Did Rock Dust & Biochar Increase Our Yields in 2014?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- With freezing temperatures in the forecast, it’s time to harvest the last of the tomatoes from our field trial beds, and answer the question “did rock dust and biochar increase our yields in 2014?”
OYR is all about growing a lot of food on a little land using sustainable organic methods, while keeping costs and labor at a minimum. Emphasis is placed on improving soil quality with compost, mulch, and compost tea. No store-bought fertilizers, soil amendments, pesticides, compost activators, etc. are used.
Featured Playlist: 2014 Biochar & Rock Dust Field Trials
• Let the 2014 Biochar F...
Thanks for taking the time to research and test the merits of rock dust and biochar. Looking forward to following your trials over the next 2 years or longer.
Thanks, OhHowHappyGardener ! You might want to check out Stephen Legaree's new video on in which he has rock dust soil samples and crops tested by a lab. The results are very surprising!
Does Rock Dust Increase the Nutrient Density of Food?
looking forward to the results in coming years!
Thanks, suburban homestead !
Thanks for sharing, rock dust not looking like its living up to all the hype. Great job on your field trial-very helpful.
Thanks, ***** !
That one was a close call, good video.
MrMac5150 Very close! Thanks for watching!
Very interesting test. I miss one bed: biochar + rockdust. Can't wait to see results from this year
Great to here the results it has been a wonderful year. The results are surprising though I thought for sure rock dust would walk away with the prize. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Compost tea would make a good test brother
Thanks, goforgreenliving ! Other participants had better results with rock dust, so it will be interesting to see what the total yields look like. My guess is that all groups will be pretty close. We'll be testing compost tea next year. Should be a good one!
Love that you're doing these trials. Is rock dust and rock phosphate the same thing? I have been considering adding rock phosphate.
Thanks, ***** ! Rock dust and rock phosphate are different. Rock phosphate has a high concentration of phosphate, while rock dust has more of a balance of minerals. You probably won't need rock phosphate unless you know your soil is acidic and is low in phosphorus. In most cases, compost alone will provide enough phosphorus. I hope this helps.
Very interesting results. In a way I am glad they turned out as they did. I will save money by not having to buy more rock dust. I really thought they made a difference when I amended last season's green bean bed, however. It was in a new area of my garden that was pure sand. I brought in top soil and the seedling did not take off. After adding rock dust and mulching with partially composted woodchips, the beans grew like crazy. I guess the improvement was due to the woodchips alone.
Thanks, Gardening With Puppies ! It may be that rock dust helps more when you're starting with poor soil, like you described. I'd be willing to bet, though, that wood chips are more responsible for the high quality of your soil than anything else. Thanks for watching!
*Well done Patrick! I just didn't expect rock dust to be so low the first year... :) I'm enjoying following along with you here!*
Thanks, ***** ! I'm not ready to blame the rock dust for the low yield, but it definitely didn't produce higher yields. It'll be interesting to see what the numbers look like when we tally up the results from all participants. Thanks for watching!
I'm coming to this late, but I wonder how the results might have been different if you were starting with poor soil, instead of starting with what is already about as good as it can get. I wouldn't be surprised if the results might be much more dramatic. For many of us, we are starting close to zero, where biochar might be a great way to quickly improve productivity without several years of soil development. I've just moved to a new home, and I'll be working with virtually barren clay and gravel as I begin building a new garden.
You're right. Biochar can be very helpful with some poor soils, especially acidic sandy soils. I strongly recommend wood chip mulch for clay soil.
I just saw your answer to this question in a later video. Thanks for such a quick response!
The weight in grams definitely threw me off. hanks for letting us know what it was in grams. I am so excited to see whats under your sunchoke stalks! Have you ever thought about growing goji berry? It is perennial here in zone 5-6.
