ask you what the difference is between the carbon in this charcoal as compared to the carbon in what you're calling "true bio-char"? What is the definition of "true bio-char"? 😉
@@IAMSatisfied I think that the main difference is that when you’re buying mass produced bags of hardwood charcoal, some of the wood has not been fully combusted. So you’re really not buying 100% charcoal. Compare and contrast to charcoal that you make yourself with a top down burning technique. Chances are that it will be 100% charcoal. That difference, if it truly exists, is why I suggested in my original post that one simply put a bit more of the store-bought, charcoal, properly charged with nutrients, into the soil to obtain the same effect.
Wow, what a coincidence!!! I spotted the same brand wood charcoal at my nearest Walmart just yesterday! Bought a 30# bag for only a little over $18 is all! Glad to know that I ain’t the only one that thought of this awesome idea! Have fun and happy gardening! 😊👍
suprisingly. I have bought alot of the charcoal at walmart for cooking at this royal oak hardwood lump stuff was the best I have found so far. Cooks hotter & for longer than briquettes and leaves the meat with a GREAT smkoy flavor rather than that kinda "kingsford charcoal & lighter fluid" flavor haha.
Do you know how many biochar videos I've watched that don't explain what biochar does? How to make and use, sure, but nothing compared to your explanation at 3:40 Thank you, Luke. Thank you very much.
Mix biochar with your grass clippings to get your compost heating up and working well. The carbon will grab up that excess of nitrogen and slowly release it back into the soil. Usually grass clippings are to high in nitrogen and need a source of carbon to break down properly and promote good microbes.
To save you some time here is basically what Biochar does in the soil: 1) Adsorbs minerals and such (like a magnet attracts and holds iron filings). 2) Plants roots migrate to those minerals and can use them. 3) Makes a nice way to maintain moisture but lets excess moisture drain away - similar to using perlite in the soil but holds some moisture like a sponge does. 4) Makes a home for beneficial soil microbes and beneficial fungi. 5) Improves soil tilth (fluffiness). 6) Improves the nitrogen cycle and cation exchange. Biochar could deter some pests. Worms will consume very tiny particles as they eat other things, and their digestive tract will super inoculate the biochar in the castings. Double benefit. You can make biochar even in a city so long as you have access to a grill - just takes 2-3 hours to make a batch, longer sometimes. Spend a day at the park :-) I make mine in a wood burner stove since I need to heat with it anyway. It can be made in a fireplace (Biocharlie is made to do that). Gases burn and add heat just like it was a log but better. About the small particles being used up. This is not entirely true. Depends on the material and the pyrolysis temperature mostly. Powdery biochar can leech out of the soil up to 17% of the volume. But it has the greatest surface area for the greatest benefits. Powdery type biochar is a great way to add it into a lawn/exiting garden/pot without digging/tilling. Mix with water and water the lawn. Benefits can be in hours. Ideally you want it granule size (1mm or less). But various particle sizes are best because the different sizes have different reasons for the benefit. Larger ones are like Hotels, and small particle sizes are like single family home in a way. I make mine out of 100% oak wood pellets. I smash them in a bucket with a wooden pole to get the various sizes. My process is a bit labor intensive but I do make good biochar. I make the charcoal out of the pellets and while they are HOT from the fire, I quench them in a solution of sulphur free molasses, confrey tea, and a tad bit of apple cider vinegar with mother. After straining out the liquid, I smash small batches, then put those in another bucket. Once that bucket gets about 1/4 full, I sprinkle in a small handful of organic fertilizer granules and small handful of wheat flour then mix well. Takes me about 2-3 days to make a 5 gal bucket of it. And the wood pellets cost about $5/bag plus tax. If you do this buy heating wood pellets what have 100% oak on the bag! Don't use flavored wood pellets or pellets that do not say 100%. Don't use regular grill charcoal as it has petroleum and other things in it. The container used to char the pellets is stainless steel stock pot with stainless steel lid. Lasts a long time too. A new unlined paint can also can make small batches. Be sure to poke or drill at least a 1/4" hole in the lid to release the flammable gases. Paint cans usually last about 2-3 burns. Application rate for biochar is generally about 10% to 12%. But any is better than none. And exceeding 25% can be wasteful or detrimental. Start low. You can always add more later. But extremely hard to remove the biochar if you have too much. I put my biochar in the soil in the cold weather and let it do it's thing till spring planting. It can take biochar 3 months to 2 years to properly benefit the soil and plants. Greatest benefit for biochar is in nutrient poor and sandy type soils. Very rich soils it can help but not a whole lot. About the youtube author - to reduce the powder problem just dampen the charcoal a bit. Keeps dust down.
buy it before winter. let buckets sit with water so it can freeze. the next summer it breaks up nice. add it to your fertilizer for best results. this has been the best way i found to make your own over the years. of course a fire is great to make large amounts.
this is also what they mean when they say forests are huge carbon sinks. All that carbon came from the air. Trees make the best fertilizer. The reason being is all tress are nutrient dense containing a lot of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and oxygen, loads of sugar in the form of cellulose which bacteria love to break down into even more basic chemicals for plants.
@@jeffcampbell479 No problem, truth is you can get the same effect by using regular topsoil, biochar, and wood ash. The caveat is wood ash has a lot of unique nutrients and compounds that are extremely beneficial to plants, however to release those compounds for plant use they require specific mycorrhizal species, Suillus granulatus, and Paxillus involutus. These species can extract various toxic elements like lead and titanium from your soil and produce fairly edible mushrooms, but only if you're not sensitive to the antibodies they produce. Paxillus Involutus if you're hyper sensitive can kill you if you eat one raw. They only grow in acidic soils, such as those around pine trees. Unfortunately the calcium carbonate in wood ash neutralizes soil and makes it hard for micorrhizal to grow. so it's important to keep in mind balance, there isn't a one size fits all so you'd have to experiment.
Explains the hugelkultur method that buries tree limbs in raised beds. The decaying wood acts as a nutrient source and water-absorbing sponge that gives up it's moisture on dry sunny days. Do a Google search.
I have a ton of wood lying around! I just inherited my father in law's old house on some forested land away from the city. He left piles of logs and kindling all over the property. I want to make my own bio char now!
I wish the biochar prophets would differentiate between char and biochar. You got char from the dollar store not biochar. AND to say “biochar breaks down very slowly” may be the understatement of the century as the char portion of biochar will remain sequestered in the soils for hundreds of years. Albert Bates says, in his book and in his lectures, to make biochar you must pyrolyses the wood, micronize it, moisturize it, mineralize it and microbialize it.
We've been heating our house off of oak we cut from our property. I've been collecting the charcoal left in the ashes everytime I clean out my fireplace.
Not the same thing. Charcoal from a fireplace can still have toxic gasses and infused moisture inside it. Lump charcoal isn't made by burning it. It's made by burning all the volatile gasses out of it, leaving the carbon structure behind.
Here is a follow-up: I used your method last fall, to break it down and used it as-is. This time, I then ran it through my blender and turned it into dust and really small pieces. One bag of charcoal will make two gallons of powder/BB-sized pieces. Use one cup per square foot. Do the math to figure how many cups there are in a gallon, and you will know how many bags to buy. I charged my charcoal with straight urine and it worked out great! I produce 2-3 gallons of it a day (long story), so I use it for everything.
@@markmcfarland5291 That was a 15# bag, but I now use the 50# bags at Sam's and run it through the wood chipper. It makes even-sized 1/4" pieces. You have to resharpen the blades afterwards though.
Awesome video! Really loved that one, lots of great information. Biochar is cool too because you can use diseased wood which you can't normally compost, and it actually reduces pests and pathogens in your soil
Important to note that an N95 mask like the one Luke wore (or N99/N100) is best, not your average surgical face mask that you usually see people wearing in clinics, hospitals, TV shows, etc. Surgical masks only keep droplets from entering/exiting your nose/mouth, whereas the N95, N99/N100 will filter particles such as smoke, dirt, and dust. Thanks for another fun and educational video!
I was pleased you also said charcoal, because this is what you call biochar appears to be. Charcoal burners were a traditional profession in Britain until very recent times and were an important part of forest management. They would build big domes of wood covered by turf and periodically watered on top during the process. It was a skill to make sure that the wood completely became charcoal but also that it didn’t burn.
@@ugponicsnah the difference is negligible using hardwood lump charcoal vs charcoal made for the purpose of biochar, guess what its practically the same process. If you don't think so, look up how hardwood lump charcoal is made.
The difference is not negligible, it has been quantified with experiments. Grilling charcoal and biochar are both made through pyrolysis, heating organic material with limited oxygen. But biochar production typically uses higher temperatures, ranging from 600-1000°C, compared to charcoal's 400°C process. This higher heat creates a more activated biochar with a larger internal surface area. This increased surface area gives biochar unique properties like improved water retention and the ability to adsorb contaminants, unlike standard grilling charcoal.
