This video confirms a few important issues for gardeners - 1) biochar does help to retain nutrients in the soil; 2) a plant will only take up nutirents that it needs. For those reasons - I would take issue with the idea that - if your soil is already rich in minerials and nutrients then there is no need to add biochar as a soil amendment. There are a few other qualities that would make a good arguement for using biochar. 1) Biochar will increase a soil's water retention capacity. 2) Biochar has a very positive effect on the microbial life in the soil by providing shelter and storing nutrients for the microbial health and reprodution. 3) Research has shown that biochar, when used as a soil amendment improves soil structure by increasing soil porosity while decreasing bulk density, as well as enhancing soil aggregation. 4) Biochar attracts beneficial fungi as well as microbes. 5) Once biochar has been added as a soil amendment, there is no need for a repeat application. It will last for an extrodinary long time, it virtually does not decay or decompose. When I apply biochar as a soil amendment, I not be adding it as a "fertilizer" for the benefit of the plants I am growing this year. I'm adding it more as a soil amendment for the LONG term benefit of supporting the life in the soil from now on. I know that the healthier my soil life is, the healthier the plants will be growing in that soil. Just because my soil is fertile today without biochar doesn't mean that the present fertility is going to be a permanent condition. If there is a surplus being stored because of biochar, then future applications of fertilizers becomes less necessary. Water retention is also a big bonus. In my opinion, there are multiple reasons for using biochar - all good. But yes, your garden was growing fine before you heard about biochar, and it will continue to grow at least that well if you never use it. I'm aware of the benefits, I am adding it, and at some point in the near future, I won't need to add any more. The video is excellent. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that the other qualities of biochar are not overlooked as a part of the discussion. Thanks.
Also in the University of Illinois studies, biochar had some great capabilities of absorbing commercial fertilizers, commercial Healthcare products and pesticides as well as some heavy metal concentrations and allowing a oxidation or phosphate to occur and reduce the negative effects of these elements in the soul.
I'm mostly interested in biochar for its dark color solar heating of my soil in early spring. My climate has a very long frost free period but the temperature stays very cool for the first 2 months of the season leaving my actual growing season relatively short.
Awesome results ***** ! Very interesting to see how the biochar, control and rockdust groups have been doing and had a wealth of information by both you and OneYardRevolution . I didn't have a many surprises as the rockdust results and I'm pleased to see how it retains nutrients and excited to see how it performs in poor soils, great video Stephen thanks for the great detail :)
I'd love to see a study on the functions behind biochar making such a major improvement in with my in-ground tomato plants. I have at least 70% less instance of blossom end rot, and virtually no sign of root knot nematode since I began using it to line the bottoms of my planting holes.
There are a number of sources looking at effects of biochar. try googling the alberta biochar initiative. the website has some great content. I wonder whats going on there to help protect your plants from disease. it might be as simple as healthy plants resisting better!
End rot is usually caused by calcium deficiency and a deficiency may compromise the immune system allowing the nematodes to compromise the plant. Stephen's Biochar lab results show an increase in calcium from 23000 to 33000, that probably explains it.
Poppy B. as other's have stated, Biochar improves Calcium retention- and Ca deficiency is the cause of many kinds of tomato rot. Having had issues with tomato rot last summer myself, and having no time, money, or experience to compost, I am going to be sure to add Biochar near my own tomato plants this summer... (which is cheaper than buying fertilizer year after year- and a single bag of Biochar from the Vermont Organics Co-Op by way of Home Depot is actually cheaper in this area, at $30, than most good composting bins)
Poppy B. it's called air pruning. When you made the hole in bottom of the pot. Look into it. Every time a root touches air it rotts somehow it tells the plant to grow another root. Continuous process. When plant is in pot with no air roots kind of grow tangled, plant eventually suffocates.
Thank you for your ongoing and thorough scientific evaluation of biochar. I come from a warm, dry climate (zone 7). I live in a moderately-high altitude, also moderate to high wind area, so water-retention on the soil surface is also important (I also have many trees competing with the lawn and garden), and mulch is regularly blown away in the swirling wind we normally receive (although it stays well-put in many areas of my yard). In the spirit of water-conservation, I have tried biochar with mixed results, and I am now trying to incorporate volcanic rock dust to the soil to try and further lessen the frequency of watering. I have used biochar in my houseplants, which I notice have far better soil structure since, and recently tried mixing in volcanic rock dust, which I have noticed helps retain moisture far better, resulting in the need for less-frequent watering. I am glad for people like yourself and Mr. Dolan who have done the control-study analysis of how soil relates to vegetation output. Keep up the good work! My regards, Chris.
A course wood chip mulch might help you keep it on the bed and further retain more moisture. Just a thought ! I am really glad you enjoy Patrick and Is work ! I find it quite rewarding especially when people find value in it !
Excellent stuff yall!!! Thank you for doing such important work so thoroughly and professionally, and for sharing the results along with your analysis! Bravo, much appreciated 🙏
Thank you so much for bring this experiment. It reminds me to my Mom in Indonesia. Long time ago she always added biochar in to her soil/container garden before planting her flowers or fruits. The result is all her plants growing awesome. This is really working :)
It would be interesting if they could test the plots all these years later. Biochar advocates say that biochar will add fertility to the soil for centuries. This is likely to be BS, but it would be nice to have a long-term study.
Thank you for answering some of the questions I have had . Especially after 55 years of organic gardening and not being willing to spend the money for professional testing.
Hi , fantastic informative video Did you do any lab tests on the water holding quality’s of bio char in soils ? Was the water used in the test beds monitored per gallon or per litre in the test beds ?
Appreciate the analysis and work you've put into this. Seems to support what I've believed. That the plants take up what they need. Like a sponge dipped into water will only take up as much as it can hold. I think it is good to have the surplus in the soil however. Can't take up what isn't there.
I think we are starting to understand what is going on and your right they will only take what they need. Generally surpluses can be alright id just caution against huge ones as that might be harmful if imbalanced ;) I am really glad you enjoyed the video!
No sorry I had some technical difficulties I was trying to fix. My apologies. I will be ordering a new computer to help avoid these issues in the future.
