Terra Preta What is it?

[seaofgreen18]

Terra preta soils can be distinguished from other types of soil by the way they look. They are dark, loamy, crumbly, and usually blackish-brown in color. They are also very heavy. If you dig up some terra preta soil, you will see that it feels like a mixture of clay and sand.

Terra preta soils have high levels of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These nutrients are made available when they are bound in an organic form. The high levels of organic matter in terra preta soils are the result of organic matter being added to the soil over thousands of years.

These soils are formed in several ways. Rainfall carries leaf litter and other organic matter into the soil. As the rainwater percolates through the soil, the organic material is oxidized by oxygen from the water. The resulting compounds are broken down into carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor. These reactions happen slowly over time but learn how to make terra preta soil at home. Recipe to come

 

[BeccaBuds]

I saw this mentioned on tv program about the indigenous tribes of the Amazon basin just the other day. Wikipedia has a good article about it but no info on the ratios of the ingredients. It sounds an awful lot to me like the natives were using biochar, bone meal, crushed pottery, sand and miscellaneous organic wastes to initiate and build their agricultural soil beds so they could grow the foods they needed.

 

[seaofgreen18]

Soil that is rich in nutrients and organic matter is called terra preta. The soil is formed by repeated cycles of decomposition and oxidation, which cause the formation of carbon and nutrient compounds. In addition to this, plants are able to grow in the soil without fertilizers or pesticides.

 

[seaofgreen18]

 

[seaofgreen18]

I'm sure there's some human feces involved in the making of it way back then as well

 

[BeccaBuds]

That, bird & bat guano and probably chopped up fish would all be good ways the natives could build better soils too.

 

[seaofgreen18]

Yeah your right anything that can decompose I would guess they put it all in a pile and burn it back then now days we have pre made char I think that makes all the difference to house the microbes I thought the topic was interesting and worth sharing

 

[seaofgreen18]

I like to use char in My worm bin it's useful for doing Alot of good things for the soil and environment

 

[BeccaBuds]

def worth sharing- thanks! Going to have to get a bag of biochar. Been meaning to try it for some time. Trying to recall the program I heard Terra Preta mentioned on. It was on PBS but I'm drawing a blank on the title.

 

[seaofgreen18]

I seen it on PBS but here's a good link for quality char don't forget to charge it with some good compost or tea I send mine through my worm bin

Black Owl Biochar

Black Owl Premium Organic Biochar (B.O.B) is a high-quality product sourced from Biochar Supreme, a local producer in WA who create their Biochar by pyrolyzing* 100% clean, unprocessed virgin wood waste from sustainably managed forests. OMRI-Listed and Organic Approved. B.O.B is produced...

www.kisorganics.com

 

[BeccaBuds]

I found a brand named Plantonix Char Bliss on Amazon. At $39 w/ free shipping for a cubic ft it looks pretty good.

 

[Azimuth]

Biochar is easy enough to make yourself if you're so inclined.

Here's how I make mine: Biochar and Small Batch Biochar

 

[Azimuth]

The biochar seems to be what makes it Terra Preta ("Black Earth") as this soil seems to be unique around the world for its fertility and ability to regenerate itself. There are other cultures that improve their soils with organic amendments but none have the lasting power as that from the Amazon, though scientists still aren't sure why.

I think it's the microbes but who knows.

 

[seaofgreen18]

The biochar seems to be what makes it Terra Preta ("Black Earth") as this soil seems to be unique around the world for its fertility and ability to regenerate itself. There are other cultures that improve their soils with organic amendments but none have the lasting power as that from the Amazon, though scientists still aren't sure.

I think it's the microbes but who knows.

I agree I think it's the microbes toI noticed they spoke more of high bacteria content but no mention of fungi or anything in the program I was watching

 

[seaofgreen18]

The microbes live in the biochar cells and that's why it rejuvenates itself over and over again that's my thought on that, why I say that is I use Bio char in my bed in the basement which is a living soil and when I reammend it isn't much the cost of amendment is REALLY LOW a HELL of Alot more cost effective than when I was doing hydro run after run with better quality and really good yeild

 

[Azimuth]

Fungi might be bigger organisms??

Don't know, but whatever it is those soils produce way more than they should be capable of in the jungle.

 

[seaofgreen18]

Agreed it's cool shit!!

 

[Gee64]

I watched a good documentary many years back on this. The US military publicly released a technology that allows you to fly over the jungle and see the land without vegetation.

So universities and such saw the archeological value and mapped all Central America with it, and now see all the ruins buried under the jungle.

They are excavating them one by one.

A gal from my home province attending one of our universities, UBC I think it was, in their plant biology dept, was brought in to run ahead and categorize all jungle plants before they were stripped for archeological reasons.

Afterwards all the old garden sites grew vegetation at outrageous rates but the rest of the jungle grew back slowly.

She scienced the soil and found that the ancients were burying refuse in air tight clay pots, burning a huge fire above them, and adding the char to the gardens. We call it bio-char now.

It's pure carbon and won't break down. It's inert and isn't a food source, but it houses microbes like a hot damn.

 

[Azimuth]

I watched a good documentary many years back on this. The US military publicly released a technology that allows you to fly over the jungle and see the land without vegetation.

So universities and such saw the archeological value and mapped all Central America with it, and now see all the ruins buried under the jungle.

They are excavating them one by one.

A gal from my home province attending one of our universities, UBC I think it was, in their plant biology dept, was brought in to run ahead and categorize all jungle plants before they were stripped for archeological reasons.

Afterwards all the old garden sites grew vegetation at outrageous rates but the rest of the jungle grew back slowly.

She scienced the soil and found that the ancients were burying refuse in air tight clay pots, burning a huge fire above them, and adding the char to the gardens. We call it bio-char now.

It's pure carbon and won't break down. It's inert and isn't a food source, but it houses microbes like a hot damn.

You ever think about adding biochar to your mix for the cec value? I'd imagine it works a bit like calcium in that regard ?

 

[Gee64]

You ever think about adding biochar to your mix for the cec value? I'd imagine it works a bit like calcium in that regard ?

Every day, but I am waiting to A) get off my lazy arse and buy some, and B) I don't have room for another set of soil tubs. I'm hoping to add it to my outdoor grow next Spring, but we shall see if I get it done.