@@ugponicslol stop saying standard grilling charcoal, you're misleading people. Standard grilling charcoal can be briquettes. Don't go there guy. It's lump hardwood charcoal, and check out how it's made. Stay mad buddy.
Real biochar doesn't break down. Biochar is an extremely stable solid carbon compound that lasts for centuries if not millenials. That is, if it was gasified in excess of 500°C in an inert atmosphere (no oxygen). Biochar is most beneficial if made from garden/farm residues (straw, branches etc), as it turns biodegradable carbon (biomass) into non-biodegradable carbon (biochar) and usable heat energy, all the while eliminating pests and diseases that can grow on these residues. To put it into perspective, if all agricultural residue were to be gasified at 600°C without oxygen, we could substitute 7-8% of human's total (primary), annual energy consumption, all while sequestering 9Gt CO2 per year.
Yes I thought it was odd that he said it broke down after 3 years. The first time I heard about biochar was when I watched the "terra preta" documentary and scientists had estimated the Amazonian biochar was hundreds of years old.
@@dontjustbeanotherbrickinthewal then it seems you don't know a whole lot about science. And probably you haven't read any scientific article about biochar, otherwise you would know.
@@dontjustbeanotherbrickinthewal i don't see the connection between your video and the whole biochar topic. Biochar is a technology that has a tremendous potential in improving various parameters that matter to human kind
Well said! The question is how did the ancient Amazonians determine what 600C was? About straw and such - soft materials retain more minerals. Hard materials allow for more occupation of soil organisms.
This is a great idea. I'm going to try it with my aquaponic fish tank. Biochar tends to absorb nutrients for about 3 months. If you put biochar directly in the soil it'll have a negative impact as it absorbs plant available nutrients. You want to compost it first. If you're looking for Terra Preta then follow that recipe before applying it to soil.
Could you please explain what you mean by "breaking down" in a few years? Sorry I have to ask, but all the scientific literature I've been reading indicates the benefits last for several hundred years. I'm also curious about why you're not using an air pump to inoculate the slurry and feeding it with flour or molasses. Seems like that's the way most people do it. My understanding is that oxygen is required to keep if from going anaerobic and populating the char with "bad" bacteria.
I have made my own biochar. And have used charcoal instead - If the charcoal is light and sounds like glass... its biochar! But the key here is the glassy sound. Great video!
I'm a container gardener. If I do smaller batches, I figure I can taper the ingredients to what I am planting. For example: blueberry bushes. I plan for a small batch of biochar innoculated with blood meal and/or coffee grounds in the bottom of the container. Feedback?
I designed a double stacked steel drum system that doubles as an incinerator. It’s 2 55gallon drums stacked end to end and welded together open between. There is a hole in the very top that makes up about a 1/3 in the back. And the upper barrel has a hole in the front in the middle around 12x12 ish. The bottom has 4 holes for oxygen to get it started and hot. Once it’s hot you bury those holes with dirt. You just keep feeding in wood. It burns extremely hot with very little smoke. This is because the wood is burning in a low oxygen environment near the bottom but as the smoke rises up, at the top of the barrel it’s mixed with oxygen and burns off inside of the barrel, which adds more heat to the system and makes for nearly no smoke out the chimney. Unlike every single other method of producing charcoal. It was such a hot process I was able to do this with green wood too, but I don’t recommend it as it slows the process and creates a lot of steam smoke.
As best I understand Charcoal lacks the final high heat finishing that produces the final microscopic voids and crystallization. It is a bit like clay that is not baked to a high enough temp to become permanently impervious to water. However hard wood lump charcoal is far more available and affordable . It likely will produce similar benifits
I've been making charcoal in my woodstove and getting 3 to 5 gallons a week this Winter. Getting the stove hot enough to micro fracture the bio char would turn it to ash, so I keep the stove down around 200 or 250 degrees. When I get enough charcoal, I clean out the stove and put it in a steel bucket. I hit it briefly w/ air from a shop vac to micro fracture the char before quenching it. I'm charging it w/ horse and chicken manure.
I love your explanation of Biochar. Will you do a video of how you apply it to your garden bed, how much, should it be watered in , etc? Once it’s applied in your garden bed, can you plant immediately? Can it also be used in potted plants or veggies?
A few methods put a 1 inch layer in the surface and till it in to 5-6 inches deep. Dig down 5-6 inches and place a 1 inch layer down then cover with soil. Top Dress with biochar and water it in. This is the least recommended way. When I make my biochar I have 3 grades made at the same time. Pellets (obviously) Biochar sludge (thick and small small particles that resemble sludge) And a black liquid with biochar floating around in it. I can just water with that black liquid if I don't want to disturb an existing plant. finger tilling 1/2 inch or so with the sludge will get some in there. Or just tilling it into empty soil for regular biochar.
I have a small pack stove in my shop for heating. It works great for making biochar. Just get a good fire going for 1/2 hour and then load it up with wood and close the air intake and exhaust. The exhaust valve has a small hole so it doesn't completely close off, allowing gasses to escape and not smoke up the shop.
At the end of last year I picked up extra bags of compost. I'll be able to use that for doing this. Telling us how to do this ourselves in the pit is appreciated. I do have a pit, and last year I cleaned out the ash and have that in a bucket. But now I know I can't use that ash. However, I do have maple tree branches I can do with what you've said.....for free. Thank you.
Hey Luke, watching this video for the umtinth time, had to really laugh this time listening to your comment on not being able to find small wood lying around, not true this spring after the big ice storm that took out our power here south of Jackson. We're still picking up sticks and twigs, lol. Thank you for so many informative videos and your positive attitude 😊
Hello, I really like your channel. But I just got to know what makes biochar biochar. It is made in a containet without oxygene and that makes the wood burn the way it only leaves the carbon. The biochar will absorb moisture and then release it when ground gets dry. It will also stay on the ground for over 300 years. Pretty cool!! This info is from the Finnish biochar-project, from MTT. The basic charcoal is also beneficial for the garden, but it will compost and cannot absorb the water and nutrients the way biochar will. (the biochar will have 5-400 m2 inner cavities and basic charcoal has close to none) Keep up the good work and happy gardening from Finland, where we are having the warmest autumn of all 😀
Please tell me the square footage of what you used that 1/2 bucket of innoculated bio- char on. you said 1 and a half beds, not the size of the beds, maybe your followers know. Do you spread it on top, then shovel it in? Or do you keep it on top, planting it in as you plant your veggies... Please tell me these things. Also, I want to use composted horse manure, ok? Thanks, jon.
I am trying to make biochar myself using a typical weber original grill. I start a small fire on the bottom of the grill, & basically try to pile on another layer quickly to where it ALMOST smothers the fire. Then I nurse the fire back by using a stick to lift part of the burn media to get more air in there, etc. Once that layer lights up, I wait for it to turn white over a majority of the surface & then I repeat the process of adding more material to smother the previous layer. I do this until the grill fills up, throw one last layer on & try to get it to burn as hot as possible, THEN SPRAY WITH SOME WATER TO SHOCK THE WOOD & PUT THE LID OF THE GRILL ON AND CLOSE ALL VENTS. This creates more cracks in the char ideally (water) and the lid keeps the water you just sprayed from smoking up the whoel neighborhood & ensures the fire gets smothered. I'd say I got maybe 50% efficiency from this in the grill on my first attempt as alot still converted to ash, but I had a nice fire going and a great smell in the neighborhood & still got biochar out of fallen limbs, pine cones, pine needles, & pulled weeds from in my yard.
This isn't real biochar. That's why it breaks down after 3 years. It still has wood and related compounds in it. This method is convenient, but much less effective. You could buy this stuff, then burn it more until the volatile compounds that give the meat flavor are gone. Then it could be real biochar. But you're still buying something that you still have to burn more. Real biochar doesn't have that volatile flavor stuff. I like what you're doing with the compost tea and crushing it though. For my garden, I"m making the real stuff. I agree with Jonas Lecholt.
VERY IMPORTANT: USE ONLY PLAIN HARDWOOD CHARCOAL WITH NO CHEMICALS!!!! I know he said it but it deserves repeating. Just plain, hardwood charcoal with no chemicals added. I plan to make a slurry of rain water, worm castings, manure, silica, liquid kelp, azomite and other organic fertilizers, ph it down to 6.3 and then mix in the charcoal.
@@unafilliatedx2310 you would be surprised. there are videos by bbq masters comparing different types of hardwood charcoal and some brands give off chemical off gassing
@@unafilliatedx2310 Hopefully none. But if someone were to think just any charcoal will do, they could be adding unwanted flammable chemicals to their garden.
