Re: Let's Work Together to Chart Alternatives to Vermiculite and Peat Moss

**Turan** 3/9/2013, 3:08 pm

You have to do all that anyways and more to mine and process vermiculite or perlite. It is an interesting thought for MM if it is actually true that it results in storing more CO2 than processing it produces.

plantoid 3/9/2013, 3:39 pm

That thing about storing the co2 ....

Hmmm ...... would it rob the plants of co2 , rob the fungi in the ground of co2 ?????

What would be the long term , medium and short term effect of absorbing co2 from the root areas instead of it doing things that mother nature intended ??

**Turan** 3/9/2013, 3:56 pm

It is supposed to be carbon stable. So not taking or adding carbon. The carbon it is storing is from that which it is made of. Like charring rice hulls and using that in a garden.

floyd1440 3/9/2013, 3:58 pm

I think we can all agree that compost must be added every year. The question is how much and how available biochar is to SFGers?

I got my vermiculite and peat moss at one store, Agway, and now all I have to do is add compost every time I plant. Haven't met anyone who knows anything about or any place that sells biochar so it has not caught on in these parts.

Good luck with the production of this as it takes me back to my early days of helping pulling coke from beehive ovens. Sent some pics........

floyd1440 3/9/2013, 4:46 pm

WOW Good to have money...........

http://www.biochar.info/index.cfm?view=52.19&lan=en

affraid

plantoid 3/9/2013, 4:58 pm

You could make one of these with that sort of money and make 40 times more at each session .
Perhaps use a concrete filled steel barrel with a steel bar inserted for the axle as the roller to crush it down and what goes through a 1/4 " sieve is good for the beds ???

http://www.charcoalburners.co.uk/charcoal.php

Pollinator 3/10/2013, 1:06 am

Charging is necessary, because it soaks up the plant nutrients, and can temporarily deprive them. Once it already has its capacity, it will slowly release them. And by holding onto these nutrients that leach easily, it reduces the need for fertilizer.

It's usually called biochar nowadays, but the original term is "terra preta" and it was a system of creating rich soils in the Amazon basin, where cleared land quickly becomes totally useless because of the heat oxydizing the humus, and tropical rains leaching the fertility.

It included not only charcoal originally, but also potsherds and fish bones.

**Turan** 3/10/2013, 12:15 pm

Pollinator could you describe with more detail how you are making it?
It is an intriguing idea for part of how to deal with sorted garbage here on my acreage. We burn our trash and take the ash to the dump. My son just asked me if we might actually be better off to 'wash' the lye out of the ash and then would that be a good soil amendment and how would it differ from biochar? Welll it is an oxygenated fire,,,,,

Sponsored content


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.