***** I'll be harvesting some sunchokes Saturday! Should have the video up Sunday. Can't wait!
Here are the field trial results in pounds:
Control: 40.47 lbs
Rock Dust: 26.74 lbs
Biochar: 41.24 lbs
Total: 108.45 lbs
My guess is that when we add up the results from all participants, it will be more of a wash. I'm not sure, though. I haven't seen all the numbers.
What else would you use for weight ? lol
Excellent episode my friend ! With out the root vegetables I have extremely similar results !
Hi Patrick! I was wondering about your control group. Both Stephen and yourself use such great compost to amend your soil that there may not be enough of a difference. The plants can only absorb so much. Hence, there may not be too much of a difference. The rock dust could be a case of too much of a good thing. It may elevate something in the soil that becomes a toxin at higher quantities.
your right Bob the soil we both have is fantastic. That said both products claim to have quick results right away on any soil including great soils.
Further into the analysis I think the Rock Dust product will not turn out to be a good thing. it looks like it causes advanced nutrient leaching. but we have more evidence to collect.
***** That advanced nutrient leeching may be a good answer. One or more chemicals in the dust may also be killing off valuable fungi. That may be something else to consider. As a Fun Guy myself, I know the importance that fungi play in nature.
I have a lot of analysis to get through to know whats going on but that episode I did on the soil results left some big questions! Did you catch it?
***** Yeah, I did!
Thanks for the update Patrick.. Looking forward to the final clip..
Cheers mate..
Rob Bob Thanks, Rob!
Thanks for the video, Patrick. Informative and to the point. 👍
Sam Williamson You're welcome, Sam. Thanks for watching!
Patrick - you pulled around 40 kg of produce out of the trial beds. That's a lot of food mate. I was also happy to hear you say you would continue the trial - I suspect the biochar effect is cumulative. Whether that actually makes a substantial difference remains to be seen.
McDowall Manor Thanks, Andy. Yeah, we're happy with over 49 kg from 3 small beds! It'll be interesting to see if biochar adds more value over time. My guess is that it's much more valuable in poor soils with little organic matter. We shall see!
Very disappointed I couldn't carry on with the trials this year. Interesting results though I wasn't so much interested in overall yields, which seems to be a minimal difference, as I was the possibility of increased nutritional value and the health of the plant to resist disease and insect attack thereby reducing plant loss. Would be interesting to have a lab analysis of the nutritional values across the groups.
No problem at all, ***** . I completely understand.
Keep an eye out for ***** 's video on plant tissue lab results for more information on nutritional value.
As far as disease resistance goes, my rock dust tomatoes were the first to succumb to blight, which was partly responsible for the lower yields.
Thanks for watching!
Char improves fruiting so .... And rock dust is supposed to be for more of a nutritional aspect rather than teal I would think
Libertytree Tv We're trying to test a number of claims made about rock dust, including increased yields, better taste, higher brix readings, and higher nutritional values. Keep an eye out for a video from ***** in which he'll review the nutritional value of field trial plant tissues sent to a lab. Thanks for watching!
The patience and perseverance is impressive!
Thanks liftingenthusiast !
Interesting results. I wonder if there are any other factors that could have affected the results, like sunshine or or the quality of the soil under the soil that was added to the beds????
The Productive Garden We did our best to provide equal conditions for all groups, but there will always be other factors. The control and rock dust beds were actually built on the same 4 x 8 bed, so the the soil underneath should be very similar. Other participants had better yields with rock dust, so I think when we compile everyone's results, we'll see all groups being pretty close.
Homer Simpson said the metric system is for the devil.
mygreenzebra Sadly, I don't think he's the only one that feels that way!
Just wondering if all three plots were watered at the same rate? That can play a difference in yield.
carcina27 Great point! Yes, we were careful to water all beds at the same rate. We had a lot of rain this season and rarely had to water, so mother nature did most of the watering for us.
I sure would be interested in a trial with both rock dust and biochar combined!(-: I'm also interested in if the results will change in the next few years. Thanks Patrick...GREAT video my friend!