Cool experiment. I think this is great, but as you point out, there is a limit to what can be derived from any experiment and always possible confounders that we aren't thinking of. I know that ashes are rich in minerals and especially calcium at around 25% to 45% lime, much higher than most people are aware. That fact might confound results since the increased mineral content could be due to ash. In other words, you may have simply added more nutrients to the biochar bed that have simply not washed out yet. I've actually added ashes to a control bed just to possibly offset this factor, though all kinds of testing would be necessary to do this in anything like a controlled way and frankly, I don't think it would be worth it. Even if the ash is washed off, the char could still absorb and hold the minerals. Vegetables obviously don't just randomly suck up everything that is in the soil, but rather take what they need. So, I think you're right that if the soil is already basically replete with minerals, they aren't necessarily going to show any difference in the nutritional analysis of the produce. It would seem more likely that you'll see a difference in the poor soil trials, just as organic produce is sometimes found to have better nutritional scores than modern farm produce, probably due to the use of complex organic fertilizers v.s. mostly just major macro-nutrients, or possibly due to soil health/microorganisms etc... I think the real test is going to be in the long run as these things all even or settle in over time. This little research piece I did on historical use of charcoal has some compelling accounts of old charcoal pit sites and their continued fertility. There are a few such accounts, but croll down to this one: >The Farmers’ cabinet, and American herd-book, Volume 11 From the Farmer and Mechanic Comparative Merits of Charcoal and Barn-yard Manure as Fertilizers.< turkeysong.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/some-citations-on-biochar-in-europe-and-america-in-the-19th-century/ My own experiments are less controlled, but I'm really looking for major differences and setting them up to observe over as long as possible... as long as I am alive I guess! If I don't see major, obvious, practical, working differences, then I'm not really interested in using the stuff. Do you have an idea of what percentage by volume 1/2 pound per square foot is if dug in to 12" deep? and how deep were the beds? That doesn't seem like a lot of char. I'm shooting for 15% and up lately and deep. The last two beds I did are 20% and 30%, both to 2 feet deep (yes, that is a lot of charcoal!!!). The bed I'm working on next will be three equal sections of around 20%, 30% and 45% by rough volume. Keep up the good work. I appreciate your attention to detail and integrity in performing these experiments. Following.
Steven Edholm Thank you my friend for leaving such a great comment. I think your right over time we will. see any differences in good soil. if they exist. I have also set up a poor soil trial to see if there is any differences there as well. I chose to keep the study as a simple elimination to keep it as easy as possible to measure the effects of the product oh its claims. with 1/2 pound by volume we are probably getting close to 10%.
Thank you for sharing. Quite irritated that I had to sift through 10,000 videos about crap, anecdotes, claims and conjectures to get to a video with some scientific basis for its claims!
***** it's cool, i can navigate youtube :p was planning on checking out your other results when i have more time this afternoon. Just happy to find a definitive series that wasn't produced by a homeless looking. hemp-clad communist eco-tard.
The playlist is on my main page a few down. it starts with all three videos with the 2015 results paired with the rock dust trial I am running at the same time.
I knew the Amazonians had it right. Terra Preta is an incredible phenomena. Interesting that the peppers did not stock up nutrients in the surplus. I guess hoarding resources when there is abundance is not the natural way of things.
***** I would have loved to see the nutrient results for the root, tuber or leaf tissues and not just the fruit. When planning a food forest on contaminated soils Angelo over at Deep Green Permaculture claims: "In respect to landfill contamination issues, especially lead and other heavy metal contamination, only plants that have edible fruit are possible to use. Contaminants accumulate greatest in roots and tubers, and to a lesser extent in leaves and shoots."
All these years later this study still has great value and has been confirmed in multiple studies. Biochar for Sandy soil is great, but Microbes in all others is the key.
Makes sense to me , there’s also many claims about free fertilizer from weeds and peel’s soaked in water but no analysis given , so thank you very much ,
I would like to participate. I would just need more info on what is required for the trials. The bulk of my garden is the rain gutter system with 5 medium in ground beds. I could construct some raised beds if needed. let me know.
David if you go to google + and search for the home garden field trial community we have the trial outline posted there. Read through it and let OneYardRevolution And I know if you would like to participate. We would love to have you.
One of the major claims of biochar is water management for out of ideal water conditions. I would be interested if this was a factor taken into account too. Have a number of biochar beds that recieve different levels of water, one with drought conditions and one with heavy rain conditions. Also, are you charging your biochar before putting it in the soil? I've seen a number of sources who steep in compost teas or similar to prime it with concentrated nutrients. I would also be interested if this made a difference as well.
I can see a tremendous benefit in sandy free draining soils where biochar would be an asset. Would love to see you assess some of the diva biochars that charge exorbitant prices. Need your opinion. I took hardwood charcoal briquettes bound only with vegetable oil and soaked them in a barrel until they dissolved into a charcoal sludge. I took the sludge and mixed it with compost kelp meal and flour and let this mixture compost for 2 weeks after which I placed the mixture in the rows between my crops and harrowed it in. Did I waste my time? Too cheap to buy char or burn wood to produce. Thought the natural hardwood briquettes without any harmful additives was a great alternative
It gets confusing with all the hype over the internet about organic growing. I'm confused as what to use now, I was set on Rock Dust but watching your other video has changed my mind. Any ideas on a good selection to use in beds? What's really needed to get a good organic crop without wasting money on useless products?
Great Video, thanks for putting so much effort into soil and plant analysis of nutrients. Is there a Vitamin % analysis between the pepper from the different groups, this would help us understand whether plants are able to manufacture more Vitamin and Organic Compounds. Is there a way to tell which group has more soil microbes?. Thanks
Oh so fascinating. Thank you for doing these experiments. It is so fascinating to see the actual results. I am looking forward to seeing if the rock dust preforms better in the second season. But this alone tells me biochar might be very beneficial in my soil.
The info I want to send is on a disk and I don't have access to a computer until tomorrow. But for now. Does rock dust cause a rise in ph and if so, would precipitation reactions (nutrient lock up) explain why there are less nutrients available in the rock dust trials? Just a though
+yathatisgood nope there was no measurable pH change in the soil from the rock dust or biochar although each of them have different pH when in their base material. I don't actually have a CD reader it did not come with my current computer.
Great episode! As you point out, biochar may not be worth the added expense for the home gardener who's working with fertile soil where there's a surplus of essential elements. Again, it seems that annual soil testing may be a better approach to ensure all the essential elements for plant growth/health are there for optimum nutrition.
You know I'm starting to think a few simple practices in the garden can even save you the time and money of those tests if everything is goring well. I tell you my friend we are going to make this gardening thing cheap again ;)
Thanks for conducting this trial! I have always thought of Biochar as a boon to the home organic gardener not because our plants need help in the nutrient dense soil but as a way to lessen the amount of work involved in making compost to keep those nutrient levels up. My understanding is that its capacity to hold the nutrients means that when there is enough char in the bed you will no longer have to fertilize (other than a little mulch of course). This certainly seems to be the case in the Terra Preta soils and other less well known examples of rich soils existing many hundreds of years after they were built with char.
Check out the first three videos in this playlist. I go into more depth on how biochar did through the trial and why. I am glad you enjoyed the video and trial. I love conducting them :) ruclips.net/p/PL5mfR-r4BXH1WwrNIH29H-KI4LGrEfHFd
That goes to show that biochar will feed your soils not your garden. But by feeding and caring for your soil you care for much more that nutrients but pest control and long term nutrient levels. That is soo important for the long term gardener and food forrest Gardner. Thank you very much for your input. And for the great ideas to build the healthiest soils I can for my forrest.
Excellent video. It is widely known that good soil won't benefit from biochar and poor soil devoid of nutrients will benefit from biochar. Your test does show an improvement is good soil which is very interesting. Did you test pH throughout the growing season? Nutrient availability is very dependent upon pH. Isn't nature awesome! I can't wait to learn more on your trials in poor soil.
You are right we set out to test the claims on a home gardens. I will be testing trough out the growing season this year to see what happens through out the season. I am going to do a poor soil trial as well to see the difference.