@@EarlyMusicDiva I don't think a relatively small amount of biochar is going to make any changes in soil Ph, especially here in Michigan. For alkaline soil (which we do not have), my understanding is that the long-term solution is compost, compost compost. Add leaves, organic matter, straw, etc.. and over time the soil should become more neutral. If your soil is so alkaline that you have problems growing, you might want to consider straw bale gardening which is part of my overall strategy. Every year I get about 10 straw bales, get the centers "cooking" with water and high nitrogen fertilizer, and then when the centers are broken down enough so you can dig holes into them, I plant straight in to the bales. Tomatoes seem to do best, but I've also grown potatoes, carrots, peas, parsnips, beans, flowers, etc.. straight in to bales. By the end of the season they start falling apart so I combine them into my raised beds where all the organic matter very quickly breaks down into rich composted material.
my method is similar to yours I start out with the hardwood char from DG but I also get a bag of cow manure from the garden center. crush the hardwood char put in fresh water along with "used" water and mix in the cow manure after a week I incorporate it in to my compost pile. it super charges the compost and allows you to use far less compost per square foot. If you want to go the extra mile when you are expecting rain put out some buckets and anything else that will collect rain water to use instead of tap water which has many chemicals in it. * used water is that which you would normally flush down the toilet. that water is very high in nitrogen.
CoolSammichHero Hunter I spread it out on top and used a potato fork to fracture the soil so it would fall in. Mixing by hand would probably be difficult to impossible if you are using no till methods.
yes, just sprinkle it on top... and stop tilling your garden. Just add mulch, and as you add the mulch you end up burying the biochar. Add alittle every year and it will add up to a lot. I just wrote a lengthy post about this method.
About six months from the time you made that video, I decided to try mixing biochar into my potting soil., so I did what you did. there's a dollar general in my neighborhood. I needed to break the charcoal into bits that would go through a 7mm sieve... in my apartment. What I did was to lay an old brick in the bottom of a cardboard box, cut a small hole to fit the end of my shop vac hose, cut a larger hole to fit my hand through and went to work with a 2 lb. short-handled sledgehammer. The vac pulled out the dust from crushing, but sifting made more, and my hands were filthy up to the elbow. Ugh. I used the charcoal that was left in the bag for the barbecue, then went online. When I looked for horticultural charcoal, it cost way too much. I also saw aquarium filter carbon. Still way too expensive. What I finally found, still expensive, but not so bad, was coconut shell charcoal sold for filling air filters. That's what I've been using ever since. I only need a little bit, (about a pint to a bushel of soil mix) so a ten-pound bag lasts me over a year.
I have fibromyalgia and my gardening efforts have often suffered from my having flareups. My intention of what I think I should do is always on a scale of being a dreamer and what I can actually do does not necessarily match up. So I keep looking for the ideas that pay off long term like perennials and fruit trees and a ton of what I can learn about permaculture. Thanks for this idea! I went out and bought a bag of the hardwood charcoal today, same brand and everything as it turned out. I am about to go outside this evening and inoculate some of it. I am also going to put out some cardboard and some of the free "mulch" I picked up 7 bags worth of at the side of the road.
I have been using hardwood lump charcoal for my grills/smoker for 15+yrs, and adding the leftover bits to my soil and compost for 12+yrs. That Royal Oak you used is very good stuff. It is my second favorite behind Wisconsin-made "Grove" brand lump charcoal. Many other brands are not very good.
There's a big circle of cinder blocks where a local tree removal company burned all their chipped wood, I collect the charred lumps and ashes and use them as drainage in my planters. I pound them down to smaller size with an old brick too, and mix the resulting powder and grit into my soil.
I bought some Bio char in a bag from Lowe’s a few years ago. I put a hand full of it in each plant as I planted them. Everything seemed to do real well that year. I’ve been looking ever since locally, haven’t found it. I seen a bag on Burpees site but the price was ridiculous. Thanks for the video.
Every once in a while the dollar tree near me has some no brainier steals. I've bought both the potting mix as well as their lump charcoal from dollar tree. I've largely used the lump charcoal fory Coleman go-anywhere grill. That charcoal a little small and dusty for good cooking and is actually better for the application in the video. I actually have inoculated soil I make for indoor crops with that charcoal. Basically I make my own soil with compost from kitchen scraps and yard waste. I use ivor head roaches to compost instead of worms now, I'd use bsf but they require higher temps for the higher compost rate. I find at room temp 65-70f you can't beat ivory head roaches. I use the compost from ivory roaches in conjunction with some coco coir to make a soil media. That's how I started however I rarely add coir now because at this point it's more of a soil recycling operation because I recharge the spent soil from containers of harvested crops back into the blaticompost bins(roach bins) as a substrate since ivory head babies burrow. Admittedly over time maintaining the correct aeration in the media becomes an art. Regardless,.after several years I have consistently produced organic grow media for my indoor crops with this closed loop indoor system that utilizes both composting and recycling grow method. Anyways I'd imagine inoculating this charcoal would translate well to outdoor gardening if used as a soil recharge for beds as well as a sorta microbial battery.
@@cherylb5953 no, they don't get out. Ivory head roaches cannot climb smooth surfaces like plastic. I don't even keep a lid on it. If any did get out they wouldn't survive winter so no chance of being invasive here.
Hello, I’m thoroughly enjoying your site here planning the garden at our new farm at the tip of the mitten which already has many mature fruit trees, and is 40 acres of which about 90% is heavily wooded. The challenge here is finding areas with enough sunshine which can be protected from the resident deer and bear! I’m physically disabled and have adapted by doing all my gardening in raised beds and 100-150 gallon water troughs. I use a modified Hugelkulture/lasagne garden style, filling the bottom of my garden beds with well rotted logs and branches, then 50% of the nice loamy sandy soil we have up here along with 50% of the well aged composted horse manure we have. So finally my question: Could you please address the difference between the use of bio char vs the rotting wood in the bottom of a garden bed like in Hugelkulture ? Your descriptionk''',,, of what biochar does for your garden seems similar to what my understanding of what Hugelkulture does in my garden beds. Thank you!
Shelley S: Hügelkultur and biochar are different processes, but they are compatible. Hügelkultur produces humus and releases plant food into the soil. Biochar captures that plant food and releases it over time. You do not place biochar below your beds, you mix it into your soil just as you would compost or horse manure.
I've done tons of research into biochar, and used those exact charcoal briquets for terrarium soil maintenance but somehow NEVER made the connection to just use that charcoal to make biochar!! I always figured I would have to make charcoal! Thanks so much for this video!
Add urine or manure or stinky fish fertilizer liquid, or all of the above. Thanks for the vid! I went out and bought 60 pounds of royal oak and used a 55 gallon drum.
I use 100% Mesquite wood chunks (mesquite is a hardwood) each summer to smoke briskets with and have wondered if it would be safe to use the ash/char that is left over in my garden.
Please post the PH for this product. I ask because I just checked the biochar database on the UC Davis website for hardwood feedstock. The PH varies tremendously - from 3.5 to almost 11. Seems like this could be an issue for plants that prefer acidic or basic soil. For example, you wouldn't want use biochar with a PH of 10 for growing blueberries.
OK what does it do to highly alkaline soils? I know usually in forests the soil is acidic so the burning will neutralize it. I read that it will pull toxins out of the soil too.
Burning release nutrient built up in organic tissues (hardwood, leaf litter, animal remains, etc) into mineral forms, which alkalize the soil. You can use biochar in alkaline soil, however it's best that you neutralize it first, by soaking (few days, weeks, months, however long you want), draining, soaking again, and repeat for a couple times. You can speed up this process by adding acidifying agents (compost is gently acidic, but I use elemental sulfur which does react albeit very slowly with water to form sulfurous acid).
@@TrungTran-yg3uv Thank you. I have suspected that it wouldn't work well straight in the alkaline soils. I will try putting it in my compost bins and see how that goes. Or just not use it at all. I fight the alkaline soil constantly.
Gypsum added to your compost and steer manure, used and mixed in the top several inches of the soil here in the Mojave Desert, helps to break down The Alkali and high salts, which get flushed out with each watering, and it also helps to neutralize high pH releasing more nutrients for the plants as well. If you're biochar is well saturated with water and some form of nutrients such as urine and or compost tea, it is basically neutral to slightly acidic which is beneficial for a high pH and high alkaline soil. it doesn't take much of the gypsum to do the trick, and and biochar will last many years. Gypsum does not wash away, so after your soil stops forming a white crust on its surface or along the edges of the watering areas, the gypsum is no longer needed. Only apply it once or twice a year until you've reached that point. A light layer is sufficient.