Thanks, Eco Oasis ! I think both of these amendments are probably of more value in poor soils. We'll have a better idea in a couple years, but my guess is they won't have as much of an impact in the a backyard garden that is already rich in organic matter. Do you use these amendments? What is the native soil like there?
OneYardRevolution Yes we do use bio char and rock dust...typically rain forest soil is terrible believe it or not.(-: Sand and or clay usually! With all the rains nutrients are often times removed and washed away. The bio char helps keep the nutrients in our soil for longer periods. We are very lucky on this new Eco Development we are building...we scores beautiful black soil!(-:
Eco Oasis I'm not sure why some of my comment is marked out? at least you can read it.(-:
Eco Oasis That's what I figured. Rock dust and biochar are much more likely to be helpful in rain forests and other poor soils. Midwestern native soils are already very good and all the compost and mulch make it even better. Rock dust and biochar probably won't add as much value here.
OneYardRevolution I think you are onto something! Do you remember the story I told you about the green strip of grass going through my land. When I dug down there was a old gravel road and obviously ruck dust too. That part of my land was terrible soil. Great work Patrick! And thanks for spreading your knowledge across the world my friend!
I truly appreciate informative videos like this one. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I noticed the beets showed quite an increase with both the rock dust and bio-char. One could conclude that all plants do not react the same to the amendments and while some benefit others may suffer (at least for a time). I am very interested to see how the amendments effect the yield in the future. As the soil and organisms in the soil adjust to the amendments, perhaps the production will change over time. I have read or heard from other sources that bio-char actually makes the soil less productive for the first few years, but as organisms establish production increases. I can not say this from any personal experience because I have not tested it myself. That is why I am so interested in information such as what you are sharing. You are doing a great job of showing actual side by side results and following through with multiple years of data, which I believe is important to get a true sense of what actually happens in the long run. Thank you so much for your efforts and the time it takes to share what you are learning. I will be following with great interest. Happy Gardening.
Thanks, jb pitcher ! I'm glad you find the trials helpful. It's possible that root crops are benefiting from the rock dust, but it's too soon to say. ***** also had higher yields for beets and carrots in his rock dust group. We look forward to sharing our results of the next couple years as we continue the trials. Thanks so much for your interest.
I appreciate your response. The iPad app won't let me reply to your reply on the other video. Are any of you testing using the amounts recommended by Azomite? I ask because John Kohler may be the greatest advocate of it, but he himself has called his ratio overkill because he believes you can't have enough. But seeing your significantly decreased yields vs control I think perhaps there can be too much rock dust.
setite We all used the initial application rate recommended by John - 1 pound per square foot. Even though I had lower yields in the rock dust group, when you look at the results from all four participants, I'd say rock dust had no impact, good or bad.
My view of rock dust is that it's not needed, because there are alternatives that are free and local. In this video, I compare the mineral composition of autumn leaves versus rock dust. I much prefer leaves: ruclips.net/video/wf2t8HxJ7T4/видео.html
What are cultivar are those lovely tomatoes? Gardener's Delight?
Lanium Those are Sweet Millions. We also grew Gardener's Delights, which are one of our favorites.
Too bad you did not include the sunchokes. :)
***** The sunchokes were grown in "control" soil all the way!
The subcaptions block out the total yield line! 2:33 You'll have to adjust for that on future videos.
Who said "rock dust increases yields?" It will help the mineral content of the produce, but not increase yield that much. Proper watering is probably a major factor on yield.
Maybe too much biochar is counterproductive and too much and has an opposite effect on yield. Maybe do a test with different amounts added next year. I saw an earlier video somewhere where they used far less with good results. Just a thought.
Thanks for running these interesting tests.
Hi Alan. Thanks for the heads up on the captions covering up the yield line. For now, momentarily turning off the captions will allow you to see the total yield line.