I am so glad I found your channel, I have learned so many things already. I am very thankful to you. Coming to the topic of Biochar, do you think it will be a good idea to use them in potting mix? I feel that lot of nutrients gets leached out from pots and there is a constant need of re-fertilizing them during growing season. Looking forward to your feedback.
I am really glad I could help ! Watch the first tree videos in this playlist. It should help answer your questions. ruclips.net/p/PL5mfR-r4BXH1WwrNIH29H-KI4LGrEfHFd
Thanks Stephan, I saw all your videos on Biochar. I guess, I don't really need Biochar in my potting mix. I was looking at Biochar as nutrient retention component in the soil.
Thank you very much for carrying out this trial. I look forward to your trials on poor soil. In the long term it would be extremely interesting to discover whether biochar has the effect of continually recharging the soil, as was implied in the documentary of Terra Preta where the soil was being mined.
Was there any significant yield difference? Between the beds? I'm thinking holding certain nutrients could help improve yield or even perhaps lower it by holding it in a manner where it cannot be accessed by the roots.
I’ve heard this same claim before, good soil doesn’t need Terra Pretta, (bio-char), but since I live in Phoenix AZ, we certainly can change the harsh dry clay soil in the Valley of the Sun.
Can I use the coals from my fire pit? If the chat material has ash with it would it effect the nutrient content? At baseline the soil here in Denver Colorado is nutrient poor and mostly clay. This sounds like it would work great just wondering if I can use a free resource vs buying it.
+sean weir if its ash from a wood fire absolutely I did a clip evaluating wood ash and once added to a compost it releases a lot of nutrients. If it is charcoal from the store or treated wood/ particle board I would avoid its use.
Can you pls help to clarify usage of well cleaned wood char ( washing machine), in aquaponics grow beds as media(flood and drain). People suggest that wood char results in denitrification (only in anerobic conditions ). Sighting woodchar ability to consume nitrogen does innoculation of woodchar in compost work? And later use it in aquaponics GB. Reason I want to do it because its cheap ,light weight and most importantly its available.
I'd also like to point out that surplus nutrient in soil may not have an effect the first season, the question becomes how capable of sustaining enrichment is the soil. So a starting and ending soil breakdown would be helpful to see how much nutrient is leeching out of the soil throughout the year.
Marcus G We will be expanding the trials this year to include a poor soil location and additional sampling to see what is really going on. Make sure to stay tuned !
Great idea that your going to use poor soil too. I think you could grow anything in the bed you have with the mix you put in. Thanks for doing the tests and all the work you put in.
Is it possible to making a potting mix with 70% hard wood charcoal + 30% worm compost for my flower plants? Actually i don't know how to convert the charcoal to bio char.
I'm starting to think of plant nutrition the same as I do about food science. For every study elevating one supplement, or nutrition fad, there's a study to suggest the opposite. I suppose each gardener should garden as he pleases without worry, and to use all things moderately. I look forward to your future trials! -Eric
Eric its all about your own results. I use controls so you can see the evidence and make your own decision. I think moderation is important as well! Did you see OneYardRevolution video this week?
Yes I saw Patrick's video, and his conclusion was unexpected, as was your rock dust analysis. I enjoy both your, and his channel, and the different approaches to gardening than my own.
mygreenzebra I am glad you enjoy what we are producing for you! I have evolved as a gardener so quickly since I started producing RUclips videos! I even achieved an important result this year not needing any store bought fertilizers!
You need to quantitate biomass in conjunction with nutrient analysis in order to determine uptake per plant. Plants can grow into their limiting nutrient availability thus the biomass "dilutes" the greater uptake. This is particularly true of Nitrogen. Tissue analysis might not show much impact insofar as Kjeldahl Nitrogen but biomass may increase tremendously. A better measure may be "total uptake/plant".
I do like the idea of not having to use as much fertilizer, though. The terra preta they found in the Amazon rain forest is still fertile from thousands of years ago… so it holds onto those nutrients for a very long time.
Can you please mention selenium and perhaps iodine levels in your experiments they are known to help prevent cancer, obesity, intelligence for iodine, and selenium is needed to prevent neuro muscular disease as well as heart disease and cancer, according to Joel Wallach N.D. of the "Dead Doctors Don't Lie" videos and books. As an organic gardener I'm trying to grow food with all the nutrients I need for total health. Thanks, I appreciate all the work you do. Also, I thought biochar is supposed to hold in moisture, which is important where I live.
a (new ? )and enlightened perspective--plants only use what they need,do we really need all these item purchases? but still is showing they have what they need.i will keep watching its very interesting.
Not to many gardens or farms can do crop yield test when putting a bag of worm castings for every 6' sq. of garden and then adding something else to see if that something else is going to make a differnce
What is poor soil? Lol What type of medium will you suggest? Sand and clay with Bio vs our existing Bio bed from 2014? Will we need a control for the sand/clay?
Sabine RiverAuthority native soil is the best as it is likely the poorest that is easily available. Yes you would need a control under the same conditions.
How and why did you decide to use half a pound of biochar per square foot of soil surface? That could be quite a lot in a shallow bed or very little in a deep bed. Why not use a measurement of comparative volume or mass?
My understanding of the benefits of biochar is that, in soil that is depleted and needs regular infusions of good compost and organic matter to help produce healthy plants, Biochar will reduce the amounts of compost and fertilizer needed as it provides an environment where the necessary microbes can grow and thrive, (which if it isn't there will get used up or dissipate). ?
Hmm... So, if the plant only uptakes what it needs, is there something that causes more absorption by the plant to produce more nutrient dense fruit? On to more research...
Very intersting results! I wonder if biochar would be especially effective in sandy soils since this soil type is prone to leaching? In my opinion, anything that reduces nutrient leaching is good, even if there is a surplus, because it reduces potential contamination of water supplies and it retains those nutrients for future growing seasons.
DMC Grant Well we have to be careful with surpluses as well. OneYardRevolution did an episode on sunday addressing that as well. Your right in most cases leaching is a bad thing. if its organic though Its much more likely to be caught by your lawn or a tree on the way there instead of the soluble salts fertilizers.
it is much more difficult to over-fertilize when growing organically and plants dont seem to mind as much. Ever see a plant get burned alive with chem fertilizers? Not prettty :0
I make my own charcoal, to give an insulated home, through the winter, for bacteria that already exists in the soil. This way less die in the cold. Come spring the soil is more active quicker. Since I don't buy biochar from a company, I was unaware of the claims they were making to sell their product. Maybe biochar is more effective in harsh climates, because of its insulating properties. And since it just helps bacteria survive, the population should grow over the years. And would need to be tested after a winter. If you wanted to do a test for that ;) This is a good informative video. I had no idea that biochar helps to retain some minerals and nitrogen! Pretty cool!
As it would happen I am running the same trial on rock dust too. Here is the sister video :) ruclips.net/video/mwF3TFOzIik/видео.html I also did an analysis on just the rock dust and compared it to autumn leaves. ruclips.net/video/PkOwPAPDAZ0/видео.html
How about I just add compost and worm castings to my poor soil? It is beginning to sound like those two items are more dependably beneficial and affordable. :)
DoriGardener Dori there are tons of great studies showing the huge benefit of worm castings. Your right they can be as cheap as the worms and a tote. OneYardRevolution does a wonderful series on setting up a worm bin and how to operate it for cheap!