When I 1st started my container garden, I just tossed chunks of charcoal midway in the container. This will be year 3 for a garden and I still have pieces in them. I also bbq and use natural lump charcoal. Once the ashes cool down in the grill, I put it in the containers
Once you have finished cooking on the barbecue, extinguish the fire with water then let it cool down. That will prevent too much of the charcoal from burning away, but if you let it burn down naturally, you will have more ash, which is also beneficial.
Goes to the dollar store and buys a bag of charcoal "So that was a HUGE success!" Man I really love your optimism. Great video again! As usual I learned a lot.
Just wanted to let everyone know that it's not 'charcoal' ~ did you notice that he walked past the charcoal & was looking for a specific form which is 'hardwood lump'
@@MsSunstoned Yeah, it is just charcoal. Natural charcoal. What it is not is charcoal briquettes. He walked past the charcoal briquettes. Hair = split.
Great video. I have a 30lb bag. I'll mix this weekend but I am not sure WHEN I should add the biochar to my beds. Such as 1 month before planting, or right before planting or as soon as soil can be worked? Any suggestions?
What is the purpose of filling up the charcoal with water first before compost tea? Seems to me that more nutrients will soak into the pores if they weren't already filled with water.
If you have wood ash. You can save to put in driveway to melt snow. Also keeps the weeds down in a gravel driveway. And you can make soap with ash. Its a good resource.
Luke...Bio Char IS an amazing Garden amendment....but please let me caution you against using anything made by Royal oak....I worked (very briefly) at the Royal Oak charcoal company in East TN back around 2007....and the reason I say briefly (2 days)....I'd get home after 8 hrs beathing air that constantly smelled like gasoline...and contantly cughing and sneezing black. all of the different types of briquettes are made in the same building on different production lines.....you might be putting contaminants into your soil you're not aware of, my friend
My concern is hardwood charcoal has been only partially degassed leaving chemical residues which are desirable for taste and aroma but not for soil fertility.
Soaking with compost tea. Awesome tip and explanation ! ! Why not slice the bottom of the bag, sit the whole thing in the bucket, fill with compost tea then lift the bag out? Then the dust would also go in to the garden. And wouldn't the char be easier to break once the liquids have softened the solids? I haven't tried it so if anyone has the advice would be appreciated.
I've been getting it by the 50# bag at Sam's, but it's a huge, backbreaking chore to smash it all down and sift it. Yesterday, I got the bright idea to run it through my electric wood chipper. The result was pieces about 1/4" to 3/8" in size, which is perfect for my tastes. I learned three things: 1) Don't do this if you are sweating. 2) Do this BEFORE you shower. 3) Use clothes you plan on throwing away, or do it naked. I'm also going to have to hose the chipper down, but this only took me 45 minutes, as opposed to 5-8 hours.
🤣
Consider making a ball mill from a steel drum. You can make it relatively airtight and also add some water so you don't have to breathe in all that dust. If you or someone you know can weld, then you're in business.
@@josiahhockenberry9846 I second the ball mill idea, much better to throw charcoal into a big drum and let an electric motor do the work than to try and smash it by hand.
The chipper might be dangerous if you're naked unless you wear a cup
Thanks for this info. I was reading the comments in hopes that some one would say they used a small wood chipper.👍
We used to live in Idaho and we used wood ashes from our wood stove on our garden with manure from a nearby farm. Our garden was stupendous!!!
If I put wood ash straight in my garden would I burn my plans?
@@Figs4Life no
A Stewpendous idea!
@@Figs4Life you need to go easy on ash and don’t use it every year. It also doesn’t have the same long term benefits of biochar.
@@ashleycampbell8799 okay ty
A tip for making it easier to get into the bad is cut the string stitching on the top of the bag & pull them & it will open like a zipper (one way doesn’t work but the other does, so trial & error to find the correct side) than you could spray a light mist of water into the bag to try help with the dust.
Keep up the great work!
I suggest you also show how to apply the bio-char compost-tea mix to the garden bed.
^
I think he plans to pour it out of the bucket around the beds then mix in the bigger chunks
I also was waiting for the final step, the application rate... Great learning video!
Agree..I was waiting for "next steps". How to apply.
That’s what I was wondering as well
Thanks for the informative video. When I made it, I put a tarp over the bucket to keep the small particulates inside while I smashed it. I also pre-smashed it by driving on the charcoal between two tarps.
If you crimp two cans together and punch a tiny hole on one end, you can fill it with wood, sticks, even bones, and let it sit on a grill or fireplace. It'll spew the wood gas out the hole in a flame jet and once that stops (roll it around with a poker to be thorough) you can wait for it to cool and youll be left with a little bit of charcoal.
I swear by biochar. I've had great results making my own version of Terra Preta. One thing; you definitely must wear a face mask if you need to pulverise. Even if you *THINK* the wind or air current is blowing the black charcoal dust cloud away from your face, an hour later when you sneeze or spit out you'll notice that the mucus will be jet black from the super fine airfloat charcoal. While charcoal is not as toxic to breathe in as, say, asbestos or silica dust, it is best to avoid inhalation of particulate matter into your lungs, no matter what. You can actually buy pre-pulverised horticultural-grade charcoal, depending on your location (you can find it online) and/or how much you are willing to spend (pre-pulverised might be more expensive due to the labour and energy costs involved in producing a charcoal granulate). Tip: wetting the charcoal chunks prior to pulverising will produce less dust.
Tell you what: I had the same problem with perlite.
They tell you to wear a mask, and I didn't.
I was coughing up perlite dust for 5 minutes.
Stuff is nasty.
I have just been exposed to the idea of making biochar. The process reminds me of what I have read of Terra Preta, the super productive agricultural soil made long ago in the amazon area. Thanks for verifying that.
The pulverizing should be done while the charcoal is wet and dust would not be an issue.
@@MarkTrades__ I've tried that, but bizarrely enough, dust is still generated. You see, charcoal initially has a high degree of hydrophobicity/water-repellency. The surface of the charcoal chunks were wetted, but the water never soaked though into the interior of the chunks. Not even after soaking for a day. So, when I attempted to crush what I assumed was entirely wettened charcoal, the bone dry interior of the charcoal chunks generated a lot of dust.
@@garycard1456 idk man - I got around to trying this out and when I wet the char, it kept the dust down almost completely.
This is fantastic advice for those gardening on a budget! I love how your constantly thinking outside the box.
I'm a newbie gardener and I honestly have just been absorbing and applying all that your videos have taught me, thanks for the awesome videos MIgardener!!
I’ve gardened a few times and noticed some problems, now I’m learning all new techniques from this guy, I also watch Epic Gardener and Self Sufficient Me for great tips. Never would’ve thought of container gardening to save garden space, let alone what to plant in containers without the advice from these guys.
HIs enthusiasm is contagious and so refreshing. Luke always makes my day - and makes me a bit smarter with each video...
The temperature at which the wood pyrolysis occurs as well as time of the process affects the composition of the "char". During the pyrolysis process much of the volatile components are driven off (and usually burned). Correctly made biochar will emit very little smoke if ignited in the air. I have examined BBQ charcoal and correctly made biochar. My simple examination shows a difference between the two. Is there a difference in the soil? Some researchers say yes. Do you own searches.
Dude, you are the Mr. Rogers of gardening...and I mean that in a good way! Keep on going, brother.
I put a 30gal barrel with lid inside a 50gal barrel to make charcoal. Hardwood inside the small barrel with a small hole in the cap. Make a fire inside the big barrel that the small one sits in. Super easy and contained. Great stuff. Good luck my friends ☮️
According to my research, you can also use ALL NATURAL HARDWOOD CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES because the only additive these briquettes have (which are made from lump charcoal dust) is a binder, such as cornstarch. If you soak them in a nitrogen rich solution (ie pee) they will dissolve into a slurry. you don't have to grind the lump charcoal down and risk ingesting the dust.
So that was you peeing in the bucket of charcoal briquettes
They are too fine. Normally you'd want your biochar chips at the size of your fingernails.
No, don't.
I only BBQ with hardwood lump charcoal, and all the crumbs and dust (usually the bottom 10% of the bag) just goes in the compost along with the ashes. I’ve always laughed at garden centre prices for “biochar.”
A couple of points:
1) biochar doesn’t break down in anywhere near 3 to 5 years. There are deposits in the Amazon that are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. It may take 3 to 5 years for the biochar to become fully charged up if one doesn’t put it full of nutrients before dumping it into the ground. That may be where there is some confusion.
2) I have read on a few websites that hardwood charcoal is somewhat less effective than true bio char carbon produced in a stove specifically meant for producing bio char. However, it is for easier and probably for cheaper to simply buy the hardwood charcoal and use a bit more of it (say 15% -20%, vs. 10% “true” biochar) to obtain the same degree of effectiveness.