I'm very surprised you haven't heard the claim that rock dust increases yields. It is a very common claim. Just search RUclips videos for "Rock Dust Organic Remineralisation" or "grow larger vegetables with rock dust" and you'll find many videos that make this claim.
We arrived at the biochar application rate after consulting a number of sources, including manufacturer recommended application rates and biochar groups on Facebook. Biochar actually performed quite well in the field trial and we won't be surprised to see even better results next year, since biochar often takes more than a year to produce positive results.
OneYardRevolution
A lengthy video by some experts on biochar said they use a "3% by volume" application. I may have mentioned this earlier on one of your other videos on biochar, but here is the first video of that series: Biochar Workshop Part 1, How to Make Biochar
In the second video of the series, at 16:12, he mentions the "3% by volume" number. Right after that he says they had a 51% yield increase in tomatoes "at first pick." Maybe they inoculate the biochar better. ??
Maybe your second season will be better, but make sure you are using good quality biochar. The first video explains how to make a good quality biochar. If you are just using charcoal from a fire, it's not the same thing. I forget how you made yours and will have to review your earlier videos. On the second video of that series, listen to what the man has to say between 17:03 and 17:37, and beyond. That may be your answer on the biochar test.
alan30189 Alan, I did quite a bit of research in preparation for the trials, and viewing the videos you referenced was part of that research.
A percentage by volume recommendation when planting in the soil has to take depth of soil into consideration. Percentage recommendations are usually given for growing in containers.
According to the International Biochar Initiative, "several studies have reported positive effects of biochar application on crop yields with rates of 5-50 tonnes of biochar per hectare". We went for an application rate that is just about in the middle of this range. An application rate of 25 metric tonnes per hectare comes to 0.512036 pounds per square foot.
We charged the biochar for 4 weeks in moist worm castings. The 4 week charge period is commonly recommended by biochar experts.
The biochar used in the trial was not homemade. It was a very high quality biochar manufactured by Biogenic Reagents.
WAy out west did a bio char comparison
From the looks of things, biochar might be the way to go for Tomatoes, getting an extra 3kg (7lbs?) yield from the same number of plants is huge! Of course, we'll have to wait until the trials are finished to tell whether or not the numbers hold up, but it's really interesting to see such a diversity in the numbers for one of the most popular plants grown. Keep up the great work Patrick (and Stephen too)!
Thanks, Conrad Cardinal ! You're right. We'll have a better picture when we tally up all the results. I do know that other participants had higher tomato yields in their rock dust group than in their biochar group. My guess is that it will be a wash when we combine all the results. Thanks for watching!
I didn't expect to see amazing results. Your "control" soil is already great soil. For me, the important issue is not total yield but nutrients. Will biochar and rock dust increase nutrients in the food?
Liz Spencer I agree. nutrient values are very important.
We're trying to test multiple claims, including higher yields, higher brix readings, better taste, AND nutrient values. Please keep an eye out for ***** 's video that on nutrient values. He sent plant tissue samples from all groups to a lab and will share those results when they are available. He also have a video showing the impact of the amendments on soil pH and NPK and will be publishing another video on the impact on sol micronutrients.
I don't undestand how rock dust can lower yields. It's not like these particles would use up nitrogen. Very interesting.
DMC Grant I know that other participants had higher yields with rock dust. My guess is that when we combine all participants' results it will be more of a wash. Thanks for watching!
Patrick, you should patent your soil before someone comes out with a new super-soil amendment, the "Miracle Control". :)
atizeg "Miracle Control"! I love it!
Thanks Patrick for the update and for sharing your very interesting statistics.
You're welcome, Patrick Meehan ! Thanks for watching!
Who can object to this empirical objectiveness?
Thanks, cetuspa !
That was really interesting! Looking forward to next year's results!!
Thanks, ***** !
Nice to see science meet fiction! Thanks for your efforts with this.
Tim Brown Thanks, Tim!