I’m interested how that would help my lawn. I’m going from chemical fertilizers to organic. I tested a small area with humic acid and kelp and it made quite a difference in drainage as well as made the grass a dark green.
I'm finishing year two of biochar and compost for the lawn. Some say it doesn't migrate well without tilling but I pulled a blade aerator before plug aerating and it gets it where it needs to be without tearing up the lawn and starting over.
I find it nice that you and Patric take the time to do these test and triles BUT as you showed in your vidio thes beds were all filled with new soil that was the first mistake work your normal soils by just adding to the top NO TILL that would be scientific ,but not in one year it takes time What is with the water retension with the Biochar ? its the same as your test with rock dust it doesn't work over night I have been working my garden for over 30 year's I don't dig or till I only put on the top natur does the rest or do I know more than the natur this works for me my plants and soil show me the results as I said I find your test very intereting but as I see you are makeing all the mistakes as most scientist do go and have a look in the woods and observe natur. but keep up the good work
Richard the choice to use new beds was a deliberate one. These products are being targeted to home gardener whom usually have great soil anyways. The second set of claims is that they work right away. So this years trials did not support those claims. Your right about the native soil application these products may work better over longer time periods in poorer soil conditions. So I am working with the local university to get a trial set up to investigate those conditions. To take time into account we will continue for a few more years yet.
A common claim I don't think you covered more than obliquely is that biochar causes the soil to retain more water, hedging against drought. I suppose that's a more appropriate test for the poor soil samples, but I'd be interested to know anything you figure out about that.
Very interesting results! I'm starting to think that the most meaningful test could be on amending soil know to be nutrient poor. I think that you're on to something in saying that a plant won't generally be taking up more nutrients than it needs to.
What exactly do you mean by "hold nutrients in the soil"? I didn't see any test of resistance to leaching or CEC. Also the [legitimate] research I've seen about biochar are focused on carbon sequestration, effect on moisture, carbon priming and timescales of several years to decades. Quite different from the marketing claims used to fleece city gardeners. Basically in the long term, biochar in amounts over 1% slows down the mineralization of organic carbon which increases the percent of soil organic carbon required for the carbon mineralization rate to match organic matter input rate. (mineralization of carbon is mainly compost turning into CO2)
Considering the results of the biochar what have you I'd be interested in a follow up that pitted biochar + enriched (exactly as in this video) vs enriched soil vs biochar + poor soil and just poor soil. I'd like to see starting and ending soil comparisons, and starting and ending plant weight. That would be rinsed with all root and top structure.
I’d like to see you do the analysis with mycorrhizae and Bacteria blends using the same soil. One bed being a mycorrhizae inoculated bed, the being a Bacteria only bed, the third being both and the control with nothing.
The way you mixed it takes the longest for your Char to be inoculated now if you’d charged it prior to just blending it . There’s a Guarantee your results would have been different.
thank for all the hard work and the vid.Am about to spent 150$ on 20kg Azomite rock dust maybe i wait till i get your test result ;D. OMG who the stupid one dislike this vid.
The lab results episode should be coming up in the next few weeks :) Im not bothered by the dislikes I love to get people opinions and have a good chat about the issues. Even if we don't agree thats alright :)
The best would be the poor soil test since using worm castings in the soil will overpower the test on the vegetation since its the best slow-release fertilizer, so a test on poor soil would be very interesting with only biochar as the additive.
What you can say about the biochar trials for certain based on the analysis is 1) biochar has more trace elements than rockdust (most likely) or 2) biochar remains closer to the surface compared to rockdust and hence the higher reading 2) biochar trace elements are less available to the plants based on the fact the amount of nutrition that remains on the pepper plant( less likely) Then this beggars the question can biochar overdose plants and kill them, as too much of a good thing can be detrimental
Antonio Pachowko Samples were talking in the same location transecting the entire soil column so the samples are representative. With the trace elements it could be a bio-availability issue however its more likely better retention in the soil. This is mirrored in the organic numbers for NPK. Your right at these levels its more important to have a balance of the elements. I am going to have to take a look into surplus toxicity if this keeps up.
Use of biochar was wide spread in tropical soil studies of historic pre columbian amazon. In regions with poor soils(sandy soils) or high leaching(tropical rain forests), biochar makes sense. I don't thin you need it in rich temperate soils. This nutrient analysis is just one study topic for biochar, because it also has the ability to sequester carbon.
This video confirms a few important issues for gardeners - 1) biochar does help to retain nutrients in the soil; 2) a plant will only take up nutirents that it needs. For those reasons - I would take issue with the idea that - if your soil is already rich in minerials and nutrients then there is no need to add biochar as a soil amendment.
There are a few other qualities that would make a good arguement for using biochar. 1) Biochar will increase a soil's water retention capacity. 2) Biochar has a very positive effect on the microbial life in the soil by providing shelter and storing nutrients for the microbial health and reprodution. 3) Research has shown that biochar, when used as a soil amendment improves soil structure by increasing soil porosity while decreasing bulk density, as well as enhancing soil aggregation. 4) Biochar attracts beneficial fungi as well as microbes. 5) Once biochar has been added as a soil amendment, there is no need for a repeat application. It will last for an extrodinary long time, it virtually does not decay or decompose.
When I apply biochar as a soil amendment, I not be adding it as a "fertilizer" for the benefit of the plants I am growing this year. I'm adding it more as a soil amendment for the LONG term benefit of supporting the life in the soil from now on. I know that the healthier my soil life is, the healthier the plants will be growing in that soil.
Just because my soil is fertile today without biochar doesn't mean that the present fertility is going to be a permanent condition. If there is a surplus being stored because of biochar, then future applications of fertilizers becomes less necessary. Water retention is also a big bonus.
In my opinion, there are multiple reasons for using biochar - all good. But yes, your garden was growing fine before you heard about biochar, and it will continue to grow at least that well if you never use it. I'm aware of the benefits, I am adding it, and at some point in the near future, I won't need to add any more.
The video is excellent. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that the other qualities of biochar are not overlooked as a part of the discussion. Thanks.
Also in the University of Illinois studies, biochar had some great capabilities of absorbing commercial fertilizers, commercial Healthcare products and pesticides as well as some heavy metal concentrations and allowing a oxidation or phosphate to occur and reduce the negative effects of these elements in the soul.
Hey man looks like it’s been awhile since you’ve posted a video
Any chance to get a 3 year update on your experiment?
I'm mostly interested in biochar for its dark color solar heating of my soil in early spring. My climate has a very long frost free period but the temperature stays very cool for the first 2 months of the season leaving my actual growing season relatively short.
Thanks for taking the time to do this test, and filming it. I find your videos very useful.
Actual science in organic gardening.....What sorcery is this?!
Actual science needs replications. Otherwise you cannot compare groups
@@bravante5927 thank you
Must not know about tierra Prieta
Awesome results ***** ! Very interesting to see how the biochar, control and rockdust groups have been doing and had a wealth of information by both you and OneYardRevolution . I didn't have a many surprises as the rockdust results and I'm pleased to see how it retains nutrients and excited to see how it performs in poor soils, great video Stephen thanks for the great detail :)
I am really glad you enjoyed the video!