FWIW, I think that the idea presented in this video is fantastic, as it will encourage many more people to start using bio char. I have purchased three bags of hardwood charcoal over the last week or two, and I definitely plan on grinding it up and mixing it with compost for my upcoming garden. I am also going to be using worm castings as part of my compost, and I am seriously considering growing my compost pile completely through the use of worms. Apparently, if the biochar bits are small enough, the worms swallow it along with food waste and other decaying biological material, and charge up the tiny bits of biochar from inside their digestive system. This is a way to combine the benefits of both bio char and worm castings.
You are certainly correct about charcoal's longevity, but I've got to ask you what the difference is between the carbon in this charcoal as compared to the carbon in what you're calling "true bio-char"? What is the definition of "true bio-char"? 😉
@@IAMSatisfied I think that the main difference is that when you’re buying mass produced bags of hardwood charcoal, some of the wood has not been fully combusted. So you’re really not buying 100% charcoal. Compare and contrast to charcoal that you make yourself with a top down burning technique. Chances are that it will be 100% charcoal. That difference, if it truly exists, is why I suggested in my original post that one simply put a bit more of the store-bought, charcoal, properly charged with nutrients, into the soil to obtain the same effect.
Wow, what a coincidence!!! I spotted the same brand wood charcoal at my nearest Walmart just yesterday! Bought a 30# bag for only a little over $18 is all! Glad to know that I ain’t the only one that thought of this awesome idea! Have fun and happy gardening! 😊👍
suprisingly. I have bought alot of the charcoal at walmart for cooking at this royal oak hardwood lump stuff was the best I have found so far. Cooks hotter & for longer than briquettes and leaves the meat with a GREAT smkoy flavor rather than that kinda "kingsford charcoal & lighter fluid" flavor haha.
Do you know how many biochar videos I've watched that don't explain what biochar does? How to make and use, sure, but nothing compared to your explanation at 3:40
Thank you, Luke. Thank you very much.
I wish I could love this comment like on FB. My sentiments exactly.
there is a channel called Skill cult hes going into some pretty in depth testing with this stuff
Mix biochar with your grass clippings to get your compost heating up and working well. The carbon will grab up that excess of nitrogen and slowly release it back into the soil. Usually grass clippings are to high in nitrogen and need a source of carbon to break down properly and promote good microbes.
To save you some time here is basically what Biochar does in the soil:
1) Adsorbs minerals and such (like a magnet attracts and holds iron filings).
2) Plants roots migrate to those minerals and can use them.
3) Makes a nice way to maintain moisture but lets excess moisture drain away - similar to using perlite in the soil but holds some moisture like a sponge does.
4) Makes a home for beneficial soil microbes and beneficial fungi.
5) Improves soil tilth (fluffiness).
6) Improves the nitrogen cycle and cation exchange.
Biochar could deter some pests.
Worms will consume very tiny particles as they eat other things, and their digestive tract will super inoculate the biochar in the castings. Double benefit.
You can make biochar even in a city so long as you have access to a grill - just takes 2-3 hours to make a batch, longer sometimes. Spend a day at the park :-)
I make mine in a wood burner stove since I need to heat with it anyway. It can be made in a fireplace (Biocharlie is made to do that). Gases burn and add heat just like it was a log but better.
About the small particles being used up. This is not entirely true. Depends on the material and the pyrolysis temperature mostly.
Powdery biochar can leech out of the soil up to 17% of the volume. But it has the greatest surface area for the greatest benefits.
Powdery type biochar is a great way to add it into a lawn/exiting garden/pot without digging/tilling. Mix with water and water the lawn. Benefits can be in hours.
Ideally you want it granule size (1mm or less). But various particle sizes are best because the different sizes have different reasons for the benefit.
Larger ones are like Hotels, and small particle sizes are like single family home in a way.
I make mine out of 100% oak wood pellets. I smash them in a bucket with a wooden pole to get the various sizes.
My process is a bit labor intensive but I do make good biochar.
I make the charcoal out of the pellets and while they are HOT from the fire, I quench them in a solution of sulphur free molasses, confrey tea, and a tad bit of apple cider vinegar with mother.
After straining out the liquid, I smash small batches, then put those in another bucket. Once that bucket gets about 1/4 full, I sprinkle in a small handful of organic fertilizer granules and small handful of wheat flour then mix well.
Takes me about 2-3 days to make a 5 gal bucket of it.
And the wood pellets cost about $5/bag plus tax.
If you do this buy heating wood pellets what have 100% oak on the bag!
Don't use flavored wood pellets or pellets that do not say 100%. Don't use regular grill charcoal as it has petroleum and other things in it.
The container used to char the pellets is stainless steel stock pot with stainless steel lid. Lasts a long time too.
A new unlined paint can also can make small batches. Be sure to poke or drill at least a 1/4" hole in the lid to release the flammable gases.
Paint cans usually last about 2-3 burns.
Application rate for biochar is generally about 10% to 12%.
But any is better than none. And exceeding 25% can be wasteful or detrimental.
Start low. You can always add more later. But extremely hard to remove the biochar if you have too much.
I put my biochar in the soil in the cold weather and let it do it's thing till spring planting.
It can take biochar 3 months to 2 years to properly benefit the soil and plants.
Greatest benefit for biochar is in nutrient poor and sandy type soils.
Very rich soils it can help but not a whole lot.
About the youtube author - to reduce the powder problem just dampen the charcoal a bit.
Keeps dust down.
Watch Gardener Scott his video broke it down completely!!
buy it before winter. let buckets sit with water so it can freeze. the next summer it breaks up nice. add it to your fertilizer for best results. this has been the best way i found to make your own over the years. of course a fire is great to make large amounts.
Because of extreme arthritis, I have used a portable concrete mixer. It pulverizes everything great. You might want to try it.
👍 I mix my soils that way. What a back saver. Lol. Works great.
this is also what they mean when they say forests are huge carbon sinks. All that carbon came from the air. Trees make the best fertilizer. The reason being is all tress are nutrient dense containing a lot of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and oxygen, loads of sugar in the form of cellulose which bacteria love to break down into even more basic chemicals for plants.
Alex Quaesar - now that is something I didn’t know - thanks for that information! 😉👍
Alex Quaesar - I have filled multiple raised beds of mine with the forest black topsoil - my vegetable plants flourished in this stuff!
@@jeffcampbell479 No problem, truth is you can get the same effect by using regular topsoil, biochar, and wood ash. The caveat is wood ash has a lot of unique nutrients and compounds that are extremely beneficial to plants, however to release those compounds for plant use they require specific mycorrhizal species, Suillus granulatus, and Paxillus involutus. These species can extract various toxic elements like lead and titanium from your soil and produce fairly edible mushrooms, but only if you're not sensitive to the antibodies they produce. Paxillus Involutus if you're hyper sensitive can kill you if you eat one raw. They only grow in acidic soils, such as those around pine trees. Unfortunately the calcium carbonate in wood ash neutralizes soil and makes it hard for micorrhizal to grow. so it's important to keep in mind balance, there isn't a one size fits all so you'd have to experiment.
Explains the hugelkultur method that buries tree limbs in raised beds. The decaying wood acts as a nutrient source and water-absorbing sponge that gives up it's moisture on dry sunny days. Do a Google search.
Do you have a follow up video of how the biochar affected your plants? And was it sufficiently changed before using? Thanks
OMG this is crazy. I watched so many videos on BioChar and kept thinking is this just charcoal! thanks so much for this video. so grateful.
It’s not just charcoal…
@@Grateful_Grannieso does this method actually work or is this just charcoal
I have a ton of wood lying around!
I just inherited my father in law's old house on some forested land away from the city. He left piles of logs and kindling all over the property. I want to make my own bio char now!
maybe look into hugelkultur as well
That's actually exactly what I'm doing! Creating raised rows using Hugelkultur!
How would Royal Oak charcoale PELLE TS work? They would not require crushing….or less crushing?
I wish the biochar prophets would differentiate between char and biochar. You got char from the dollar store not biochar. AND to say “biochar breaks down very slowly” may be the understatement of the century as the char portion of biochar will remain sequestered in the soils for hundreds of years. Albert Bates says, in his book and in his lectures, to make biochar you must pyrolyses the wood, micronize it, moisturize it, mineralize it and microbialize it.
We've been heating our house off of oak we cut from our property. I've been collecting the charcoal left in the ashes everytime I clean out my fireplace.
Not the same thing. Charcoal from a fireplace can still have toxic gasses and infused moisture inside it. Lump charcoal isn't made by burning it. It's made by burning all the volatile gasses out of it, leaving the carbon structure behind.