Great effort. Probably the rock dust would be more effective if you mix it with the worm food & bedding and run it through the worms before using it in the form of castings. The worms would 'activate' the rock dust, making the trace minerals more available to the plant roots.
Also, I have read that biochar takes a year or two for the massive colonies of microbes to inhabit the strata of the charcoal and produce results. I couldn't find follow up to your experiment for 2015 but maybe I just couldn't see it among the MANY videos you have shot! I'll look again.
I am going to experiment with biochar next myself. I think that I will use chips from the chippers of tree services as my raw material. Chips are plentiful and free! It will take a while to see results though...
+3Sphere You're right; I wasn't able to continue the trial in 2015 but plan to resume it this year. It'll be interesting to see what results we get entering into the 3rd year. Best wishes with your biochar experiment!
+OneYardRevolution Thanks my friend. You really do have a fantastic garden! I will be very interested to see if the biochar has become active in the three seasons you will have had it in the ground. I have high hopes for the stuff but it's not clear to me yet that it's not just another myth. We'll See!!! Spring is just around the corner.....
+3Sphere Thanks! Fortunately, the benefits of biochar are well supported by peer reviewed research. Here's a quick overview from Washington State University. cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/FS147E/FS147E.pdf
Even so, I'm skeptical that I'll see benefits in my garden because the soil already has the properties that biochar helps to create - namely, a high cation exchange capacity, ability to hold water, and a healthy population of beneficial microbes.
+OneYardRevolution Very interesting little article. Thanks for that. Looks like I am in the same general boat that you are in, as I have engineered some very rich and fertile living topsoil with lots of (well composted) organic matter in it. Sounds like very poor soils to begin with, will benefit the most. I'm still going to try it but it could simply be overkill. I also don't like that worms don't like it.
Maybe the best application would indeed be large acreages where one application would suffice and then you wouldn't have to keep applying fertilizer or even manure. That could be very efficient. The small gardener would probably continue to be best served by compost and worm castings. That is very hard to scale to mega-farms. But a surprising amount of wonderfully tasty and nutritious produce can be grown in raised planters with intensive growing techniques.
I couldn't care less about its carbon sequestration properties (that everyone seems to obsess about) as I believe man caused global warming is little more than a farce and a scam benefiting greedy and oppressive big governments with their carbon credit rip-offs and flimflam men like Al Gore.
There seems to be much complexity and controversy swirling around the stuff. Nobody knows everything and everybody has conflicting opinions... One thing seems to be sure though; it will make a bang-up pond filtration medium... :)
+3Sphere You're welcome. Another thing to consider is soil pH. Most biochar is very alkaline. Because our native soil is slightly alkaline, we don't plan to use biochar beyond the small field trial bed.
Very informative, as always, my friend!
Thanks, keyplayr61 !
I just found and subscribed to your channel. Looks like a great place to learn new things.
May I ask a question about the bio-char that you used in your test? You mentioned that it was "charged" I believe. What does that mean exactly? I've heard the term "inoculated" before. Is that he same thing? I've been producing and using bio-char primarily as an ingredient in the cover material for use in my composting toilet for a number of years and I figured that by going through the thermophilic composting process, the bio-char would have absorbed all the nutrients it could. Is that what you mean by being charged? Or is there some other way of treating it before adding it to the soil?
Thanks.
Hi Steve.
Yes, charged means the biochar was blended with compost/worm castings and water weeks before being used. This inoculates the biochar with microbes, and allows it to absorb nutrients and water prior to being used.
I would think biochar would be an excellent cover material in compost toilets. Yes, what you're doing would definitely charge the biochar prior to use.
OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening
Thanks. I will look forward to your future conclusions about the addition of bio-char to soil as an amendment. I'm hoping that it will prove to have long term beneficial effects such as have been attributed to terra preta.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
Steve Smith I think biochar has a lot of potential, especially in poor soils.