I thought biochar was more about creating a home in the soil...for beneficial microbes and fungi.
he needs to watch some Dr. Elaine Ingham
from those homes bacteria and fungi could repopulate after extreme events like drought or flooding
Prolly why the nutrients are higher
That's one of the benefits
I'd love to see a study on the functions behind biochar making such a major improvement in with my in-ground tomato plants. I have at least 70% less instance of blossom end rot, and virtually no sign of root knot nematode since I began using it to line the bottoms of my planting holes.
There are a number of sources looking at effects of biochar. try googling the alberta biochar initiative. the website has some great content.
I wonder whats going on there to help protect your plants from disease. it might be as simple as healthy plants resisting better!
End rot is usually caused by calcium deficiency and a deficiency may compromise the immune system allowing the nematodes to compromise the plant. Stephen's Biochar lab results show an increase in calcium from 23000 to 33000, that probably explains it.
Poppy B. as other's have stated, Biochar improves Calcium retention- and Ca deficiency is the cause of many kinds of tomato rot. Having had issues with tomato rot last summer myself, and having no time, money, or experience to compost, I am going to be sure to add Biochar near my own tomato plants this summer... (which is cheaper than buying fertilizer year after year- and a single bag of Biochar from the Vermont Organics Co-Op by way of Home Depot is actually cheaper in this area, at $30, than most good composting bins)
Poppy B. it's called air pruning. When you made the hole in bottom of the pot. Look into it. Every time a root touches air it rotts somehow it tells the plant to grow another root. Continuous process. When plant is in pot with no air roots kind of grow tangled, plant eventually suffocates.
Thank you for your ongoing and thorough scientific evaluation of biochar. I come from a warm, dry climate (zone 7). I live in a moderately-high altitude, also moderate to high wind area, so water-retention on the soil surface is also important (I also have many trees competing with the lawn and garden), and mulch is regularly blown away in the swirling wind we normally receive (although it stays well-put in many areas of my yard). In the spirit of water-conservation, I have tried biochar with mixed results, and I am now trying to incorporate volcanic rock dust to the soil to try and further lessen the frequency of watering. I have used biochar in my houseplants, which I notice have far better soil structure since, and recently tried mixing in volcanic rock dust, which I have noticed helps retain moisture far better, resulting in the need for less-frequent watering. I am glad for people like yourself and Mr. Dolan who have done the control-study analysis of how soil relates to vegetation output. Keep up the good work! My regards, Chris.
A course wood chip mulch might help you keep it on the bed and further retain more moisture. Just a thought !
I am really glad you enjoy Patrick and Is work ! I find it quite rewarding especially when people find value in it !
Excellent stuff yall!!! Thank you for doing such important work so thoroughly and professionally, and for sharing the results along with your analysis! Bravo, much appreciated 🙏
Thank you so much for bring this experiment. It reminds me to my Mom in Indonesia. Long time ago she always added biochar in to her soil/container garden before planting her flowers or fruits. The result is all her plants growing awesome. This is really working :)
Thats fantastic Anna! I am really glad you enjoyed the video!
It would be interesting if they could test the plots all these years later. Biochar advocates say that biochar will add fertility to the soil for centuries. This is likely to be BS, but it would be nice to have a long-term study.
Thank you for answering some of the questions I have had . Especially after 55 years of organic gardening and not being willing to spend the money for professional testing.
Hi , fantastic informative video
Did you do any lab tests on the water holding quality’s of bio char in soils ? Was the water used in the test beds monitored per gallon or per litre in the test beds ?
Great information on how biochar can help to reduce nutrient leaching.
I am glad you enjoyed it my friend !
can the activated carbon retain nitrogen from urine?
Appreciate the analysis and work you've put into this. Seems to support what I've believed. That the plants take up what they need. Like a sponge dipped into water will only take up as much as it can hold. I think it is good to have the surplus in the soil however. Can't take up what isn't there.
I think we are starting to understand what is going on and your right they will only take what they need. Generally surpluses can be alright id just caution against huge ones as that might be harmful if imbalanced ;)
I am really glad you enjoyed the video!
Is there additional info in this video, as compared to the one uploaded previously?
Thanks as always for a very interesting project.
No sorry I had some technical difficulties I was trying to fix. My apologies. I will be ordering a new computer to help avoid these issues in the future.
Cool experiment. I think this is great, but as you point out, there is a limit to what can be derived from any experiment and always possible confounders that we aren't thinking of. I know that ashes are rich in minerals and especially calcium at around 25% to 45% lime, much higher than most people are aware. That fact might confound results since the increased mineral content could be due to ash. In other words, you may have simply added more nutrients to the biochar bed that have simply not washed out yet. I've actually added ashes to a control bed just to possibly offset this factor, though all kinds of testing would be necessary to do this in anything like a controlled way and frankly, I don't think it would be worth it. Even if the ash is washed off, the char could still absorb and hold the minerals.
Vegetables obviously don't just randomly suck up everything that is in the soil, but rather take what they need. So, I think you're right that if the soil is already basically replete with minerals, they aren't necessarily going to show any difference in the nutritional analysis of the produce. It would seem more likely that you'll see a difference in the poor soil trials, just as organic produce is sometimes found to have better nutritional scores than modern farm produce, probably due to the use of complex organic fertilizers v.s. mostly just major macro-nutrients, or possibly due to soil health/microorganisms etc...
I think the real test is going to be in the long run as these things all even or settle in over time. This little research piece I did on historical use of charcoal has some compelling accounts of old charcoal pit sites and their continued fertility. There are a few such accounts, but croll down to this one:
>The Farmers’ cabinet, and American herd-book, Volume 11
From the Farmer and Mechanic
Comparative Merits of Charcoal and Barn-yard Manure as Fertilizers.<
turkeysong.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/some-citations-on-biochar-in-europe-and-america-in-the-19th-century/
My own experiments are less controlled, but I'm really looking for major differences and setting them up to observe over as long as possible... as long as I am alive I guess! If I don't see major, obvious, practical, working differences, then I'm not really interested in using the stuff.
Do you have an idea of what percentage by volume 1/2 pound per square foot is if dug in to 12" deep? and how deep were the beds? That doesn't seem like a lot of char. I'm shooting for 15% and up lately and deep. The last two beds I did are 20% and 30%, both to 2 feet deep (yes, that is a lot of charcoal!!!). The bed I'm working on next will be three equal sections of around 20%, 30% and 45% by rough volume.
Keep up the good work. I appreciate your attention to detail and integrity in performing these experiments. Following.
Steven Edholm Thank you my friend for leaving such a great comment. I think your right over time we will. see any differences in good soil. if they exist. I have also set up a poor soil trial to see if there is any differences there as well.
I chose to keep the study as a simple elimination to keep it as easy as possible to measure the effects of the product oh its claims.
with 1/2 pound by volume we are probably getting close to 10%.
your tests are the yardstick we all trust best info by country mile thanks
Thank you for sharing. Quite irritated that I had to sift through 10,000 videos about crap, anecdotes, claims and conjectures to get to a video with some scientific basis for its claims!
+maxdecphoenix I am more than glad that I could help!! I have more videos in this series if you would like i can shoot you the link.