Here is a follow-up: I used your method last fall, to break it down and used it as-is. This time, I then ran it through my blender and turned it into dust and really small pieces. One bag of charcoal will make two gallons of powder/BB-sized pieces. Use one cup per square foot. Do the math to figure how many cups there are in a gallon, and you will know how many bags to buy. I charged my charcoal with straight urine and it worked out great! I produce 2-3 gallons of it a day (long story), so I use it for everything.
What size bag?
@@markmcfarland5291 That was a 15# bag, but I now use the 50# bags at Sam's and run it through the wood chipper. It makes even-sized 1/4" pieces. You have to resharpen the blades afterwards though.
Awesome video! Really loved that one, lots of great information. Biochar is cool too because you can use diseased wood which you can't normally compost, and it actually reduces pests and pathogens in your soil
Awesome! We’ve started adding charcoal in to our chicken bedding, it keeps smells down, soaks up any liquids, and makes the compost even better.
Important to note that an N95 mask like the one Luke wore (or N99/N100) is best, not your average surgical face mask that you usually see people wearing in clinics, hospitals, TV shows, etc. Surgical masks only keep droplets from entering/exiting your nose/mouth, whereas the N95, N99/N100 will filter particles such as smoke, dirt, and dust. Thanks for another fun and educational video!
where can I get this mask? What is the price ?
Really good to know. Little pots and trays are OK with pellets and perlite, but biochar is great for the bigger jobs like beds and planters. Thanks!
I was pleased you also said charcoal, because this is what you call biochar appears to be. Charcoal burners were a traditional profession in Britain until very recent times and were an important part of forest management. They would build big domes of wood covered by turf and periodically watered on top during the process. It was a skill to make sure that the wood completely became charcoal but also that it didn’t burn.
Makes for low to medium quality biochar, grilling charcoal.
@@ugponicsnah the difference is negligible using hardwood lump charcoal vs charcoal made for the purpose of biochar, guess what its practically the same process. If you don't think so, look up how hardwood lump charcoal is made.
The difference is not negligible, it has been quantified with experiments. Grilling charcoal and biochar are both made through pyrolysis, heating organic material with limited oxygen. But biochar production typically uses higher temperatures, ranging from 600-1000°C, compared to charcoal's 400°C process.
This higher heat creates a more activated biochar with a larger internal surface area. This increased surface area gives biochar unique properties like improved water retention and the ability to adsorb contaminants, unlike standard grilling charcoal.
@@ugponics they both will have water ratention and ability to absorb ions. Like I said, the difference is *negligible* .
@@ugponicslol stop saying standard grilling charcoal, you're misleading people. Standard grilling charcoal can be briquettes. Don't go there guy. It's lump hardwood charcoal, and check out how it's made. Stay mad buddy.
Real biochar doesn't break down. Biochar is an extremely stable solid carbon compound that lasts for centuries if not millenials. That is, if it was gasified in excess of 500°C in an inert atmosphere (no oxygen). Biochar is most beneficial if made from garden/farm residues (straw, branches etc), as it turns biodegradable carbon (biomass) into non-biodegradable carbon (biochar) and usable heat energy, all the while eliminating pests and diseases that can grow on these residues. To put it into perspective, if all agricultural residue were to be gasified at 600°C without oxygen, we could substitute 7-8% of human's total (primary), annual energy consumption, all while sequestering 9Gt CO2 per year.
Yes I thought it was odd that he said it broke down after 3 years. The first time I heard about biochar was when I watched the "terra preta" documentary and scientists had estimated the Amazonian biochar was hundreds of years old.
@@dontjustbeanotherbrickinthewal then it seems you don't know a whole lot about science. And probably you haven't read any scientific article about biochar, otherwise you would know.
@@dontjustbeanotherbrickinthewal i don't see the connection between your video and the whole biochar topic. Biochar is a technology that has a tremendous potential in improving various parameters that matter to human kind
Well said!
The question is how did the ancient Amazonians determine what 600C was?
About straw and such - soft materials retain more minerals. Hard materials allow for more occupation of soil organisms.
Yes! This is the only real solution to Global Warming. Big Agriculture is not sustainable and will eventually lead to severe famines.
This is a great idea. I'm going to try it with my aquaponic fish tank. Biochar tends to absorb nutrients for about 3 months. If you put biochar directly in the soil it'll have a negative impact as it absorbs plant available nutrients. You want to compost it first. If you're looking for Terra Preta then follow that recipe before applying it to soil.
Could you please explain what you mean by "breaking down" in a few years? Sorry I have to ask, but all the scientific literature I've been reading indicates the benefits last for several hundred years. I'm also curious about why you're not using an air pump to inoculate the slurry and feeding it with flour or molasses. Seems like that's the way most people do it. My understanding is that oxygen is required to keep if from going anaerobic and populating the char with "bad" bacteria.
I have made my own biochar. And have used charcoal instead - If the charcoal is light and sounds like glass... its biochar! But the key here is the glassy sound. Great video!
02.24.20 get a N-95 dust mask ............How prophetic !
I'm a container gardener. If I do smaller batches, I figure I can taper the ingredients to what I am planting. For example: blueberry bushes. I plan for a small batch of biochar innoculated with blood meal and/or coffee grounds in the bottom of the container. Feedback?
I made my own charcoal last year from my tree pruning. Ended up with 150+ gallons of charcoal I mixed into the garden.
I designed a double stacked steel drum system that doubles as an incinerator. It’s 2 55gallon drums stacked end to end and welded together open between. There is a hole in the very top that makes up about a 1/3 in the back. And the upper barrel has a hole in the front in the middle around 12x12 ish. The bottom has 4 holes for oxygen to get it started and hot. Once it’s hot you bury those holes with dirt. You just keep feeding in wood. It burns extremely hot with very little smoke. This is because the wood is burning in a low oxygen environment near the bottom but as the smoke rises up, at the top of the barrel it’s mixed with oxygen and burns off inside of the barrel, which adds more heat to the system and makes for nearly no smoke out the chimney. Unlike every single other method of producing charcoal. It was such a hot process I was able to do this with green wood too, but I don’t recommend it as it slows the process and creates a lot of steam smoke.
As best I understand Charcoal lacks the final high heat finishing that produces the final microscopic voids and crystallization. It is a bit like clay that is not baked to a high enough temp to become permanently impervious to water. However hard wood lump charcoal is far more available and affordable . It likely will produce similar benifits
I've been making charcoal in my woodstove and getting 3 to 5 gallons a week this Winter. Getting the stove hot enough to micro fracture the bio char would turn it to ash, so I keep the stove down around 200 or 250 degrees. When I get enough charcoal, I clean out the stove and put it in a steel bucket. I hit it briefly w/ air from a shop vac to micro fracture the char before quenching it. I'm charging it w/ horse and chicken manure.
Great Video! Also, Menards (midwest) sells lump charcoal for $5.31, for an even cheaper value.
I love your explanation of Biochar. Will you do a video of how you apply it to your garden bed, how much, should it be watered in , etc? Once it’s applied in your garden bed, can you plant immediately? Can it also be used in potted plants or veggies?
Gosh, my husband uses that to grill. I have heard of biochar but again didn't know what it did except it was "good". Awesome video!
can you show how you actually add it to your beds?
A few methods
put a 1 inch layer in the surface and till it in to 5-6 inches deep.
Dig down 5-6 inches and place a 1 inch layer down then cover with soil.
Top Dress with biochar and water it in. This is the least recommended way.
When I make my biochar I have 3 grades made at the same time.
Pellets (obviously)
Biochar sludge (thick and small small particles that resemble sludge)
And a black liquid with biochar floating around in it.
I can just water with that black liquid if I don't want to disturb an existing plant.
finger tilling 1/2 inch or so with the sludge will get some in there.
Or just tilling it into empty soil for regular biochar.
crazy squirrel just throw her down
I have a small pack stove in my shop for heating. It works great for making biochar. Just get a good fire going for 1/2 hour and then load it up with wood and close the air intake and exhaust. The exhaust valve has a small hole so it doesn't completely close off, allowing gasses to escape and not smoke up the shop.
At the end of last year I picked up extra bags of compost. I'll be able to use that for doing this. Telling us how to do this ourselves in the pit is appreciated. I do have a pit, and last year I cleaned out the ash and have that in a bucket. But now I know I can't use that ash. However, I do have maple tree branches I can do with what you've said.....for free. Thank you.
Hey Luke, watching this video for the umtinth time, had to really laugh this time listening to your comment on not being able to find small wood lying around, not true this spring after the big ice storm that took out our power here south of Jackson. We're still picking up sticks and twigs, lol. Thank you for so many informative videos and your positive attitude 😊
So, wood stove ash actually has a double plus, not only do you get ash, but you do get chunks of charcoal that make it through.
I’ve a fireplace insert that I harvest the ash and the char also, and worm castings to mix with the char.