Any theories on why the rock dust reduced yields?
I don't think that rock dust necessarily reduced the yields, but it clearly didn't increase them.
When you look at all the results, it looks like rock dust has no impact on yield. There were 4 participants in the field trial. One had a higher yield with rock dust, two had about the same yield, and I had a lower yield. When you total the yields for all 4 participants, rock dust has the lowest yield but only by a small amount.
***** and I are currently working on a video to summarize the results.
We have also recently taken a look at what's in rock dust and compared it to fall leaves. I think we are starting to get an insight into what's going on.
I'm going to have to overwinter my two test plants as they are just now finally beginning to show some growth as we move into late fall early winter. Since I have them in containers, keeping them overwintered inside shouldn't be a problem. Just got such a slow start with them for this years trial, maybe I can use them for next years trial if they overwinter well.
On The Balcony With Kat That sounds good! Our peppers don't always ripen before the cold weather as well. Best wishes!
OneYardRevolution My peppers didn't even get big enough to produce flowers let alone fruit.
This is excellent information. Thank you!
Thanks!
You are killing me man. I added over 400 lbs this year to the garden.
***** Wow, 400 lbs of rock dust? You can't be accused of being a man of moderation, Joe.
OneYardRevolution I had high hopes and built out a lot of beds this year. So much for that theory. Coffee grounds are key, my Swiss Chard is out of control.
***** I'm interested to see how other plants do in the coffee grounds amended soil. With the exception of some light mulching, we compost or vermicompost our coffee grounds first.
OneYardRevolution The biggest issue has been a few instances of slime mold from fungal activity in the grounds. You may already have this issue with the wood chips. I will see how it helps this winter.
***** Oh yeah, we get slime mold all the time. It doesn't cause any problems.
How did the results go 12 months on from this trial ?
Did you do the same controls with carrots beans peas and potatoes?
Great information, and great detail. Thank you so much for doing this. I know I cannot use bio char at all because I already have a salinity level that is high. And because I am using desert sand/soil I figure there is some rock minerals in it. I will continue to use compost as my main soil amendment.
Thanks, DonnaldaSmolens ! I agree. Compost is the way to go!
thorough washing of the char before charging should help minimize the ph issues, but the real issue is the source of your biomass..... there;s research on this....not all chars are as alkaline as others because of what kind of wood you burn.
@@OneYardRevolution here;s what a wonder..... you have rejected using biochar yet you have done great work into nutrifying your gardens. If in fact biochar helps soils retain nutrients, why would you not want it in there to help conserve the nutrients you put great energy into putting there? If for only that reason.
please refresh my memory , and excuse my ignorance, these are organic materials you are testing? i don't think i would be following otherwise. sorry, and thank you
eugene thompson Hi Eugene. Yes, these are organic soil amendments that we're testing. Both are supposed to help increase yields, among other things. Thanks for watching!
Will you rotate the beds next year?
MrMrwilson11 We'll plant new crops in the beds next year. At this point, I'm thinking cucumbers and pole beans for the trellises, but am not sure what else we'll plant.
Did you do soil testing before, during, and after the test was finished?
Like another poster stated..I don't understand why just adding rock dust would reduce yields from the control. It doesn't take any nutrients away from the plants. Not that I mind not seeing boosted results, keeps me from buying it. But there has to be some kind of explanation on the result.
James Lindberg At this point, I'm not ready to blame rock dust for the lower yields, but clearly it didn't increase yields in my field trial. I think when we compile results from all participants it will be more of a wash.
Keep an eye out for ***** 's upcoming videos on soil and plant tissue lab results. Also, he's already released a video on the pH and NPK lab results.
Thanks for watching!
I still recommend checking ph of these same beds.
Jason Haeger Not all participants had the soil pH tested, but ***** did and found the pH of all beds to be within the optimal range. He followed the same protocols as me. Here's a link to the video in which he discusses the pH and NPK results: Rock Dust and Biochar impacts on pH and Nutrient availability in garden soil Alberta Urban Garden
He'll also be releasing videos covering the lab results for soil micronutrient analysis and plant tissue analysis.