***** it's cool, i can navigate youtube :p was planning on checking out your other results when i have more time this afternoon. Just happy to find a definitive series that wasn't produced by a homeless looking. hemp-clad communist eco-tard.
The playlist is on my main page a few down. it starts with all three videos with the 2015 results paired with the rock dust trial I am running at the same time.
maxdecphoenix
here-here
I knew the Amazonians had it right. Terra Preta is an incredible phenomena. Interesting that the peppers did not stock up nutrients in the surplus. I guess hoarding resources when there is abundance is not the natural way of things.
I think your right my friend. I have a sneaking suspicion nature does not do that and nutrient density is controlled by a genetic factor.
the more we learn...
suburban homestead Mother nature is as lazy as possible :)
***** I would have loved to see the nutrient results for the root, tuber or leaf tissues and not just the fruit. When planning a food forest on contaminated soils Angelo over at Deep Green Permaculture claims: "In respect to landfill contamination issues, especially lead and other heavy metal contamination, only plants that have edible fruit are possible to use. Contaminants accumulate greatest in roots and tubers, and to a lesser extent in leaves and shoots."
We are planning on expanding the tissue analysis next year ?
All these years later this study still has great value and has been confirmed in multiple studies. Biochar for Sandy soil is great, but Microbes in all others is the key.
Makes sense to me , there’s also many claims about free fertilizer from weeds and peel’s soaked in water but no analysis given , so thank you very much ,
Glad I could help
Hi, I live in Edmonton, Ab and was wondering if you have a local source for biochar that I could purchase from. Thank you
I have some for the trials David and would love to have you participate.
I would like to participate. I would just need more info on what is required for the trials. The bulk of my garden is the rain gutter system with 5 medium in ground beds. I could construct some raised beds if needed. let me know.
David if you go to google + and search for the home garden field trial community we have the trial outline posted there. Read through it and let OneYardRevolution And I know if you would like to participate.
We would love to have you.
One of the major claims of biochar is water management for out of ideal water conditions. I would be interested if this was a factor taken into account too. Have a number of biochar beds that recieve different levels of water, one with drought conditions and one with heavy rain conditions.
Also, are you charging your biochar before putting it in the soil? I've seen a number of sources who steep in compost teas or similar to prime it with concentrated nutrients. I would also be interested if this made a difference as well.
How long was the biochar left in the soil before testing? Because that can also play a big part in the outcome.
Thank you for you work and sharing. An interesting study well reported. Practical science at its best.
WoodRodent Thank you my friend!! I am glad you liked it!
I can see a tremendous benefit in sandy free draining soils where biochar would be an asset.
Would love to see you assess some of the diva biochars that charge exorbitant prices. Need your opinion. I took hardwood charcoal briquettes bound only with vegetable oil and soaked them in a barrel until they dissolved into a charcoal sludge. I took the sludge and mixed it with compost kelp meal and flour and let this mixture compost for 2 weeks after which I placed the mixture in the rows between my crops and harrowed it in. Did I waste my time? Too cheap to buy char or burn wood to produce. Thought the natural hardwood briquettes without any harmful additives was a great alternative
It gets confusing with all the hype over the internet about organic growing.
I'm confused as what to use now, I was set on Rock Dust but watching your other video has changed my mind.
Any ideas on a good selection to use in beds? What's really needed to get a good organic crop without wasting money on useless products?
Compost my friend and a good mulch ! You can cut in a pitting mix, peat or coir mix at a 1:1 to help :)
Not much need for other products
Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable very
Great Video, thanks for putting so much effort into soil and plant analysis of nutrients. Is there a Vitamin % analysis between the pepper from the different groups, this would help us understand whether plants are able to manufacture more Vitamin and Organic Compounds. Is there a way to tell which group has more soil microbes?. Thanks
Vitamins are a reflection of the elemental makeup but no I did not do it as the test was very expensive.
Oh so fascinating. Thank you for doing these experiments. It is so fascinating to see the actual results. I am looking forward to seeing if the rock dust preforms better in the second season. But this alone tells me biochar might be very beneficial in my soil.
If you have poor soil I'm going to theorize Biochar might be a better product for you :)
The info I want to send is on a disk and I don't have access to a computer until tomorrow.
But for now. Does rock dust cause a rise in ph and if so, would precipitation reactions (nutrient lock up) explain why there are less nutrients available in the rock dust trials?
Just a though
+yathatisgood nope there was no measurable pH change in the soil from the rock dust or biochar although each of them have different pH when in their base material.
I don't actually have a CD reader it did not come with my current computer.
Great episode! As you point out, biochar may not be worth the added expense for the home gardener who's working with fertile soil where there's a surplus of essential elements. Again, it seems that annual soil testing may be a better approach to ensure all the essential elements for plant growth/health are there for optimum nutrition.
You know I'm starting to think a few simple practices in the garden can even save you the time and money of those tests if everything is goring well. I tell you my friend we are going to make this gardening thing cheap again ;)
Thanks for conducting this trial! I have always thought of Biochar as a boon to the home organic gardener not because our plants need help in the nutrient dense soil but as a way to lessen the amount of work involved in making compost to keep those nutrient levels up. My understanding is that its capacity to hold the nutrients means that when there is enough char in the bed you will no longer have to fertilize (other than a little mulch of course). This certainly seems to be the case in the Terra Preta soils and other less well known examples of rich soils existing many hundreds of years after they were built with char.
Check out the first three videos in this playlist. I go into more depth on how biochar did through the trial and why.
I am glad you enjoyed the video and trial. I love conducting them :)
ruclips.net/p/PL5mfR-r4BXH1WwrNIH29H-KI4LGrEfHFd
Another great presentation furthering understanding!
Glad I could help my friend !
That goes to show that biochar will feed your soils not your garden. But by feeding and caring for your soil you care for much more that nutrients but pest control and long term nutrient levels. That is soo important for the long term gardener and food forrest Gardner. Thank you very much for your input. And for the great ideas to build the healthiest soils I can for my forrest.
Excellent video. It is widely known that good soil won't benefit from biochar and poor soil devoid of nutrients will benefit from biochar. Your test does show an improvement is good soil which is very interesting. Did you test pH throughout the growing season? Nutrient availability is very dependent upon pH. Isn't nature awesome!
I can't wait to learn more on your trials in poor soil.
You are right we set out to test the claims on a home gardens. I will be testing trough out the growing season this year to see what happens through out the season. I am going to do a poor soil trial as well to see the difference.
@@AlbertaUrbanGarden was the poor soil test done?
I am so glad I found your channel, I have learned so many things already. I am very thankful to you. Coming to the topic of Biochar, do you think it will be a good idea to use them in potting mix? I feel that lot of nutrients gets leached out from pots and there is a constant need of re-fertilizing them during growing season. Looking forward to your feedback.
I am really glad I could help !
Watch the first tree videos in this playlist. It should help answer your questions.
ruclips.net/p/PL5mfR-r4BXH1WwrNIH29H-KI4LGrEfHFd
+Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable Did not realise this was part of series. Will check right away. thanks
yup ;)
Thanks Stephan, I saw all your videos on Biochar. I guess, I don't really need Biochar in my potting mix. I was looking at Biochar as nutrient retention component in the soil.
if you have a good humus content there is no need ;)
Thank you very much for carrying out this trial. I look forward to your trials on poor soil. In the long term it would be extremely interesting to discover whether biochar has the effect of continually recharging the soil, as was implied in the documentary of Terra Preta where the soil was being mined.