Hello, I really like your channel. But I just got to know what makes biochar biochar. It is made in a containet without oxygene and that makes the wood burn the way it only leaves the carbon. The biochar will absorb moisture and then release it when ground gets dry. It will also stay on the ground for over 300 years. Pretty cool!! This info is from the Finnish biochar-project, from MTT.
The basic charcoal is also beneficial for the garden, but it will compost and cannot absorb the water and nutrients the way biochar will. (the biochar will have 5-400 m2 inner cavities and basic charcoal has close to none)
Keep up the good work and happy gardening from Finland, where we are having the warmest autumn of all 😀
Great content Luke! Nice diversity with the "buy or make it" concept.👍
Please tell me the square footage of what you used that 1/2 bucket of innoculated
bio- char on.
you said 1 and a half beds, not the size of the beds, maybe your followers know.
Do you spread it on top, then shovel it in?
Or do you keep it on top, planting it in as you plant your veggies...
Please tell me these things.
Also, I want to use composted horse manure, ok?
Thanks, jon.
Royal Oak now makes 100% hardwood charcoal pellets, 20 lbs bags for less than $1.00 a pound. Have you tired the pellets?
I like that you brought something good about forest fires (they aren’t good, but knowing there is a good thing about it is cool).
they actually are GREAT. They are just inconvenient for the people who decided to live in the forest they happen in regularly.
Thanks for sharing less expensive tip. Used biochar last year. Plants loved it.
Instead of compost, can I use fish fertilizer?
Sure! We use almost entirely chicken manure for ours
I am trying to make biochar myself using a typical weber original grill. I start a small fire on the bottom of the grill, & basically try to pile on another layer quickly to where it ALMOST smothers the fire.
Then I nurse the fire back by using a stick to lift part of the burn media to get more air in there, etc. Once that layer lights up, I wait for it to turn white over a majority of the surface & then I repeat the process of adding more material to smother the previous layer.
I do this until the grill fills up, throw one last layer on & try to get it to burn as hot as possible, THEN SPRAY WITH SOME WATER TO SHOCK THE WOOD & PUT THE LID OF THE GRILL ON AND CLOSE ALL VENTS. This creates more cracks in the char ideally (water) and the lid keeps the water you just sprayed from smoking up the whoel neighborhood & ensures the fire gets smothered.
I'd say I got maybe 50% efficiency from this in the grill on my first attempt as alot still converted to ash, but I had a nice fire going and a great smell in the neighborhood & still got biochar out of fallen limbs, pine cones, pine needles, & pulled weeds from in my yard.
This isn't real biochar. That's why it breaks down after 3 years. It still has wood and related compounds in it. This method is convenient, but much less effective. You could buy this stuff, then burn it more until the volatile compounds that give the meat flavor are gone. Then it could be real biochar. But you're still buying something that you still have to burn more. Real biochar doesn't have that volatile flavor stuff. I like what you're doing with the compost tea and crushing it though. For my garden, I"m making the real stuff. I agree with Jonas Lecholt.
I was looking at building something to make biochar but now I know I don't need to- thanks!!!
VERY IMPORTANT: USE ONLY PLAIN HARDWOOD CHARCOAL WITH NO CHEMICALS!!!! I know he said it but it deserves repeating. Just plain, hardwood charcoal with no chemicals added.
I plan to make a slurry of rain water, worm castings, manure, silica, liquid kelp, azomite and other organic fertilizers, ph it down to 6.3 and then mix in the charcoal.
How many chemicals would be added to "hardwood charcoal"?
@@unafilliatedx2310 you would be surprised. there are videos by bbq masters comparing different types of hardwood charcoal and some brands give off chemical off gassing
@@unafilliatedx2310 Hopefully none. But if someone were to think just any charcoal will do, they could be adding unwanted flammable chemicals to their garden.
Dave, what do you plan to use to ph it down? We have alkaline soil and this has been a concern of mine.
@@EarlyMusicDiva I don't think a relatively small amount of biochar is going to make any changes in soil Ph, especially here in Michigan. For alkaline soil (which we do not have), my understanding is that the long-term solution is compost, compost compost. Add leaves, organic matter, straw, etc.. and over time the soil should become more neutral. If your soil is so alkaline that you have problems growing, you might want to consider straw bale gardening which is part of my overall strategy. Every year I get about 10 straw bales, get the centers "cooking" with water and high nitrogen fertilizer, and then when the centers are broken down enough so you can dig holes into them, I plant straight in to the bales. Tomatoes seem to do best, but I've also grown potatoes, carrots, peas, parsnips, beans, flowers, etc.. straight in to bales. By the end of the season they start falling apart so I combine them into my raised beds where all the organic matter very quickly breaks down into rich composted material.
my method is similar to yours I start out with the hardwood char from DG but I also get a bag of cow manure from the garden center. crush the hardwood char put in fresh water along with "used" water and mix in the cow manure after a week I incorporate it in to my compost pile. it super charges the compost and allows you to use far less compost per square foot. If you want to go the extra mile when you are expecting rain put out some buckets and anything else that will collect rain water to use instead of tap water which has many chemicals in it. * used water is that which you would normally flush down the toilet. that water is very high in nitrogen.
" Used water"= urine?
Thank you this is a simple safe way. Especially in Southern California with the burn 🔥 ban, active. This is safe. Thanks 🙏 Jane
You should see PrimitiveTechnology's video on making wood charcoal at home, it's really really cool!
ruclips.net/video/GzLvqCTvOQY/видео.html
Note you need a lot of mud doing it the ancient way haha
Only take a baril whit cap and burn a wood chunk in it in fire
🙄
Okay so how do you apply it to the soil? Do you till it in or is it okay just put on the top?? First timer bio char-er here.
Cooper Carr yes I want to know also!!
Well tilling is bad for the soil. But to get it down you have To open the ground some at least
you dont need to till just hand mix the larger charcoal bits into your topsoil
CoolSammichHero Hunter I spread it out on top and used a potato fork to fracture the soil so it would fall in. Mixing by hand would probably be difficult to impossible if you are using no till methods.
yes, just sprinkle it on top... and stop tilling your garden. Just add mulch, and as you add the mulch you end up burying the biochar. Add alittle every year and it will add up to a lot. I just wrote a lengthy post about this method.
About six months from the time you made that video, I decided to try mixing biochar into my potting soil., so I did what you did. there's a dollar general in my neighborhood. I needed to break the charcoal into bits that would go through a 7mm sieve... in my apartment. What I did was to lay an old brick in the bottom of a cardboard box, cut a small hole to fit the end of my shop vac hose, cut a larger hole to fit my hand through and went to work with a 2 lb. short-handled sledgehammer. The vac pulled out the dust from crushing, but sifting made more, and my hands were filthy up to the elbow. Ugh. I used the charcoal that was left in the bag for the barbecue, then went online. When I looked for horticultural charcoal, it cost way too much. I also saw aquarium filter carbon. Still way too expensive. What I finally found, still expensive, but not so bad, was coconut shell charcoal sold for filling air filters. That's what I've been using ever since. I only need a little bit, (about a pint to a bushel of soil mix) so a ten-pound bag lasts me over a year.
I have fibromyalgia and my gardening efforts have often suffered from my having flareups. My intention of what I think I should do is always on a scale of being a dreamer and what I can actually do does not necessarily match up. So I keep looking for the ideas that pay off long term like perennials and fruit trees and a ton of what I can learn about permaculture. Thanks for this idea! I went out and bought a bag of the hardwood charcoal today, same brand and everything as it turned out. I am about to go outside this evening and inoculate some of it. I am also going to put out some cardboard and some of the free "mulch" I picked up 7 bags worth of at the side of the road.
I have been using hardwood lump charcoal for my grills/smoker for 15+yrs, and adding the leftover bits to my soil and compost for 12+yrs. That Royal Oak you used is very good stuff. It is my second favorite behind Wisconsin-made "Grove" brand lump charcoal. Many other brands are not very good.
Thank you
Is it beneficial for any plants?
Or all ?
Love too see the passion .
Your great 👍🏻
Linda from Ct
There's a big circle of cinder blocks where a local tree removal company burned all their chipped wood, I collect the charred lumps and ashes and use them as drainage in my planters. I pound them down to smaller size with an old brick too, and mix the resulting powder and grit into my soil.
How big are the beds and how do you spread the biochar?
I bought some Bio char in a bag from Lowe’s a few years ago. I put a hand full of it in each plant as I planted them. Everything seemed to do real well that year. I’ve been looking ever since locally, haven’t found it. I seen a bag on Burpees site but the price was ridiculous. Thanks for the video.