OneYardRevolution Great, thanks for the link!
You're welcome, Jason Haeger!
A bit off topic, but what are you using to capture the video from the computer?
Scott Baker Hi Scott. I'm using a free download of Debut Video Capture.
OneYardRevolution Thanks!
Scott Baker You're welcome!
What about the higher nutrient/mineral items-kale, collards and beets? No change to those? I could see they were higher than the biochar and control. Perhaps you should use the rock dust only on the high nutrient foods like root vegetables and members of the brassica oleracea. I've heard it good for fruit trees too (seems like you don't have any?). That would be an interesting test..
Shaun M Shaun M?pageId=103187007100189514101 Looking just at the control group vs the rock dust group, the rock dust group had higher collard green and beet yields, but lower kale, tomato, and pepper yields. And if you combine the kale and collards, the control group had a much higher total brassica yield. So, I don't think the higher nutrient/mineral items benefited from the rock dust - at least in terms of yield. Thanks for watching!
Yeah, I suppose I looked at the kale section incorrectly. I didn't notice the much higher yield of the control. It would be interesting to see the effects of the added rock dust and biochar on the crops in the future
Shaun M So far, there doesn't appear to be much of a pattern, though the rock dust group had better root crop yields for both ***** and me.
I am confident in the carrot results however my mangel beats are more likely chance that caused the trend.
***** We'll have to make sure to include some root crops next year too.
good to know... I cannot afford rock dust anyway :)
Ugh, significant figures.
Newton's Third Law Thanks for watching!
Interesting tests. I have one question: When you make your testing soil mixes, control, biochar and rock dust, are you checking the PH, and readjusting PH so they are all equal? Also did you run test, to see if soil PH shifted over the course of the growing season, and readjust if needed, keeping all things equil? Even just the variation in PH, that could result from the different amendment reactions with the soil mixes, has the potential to throw results way off. Considering how effected plants production can be from a slight PH shift, all things would need to be, and remain absolutely equal throughout the entire trial period. I'm interested to see more of your test results, and know the clinical control conditions of these trials.
The purpose of the field trial is to measure real life results when using rock dust and biochar as recommended by leading advocates. The only difference between the control and the test beds is that rock dust was added to the rock dust bed and charged biochar was added to the biochar bed. Though I didn't measure soil pH, Stephen from Alberta Urban garden conducted the same trial and had his soil pH professionally measured. The analysis found no significant difference in pH between the groups.
+OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening That's good to know about the soil PH test, for the enitial set up of your fellow gardeners control and testing groups, and I do understand your just testing claims made by leading advocates. I think what your doing is fantastic! As gardeners and students of science, conducting science-based testing is very much needed and lacking especially with promotional claims being made about products. I do however also think its very important to maintain clinical control groups, if we are to fully learn from the testing being done. If your only goal was to see if advocates for certain products are right in there staitments, then there is no need to test in a tighter control group; however, if as a gardener, you truly want to know how these products will compare to each other, and the control group; in addition to effect your garden/yeild. You will need to establish and maintain a control group under the tight standards of science. To do anything but maintain those well established and standardized protocals, can yield results that can be extremely misleading. I am very curious to learn more about these products, and hope you will consider exploring some of the products further, before we put them to rest once and for all. Im sold on biochar, because your blind taste testing showed on average, vegetables tast better when grown in chareged bio-char! Would you be willing to run tests to see if the rock dust will cause a PH shift as the growing season progresses, and adjust the PH in conjunction with the control group, to maintain a control group? Also would you be willing to run tests to see if bio-char and rock dust combined have any positive effect, while maintaining the proper PH on both test and control? I dont mean to be a pest. I really enjoy your videos! Keep up the good work!