It will be interesting to see ! Thank you for following along :)
Hello i added charged biochar to my pear tree but after few days the leaves turned yellow and brown . What possibly
Could have gone wrong ?
Was there any significant yield difference? Between the beds? I'm thinking holding certain nutrients could help improve yield or even perhaps lower it by holding it in a manner where it cannot be accessed by the roots.
I may be late on the subject but have you tried biochar in making a vermicomoost?
I’ve heard this same claim before, good soil doesn’t need Terra Pretta, (bio-char), but since I live in Phoenix AZ, we certainly can change the harsh dry clay soil in the Valley of the Sun.
Can I use the coals from my fire pit? If the chat material has ash with it would it effect the nutrient content? At baseline the soil here in Denver Colorado is nutrient poor and mostly clay. This sounds like it would work great just wondering if I can use a free resource vs buying it.
+sean weir if its ash from a wood fire absolutely I did a clip evaluating wood ash and once added to a compost it releases a lot of nutrients. If it is charcoal from the store or treated wood/ particle board I would avoid its use.
Can you pls help to clarify usage of well cleaned wood char ( washing machine), in aquaponics grow beds as media(flood and drain). People suggest that wood char results in denitrification (only in anerobic conditions ).
Sighting woodchar ability to consume nitrogen does innoculation of woodchar in compost work?
And later use it in aquaponics GB. Reason I want to do it because its cheap ,light weight and most importantly its available.
I'd also like to point out that surplus nutrient in soil may not have an effect the first season, the question becomes how capable of sustaining enrichment is the soil. So a starting and ending soil breakdown would be helpful to see how much nutrient is leeching out of the soil throughout the year.
Marcus G We will be expanding the trials this year to include a poor soil location and additional sampling to see what is really going on. Make sure to stay tuned !
I'm quite curious, how much did you paid for those lab tests?
Would you be intereted in testing humics and comparing them to bio-char?
Another great video! Thanks, Stephen!
keyplayr61 Thank you my friend!
is it ok to use 50% biochar and the other 50% will be wormcast and compost?....pls advise, newbie here...
Great idea that your going to use poor soil too. I think you could grow anything in the bed you have with the mix you put in.
Thanks for doing the tests and all the work you put in.
I think we can't not do the poor soil test now ;)
Is it possible to making a potting mix with 70% hard wood charcoal + 30% worm compost for my flower plants? Actually i don't know how to convert the charcoal to bio char.
Charcoal is not the same as biochar. I would stick with the wormcastigs.
I'm starting to think of plant nutrition the same as I do about food science. For every study elevating one supplement, or nutrition fad, there's a study to suggest the opposite. I suppose each gardener should garden as he pleases without worry, and to use all things moderately. I look forward to your future trials! -Eric
Eric its all about your own results. I use controls so you can see the evidence and make your own decision. I think moderation is important as well! Did you see OneYardRevolution video this week?
Yes I saw Patrick's video, and his conclusion was unexpected, as was your rock dust analysis. I enjoy both your, and his channel, and the different approaches to gardening than my own.
mygreenzebra I am glad you enjoy what we are producing for you! I have evolved as a gardener so quickly since I started producing RUclips videos! I even achieved an important result this year not needing any store bought fertilizers!
Informative and good. Keep up the good work!
Excellent video Stephen.
Thank you my friend!
Love your vidz!! So many actual facts to back what you say. Awesome =)
Are your grow beds next to one another, if so mycelium could have “balanced” organic compounds by moving them from richer to depleted areas.
You need to quantitate biomass in conjunction with nutrient analysis in order to determine uptake per plant. Plants can grow into their limiting nutrient availability thus the biomass "dilutes" the greater uptake. This is particularly true of Nitrogen. Tissue analysis might not show much impact insofar as Kjeldahl Nitrogen but biomass may increase tremendously. A better measure may be "total uptake/plant".
I do like the idea of not having to use as much fertilizer, though. The terra preta they found in the Amazon rain forest is still fertile from thousands of years ago… so it holds onto those nutrients for a very long time.
Can you please mention selenium and perhaps iodine levels in your experiments they are known to help prevent cancer, obesity, intelligence for iodine, and selenium is needed to prevent neuro muscular disease as well as heart disease and cancer, according to Joel Wallach N.D. of the "Dead Doctors Don't Lie" videos and books. As an organic gardener I'm trying to grow food with all the nutrients I need for total health. Thanks, I appreciate all the work you do. Also, I thought biochar is supposed to hold in moisture, which is important where I live.
a (new ? )and enlightened perspective--plants only use what they need,do we really need all these item purchases? but still is showing they have what they need.i will keep watching its very interesting.
you know I think we project our consumeristic nature on them we always take more then we need. Nature very rarely does :)
Not to many gardens or farms can do crop yield test when putting a bag of worm castings for every 6' sq. of garden and then adding something else to see if that something else is going to make a differnce
Thanks for that Stephen. I am looking forward to your test with poor soil. It's all very interesting.
I am glad you enjoyed the video!
What is poor soil? Lol
What type of medium will you suggest? Sand and clay with Bio vs our existing Bio bed from 2014? Will we need a control for the sand/clay?
Sabine RiverAuthority native soil is the best as it is likely the poorest that is easily available. Yes you would need a control under the same conditions.
Sabine RiverAuthority I can show you some bad soil! My backyard is filled with construction clay!! I could probably make my own bricks with it.
Thats exactly the type of situation we are looking for. It would help understand for more traditional gardeners what these products do.
How and why did you decide to use half a pound of biochar per square foot of soil surface? That could be quite a lot in a shallow bed or very little in a deep bed. Why not use a measurement of comparative volume or mass?
My understanding of the benefits of biochar is that, in soil that is depleted and needs regular infusions of good compost and organic matter to help produce healthy plants, Biochar will reduce the amounts of compost and fertilizer needed as it provides an environment where the necessary microbes can grow and thrive, (which if it isn't there will get used up or dissipate). ?
Hmm... So, if the plant only uptakes what it needs, is there something that causes more absorption by the plant to produce more nutrient dense fruit? On to more research...
Very intersting results! I wonder if biochar would be especially effective in sandy soils since this soil type is prone to leaching?
In my opinion, anything that reduces nutrient leaching is good, even if there is a surplus, because it reduces potential contamination of water supplies and it retains those nutrients for future growing seasons.
DMC Grant Well we have to be careful with surpluses as well. OneYardRevolution did an episode on sunday addressing that as well. Your right in most cases leaching is a bad thing. if its organic though Its much more likely to be caught by your lawn or a tree on the way there instead of the soluble salts fertilizers.
it is much more difficult to over-fertilize when growing organically and plants dont seem to mind as much. Ever see a plant get burned alive with chem fertilizers? Not prettty :0
DMC Grant it makes it much harder your right my friend ;)
I make my own charcoal, to give an insulated home, through the winter, for bacteria that already exists in the soil. This way less die in the cold. Come spring the soil is more active quicker. Since I don't buy biochar from a company, I was unaware of the claims they were making to sell their product. Maybe biochar is more effective in harsh climates, because of its insulating properties. And since it just helps bacteria survive, the population should grow over the years. And would need to be tested after a winter. If you wanted to do a test for that ;) This is a good informative video. I had no idea that biochar helps to retain some minerals and nitrogen! Pretty cool!