Every once in a while the dollar tree near me has some no brainier steals. I've bought both the potting mix as well as their lump charcoal from dollar tree. I've largely used the lump charcoal fory Coleman go-anywhere grill. That charcoal a little small and dusty for good cooking and is actually better for the application in the video. I actually have inoculated soil I make for indoor crops with that charcoal. Basically I make my own soil with compost from kitchen scraps and yard waste. I use ivor head roaches to compost instead of worms now, I'd use bsf but they require higher temps for the higher compost rate. I find at room temp 65-70f you can't beat ivory head roaches. I use the compost from ivory roaches in conjunction with some coco coir to make a soil media. That's how I started however I rarely add coir now because at this point it's more of a soil recycling operation because I recharge the spent soil from containers of harvested crops back into the blaticompost bins(roach bins) as a substrate since ivory head babies burrow. Admittedly over time maintaining the correct aeration in the media becomes an art. Regardless,.after several years I have consistently produced organic grow media for my indoor crops with this closed loop indoor system that utilizes both composting and recycling grow method. Anyways I'd imagine inoculating this charcoal would translate well to outdoor gardening if used as a soil recharge for beds as well as a sorta microbial battery.
Wow! I’ve heard of worm composting, but not roach composting. Did they ever get out into the house?
@@cherylb5953 no, they don't get out. Ivory head roaches cannot climb smooth surfaces like plastic. I don't even keep a lid on it. If any did get out they wouldn't survive winter so no chance of being invasive here.
Do you have a video showing how you spread/layer/mix it in your beds?
Hello, I’m thoroughly enjoying your site here planning the garden at our new farm at the tip of the mitten which already has many mature fruit trees, and is 40 acres of which about 90% is heavily wooded. The challenge here is finding areas with enough sunshine which can be protected from the resident deer and bear!
I’m physically disabled and have adapted by doing all my gardening in raised beds and 100-150 gallon water troughs. I use a modified Hugelkulture/lasagne garden style, filling the bottom of my garden beds with well rotted logs and branches, then 50% of the nice loamy sandy soil we have up here along with 50% of the well aged composted horse manure we have.
So finally my question: Could you please address the difference between the use of bio char vs the rotting wood in the bottom of a garden bed like in Hugelkulture ? Your descriptionk''',,, of what biochar does for your garden seems similar to what my understanding of what Hugelkulture does in my garden beds.
Thank you!
Shelley S: Hügelkultur and biochar are different processes, but they are compatible. Hügelkultur produces humus and releases plant food into the soil. Biochar captures that plant food and releases it over time. You do not place biochar below your beds, you mix it into your soil just as you would compost or horse manure.
I’m a beginning gardener thanks so much for the informative videos enjoy very much
Could you add some organic fertilizer along with the compost?
Can you make biochar in a woodstove and heat your home or greenhouse at the same time? Thanks for the video! 🌿🌿🌿
Yes. Yes you can.
I've done tons of research into biochar, and used those exact charcoal briquets for terrarium soil maintenance but somehow NEVER made the connection to just use that charcoal to make biochar!! I always figured I would have to make charcoal! Thanks so much for this video!
You have to use lump charcoal not charcoal briquettes
Briquettes have fuel added to them, you would not want to put them in your garden.
Great info! And way to save!
Is Royal Oak similiar /same as the charcoal product that can be used to reduce odors in and around a house?
Add urine or manure or stinky fish fertilizer liquid, or all of the above. Thanks for the vid! I went out and bought 60 pounds of royal oak and used a 55 gallon drum.
I use 100% Mesquite wood chunks (mesquite is a hardwood) each summer to smoke briskets with and have wondered if it would be safe to use the ash/char that is left over in my garden.
Please post the PH for this product. I ask because I just checked the biochar database on the UC Davis website for hardwood feedstock. The PH varies tremendously - from 3.5 to almost 11. Seems like this could be an issue for plants that prefer acidic or basic soil. For example, you wouldn't want use biochar with a PH of 10 for growing blueberries.
OK what does it do to highly alkaline soils? I know usually in forests the soil is acidic so the burning will neutralize it. I read that it will pull toxins out of the soil too.
Burning release nutrient built up in organic tissues (hardwood, leaf litter, animal remains, etc) into mineral forms, which alkalize the soil. You can use biochar in alkaline soil, however it's best that you neutralize it first, by soaking (few days, weeks, months, however long you want), draining, soaking again, and repeat for a couple times. You can speed up this process by adding acidifying agents (compost is gently acidic, but I use elemental sulfur which does react albeit very slowly with water to form sulfurous acid).
@@TrungTran-yg3uv Thank you. I have suspected that it wouldn't work well straight in the alkaline soils. I will try putting it in my compost bins and see how that goes. Or just not use it at all. I fight the alkaline soil constantly.
@@lyndabuchholz1216 Alkaline soil? Just add elemental sulfur. Or compost. Or both.
gypsum
Gypsum added to your compost and steer manure, used and mixed in the top several inches of the soil here in the Mojave Desert, helps to break down The Alkali and high salts, which get flushed out with each watering, and it also helps to neutralize high pH releasing more nutrients for the plants as well. If you're biochar is well saturated with water and some form of nutrients such as urine and or compost tea, it is basically neutral to slightly acidic which is beneficial for a high pH and high alkaline soil. it doesn't take much of the gypsum to do the trick, and and biochar will last many years. Gypsum does not wash away, so after your soil stops forming a white crust on its surface or along the edges of the watering areas, the gypsum is no longer needed. Only apply it once or twice a year until you've reached that point. A light layer is sufficient.
When I 1st started my container garden, I just tossed chunks of charcoal midway in the container. This will be year 3 for a garden and I still have pieces in them. I also bbq and use natural lump charcoal. Once the ashes cool down in the grill, I put it in the containers
Once you have finished cooking on the barbecue, extinguish the fire with water then let it cool down. That will prevent too much of the charcoal from burning away, but if you let it burn down naturally, you will have more ash, which is also beneficial.
And when it is ready , how do you use it? How much? Where? Can all plants use it or are there some that can't?
Robin's Tiny Homestead All plants benefit from it. See the long post I just created.
Great job I watched till end! Lots of great information 👍 I was learning about Biochar 🌱🌱🌱
I love that you used a store we all have.
Can you use ash from cleaning the fireplace?
Goes to the dollar store and buys a bag of charcoal
"So that was a HUGE success!"
Man I really love your optimism. Great video again! As usual I learned a lot.
Me too. ♥ 😂 I love the excitement
HAHAHA, best comment ever! LMAO. indescribable. SNL need to do fcking sketches...
Love that idea
Just wanted to let everyone know that it's not 'charcoal' ~ did you notice that he walked past the charcoal & was looking for a specific form which is 'hardwood lump'
@@MsSunstoned Yeah, it is just charcoal. Natural charcoal. What it is not is charcoal briquettes. He walked past the charcoal briquettes. Hair = split.
When is the best time to apply biochar? Do you have to wait to plant if you've added biochar to a garden?
Great video. I have a 30lb bag. I'll mix this weekend but I am not sure WHEN I should add the biochar to my beds. Such as 1 month before planting, or right before planting or as soon as soil can be worked? Any suggestions?
Wow! I've been wanting to try Biochar for awhile now. Making it seems much cheaper. Thank you Luke.
What is the purpose of filling up the charcoal with water first before compost tea? Seems to me that more nutrients will soak into the pores if they weren't already filled with water.
You buy the charcoal in the off season. And Dollar General may have it on clearance.
Thank you for posting . Just bought Royal Oak lumps. Thanks again !🇺🇸😎🇺🇸
If you have wood ash. You can save to put in driveway to melt snow. Also keeps the weeds down in a gravel driveway. And you can make soap with ash. Its a good resource.
Luke...Bio Char IS an amazing Garden amendment....but please let me caution you against using anything made by Royal oak....I worked (very briefly) at the Royal Oak charcoal company in East TN back around 2007....and the reason I say briefly (2 days)....I'd get home after 8 hrs beathing air that constantly smelled like gasoline...and contantly cughing and sneezing black. all of the different types of briquettes are made in the same building on different production lines.....you might be putting contaminants into your soil you're not aware of, my friend
My concern is hardwood charcoal has been only partially degassed leaving chemical residues which are desirable for taste and aroma but not for soil fertility.
Soaking with compost tea. Awesome tip and explanation ! !
Why not slice the bottom of the bag, sit the whole thing in the bucket, fill with compost tea then lift the bag out? Then the dust would also go in to the garden.
And wouldn't the char be easier to break once the liquids have softened the solids? I haven't tried it so if anyone has the advice would be appreciated.
KaleidoscopeJunkie The stuff doesn't soften in water. Check out the post I just wrote.
I have found that saturated biochar is much easier to smash than dry biochar.
just preference it should work great either way!
You would need a much bigger bucket.
At the very least, emptying the bottom of the bag into water directly would reduce the amount of dust considerably.