Biochar does better in poorer soils but in most rich garden soils it's neutral.
yeah, my soil probably isn't the greatest
might work best to build on top with a raised bed. or try biochar!
I wonder if the soil nutrients would have tested even higher if you added azomite into the biochar inoculation
As it would happen I am running the same trial on rock dust too. Here is the sister video :) ruclips.net/video/mwF3TFOzIik/видео.html I also did an analysis on just the rock dust and compared it to autumn leaves. ruclips.net/video/PkOwPAPDAZ0/видео.html
Let me know what you think.
How about I just add compost and worm castings to my poor soil? It is beginning to sound like those two items are more dependably beneficial and affordable. :)
DoriGardener Dori there are tons of great studies showing the huge benefit of worm castings. Your right they can be as cheap as the worms and a tote. OneYardRevolution does a wonderful series on setting up a worm bin and how to operate it for cheap!
I’m interested how that would help my lawn. I’m going from chemical fertilizers to organic. I tested a small area with humic acid and kelp and it made quite a difference in drainage as well as made the grass a dark green.
I'm finishing year two of biochar and compost for the lawn. Some say it doesn't migrate well without tilling but I pulled a blade aerator before plug aerating and it gets it where it needs to be without tearing up the lawn and starting over.
Was there a yield difference? I can't imagine higher npk wouldn't increase growth?
I find it nice that you and Patric take the time to do these test and triles
BUT as you showed in your vidio thes beds were all filled with new soil that was the first mistake
work your normal soils by just adding to the top NO TILL that would be scientific ,but not in one year it takes time
What is with the water retension with the Biochar ? its the same as your test with rock dust
it doesn't work over night
I have been working my garden for over 30 year's I don't dig or till I only put on the top natur does the rest or do I know more than the natur this works for me my plants and soil show me the results
as I said I find your test very intereting but as I see you are makeing all the mistakes as most scientist do go and have a look in the woods and observe natur. but keep up the good work
Richard the choice to use new beds was a deliberate one. These products are being targeted to home gardener whom usually have great soil anyways. The second set of claims is that they work right away.
So this years trials did not support those claims.
Your right about the native soil application these products may work better over longer time periods in poorer soil conditions. So I am working with the local university to get a trial set up to investigate those conditions.
To take time into account we will continue for a few more years yet.
Have you tried charging it with a high nitrogen substance, like manure?
A common claim I don't think you covered more than obliquely is that biochar causes the soil to retain more water, hedging against drought. I suppose that's a more appropriate test for the poor soil samples, but I'd be interested to know anything you figure out about that.
You are right. It likely does better in poor soils holding water.
Very interesting results! I'm starting to think that the most meaningful test could be on amending soil know to be nutrient poor. I think that you're on to something in saying that a plant won't generally be taking up more nutrients than it needs to.
MrChipGardener the evidence is driving us in that direction :)
biochar is particularly applicable in the tropics
where low nutrient soils are common
thus the development of tera preta
What does "RDL" mean?
Real detection limit. It's how sensitive the equipment is.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Thank you my friend :)
What exactly do you mean by "hold nutrients in the soil"? I didn't see any test of resistance to leaching or CEC.
Also the [legitimate] research I've seen about biochar are focused on carbon sequestration, effect on moisture, carbon priming and timescales of several years to decades. Quite different from the marketing claims used to fleece city gardeners. Basically in the long term, biochar in amounts over 1% slows down the mineralization of organic carbon which increases the percent of soil organic carbon required for the carbon mineralization rate to match organic matter input rate. (mineralization of carbon is mainly compost turning into CO2)
I am interested, can you provide link to it?
I heard your produce won't be any differnent, but it speeds up time until fruiting and so get going earlier in season.
Thank you for saving me time 👍🏼
hello albert it is nice but i need help on biochar because i am working a research on biochar please
How can I help you.
What was the size of the biochar particles? Wouldn't that have a significant impact on the results as well?
Yes which is why I got mine from the university doing the research on it.
+Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable
what was the size of the biochar particles size?
Considering the results of the biochar what have you I'd be interested in a follow up that pitted biochar + enriched (exactly as in this video) vs enriched soil vs biochar + poor soil and just poor soil. I'd like to see starting and ending soil comparisons, and starting and ending plant weight. That would be rinsed with all root and top structure.
I’d like to see you do the analysis with mycorrhizae and Bacteria blends using the same soil. One bed being a mycorrhizae inoculated bed, the being a Bacteria only bed, the third being both and the control with nothing.
Great investigation
I use biochar to reduce waterlogging and compaction.
what is the difference between biochar and plain old charcoal?
additives in the charcoal and the fact that charcoal is not completly burnt meaning it needs to decay. I could avoid Charcoal
Thanks very much. Your videos are very helpful.
Glad I can help my friend!
The way you mixed it takes the longest for your Char to be inoculated now if you’d charged it prior to just blending it . There’s a
Guarantee your results would have been different.
thank for all the hard work and the vid.Am about to spent 150$ on 20kg Azomite rock dust maybe i wait till i get your test result ;D.
OMG who the stupid one dislike this vid.
The lab results episode should be coming up in the next few weeks :) Im not bothered by the dislikes I love to get people opinions and have a good chat about the issues. Even if we don't agree thats alright :)
The best would be the poor soil test since using worm castings in the soil will overpower the test on the vegetation since its the best slow-release fertilizer, so a test on poor soil would be very interesting with only biochar as the additive.
Stands to reason, biochar can’t hurt but sure can help.
Great info, thank you!
This is awesome! Thank you!
I'll follow this. Thanks.
snookmeister55 I am glad!
Great video
What you can say about the biochar trials for certain based on the analysis is
1) biochar has more trace elements than rockdust (most likely) or
2) biochar remains closer to the surface compared to rockdust and hence the higher reading
2) biochar trace elements are less available to the plants based on the fact the amount of nutrition that remains on the pepper plant( less likely)
Then this beggars the question can biochar overdose plants and kill them, as too much of a good thing can be detrimental
Antonio Pachowko Samples were talking in the same location transecting the entire soil column so the samples are representative.
With the trace elements it could be a bio-availability issue however its more likely better retention in the soil. This is mirrored in the organic numbers for NPK.
Your right at these levels its more important to have a balance of the elements. I am going to have to take a look into surplus toxicity if this keeps up.
Use of biochar was wide spread in tropical soil studies of historic pre columbian amazon. In regions with poor soils(sandy soils) or high leaching(tropical rain forests), biochar makes sense. I don't thin you need it in rich temperate soils. This nutrient analysis is just one study topic for biochar, because it also has the ability to sequester carbon.
WHOA, AT 3:20,I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PYRAMID AND THE GEOMETRY OF THE STIRINGS AND PATHS YOU HAVE LAID OUT.