I new i saw something somewhere. Thanks EM!
Carbon in soil?
- Thread starter Ifbleaf
- Start date
I don't know, but welcome.
That is the old way of making charcoal or char. Allowing the wood to start to burn and then smothering the fire so the only oxygen available is that trapped in the structure of the wood itself and in the soil. I used to do this as a teenager back in the 60s. I also made small charcoal sticks, similar to those used by artists, by putting the wood into a coffee can and then resting the can on the edge of a fire. At the time coffee cans had metal lids that sealed up tight; no plastic lids back then.
Then the charcoal has to be mixed into soil or water that contains the bacteria and other micro organisms that will start to colonize and live in the pores of the char and within a month or so we have biochar.
Putting the raw char into a pot of soil and planting something in the same pot right away might end up killing the plant because the organisms are concentrating on the char and ignoring the rest of their micro environment and the plant roots do not get the nutrients needed. I am not sure on all of this point and I have not done much research on this specific topic. But, just about everything I have read does say to allow several weeks to a month to allow for the population growth of the soil bacteria.
Enjoy the day.
GHempster
Well-Known Member
I don't think they know how the Aztecs actually used it. But I would say they made the biochar in the pit and added to soil in proper amounts when ready. All the article said is they found these biochar pits at numerous astec sites.
There is a one hour video on the South American biochar fields. It is a BBC production if I remember right. If you interested look on youtube using the search term of:
The Secret of El Dorado
.... which should give a list of videos, some on soil and some on the lost city of gold.
I have not watched the video but have read more than a few web page articles on terra preta or on biochar. I can read faster than most people can put together an informational video so I tend to avoid youtube videos except for music.
Have a great day.
Well hoo-mans been using activated charcoal for long long time. It's actually in a pretty stable state and why you can bake it without much change.
Can look to the water filtering industry and see how they work with the stuff.
Pretty sure they don't throw it away.
I used to have a fish tank, we used activated charcoal to filter the water. A good rinse with soap and warm water was enough to bring it back to like new. The fish didn't die (from the charcoal). lol
I think I read somewhere baking it works as mentioned.
I just rinse my out with hot water in the shower. Seems to work good enough for me. I don't really worry a lot about stealth unless I'm growing Chemdawg ffs.
Ive actually moved my canister I'm running now outside. It gets rained on routinely and seems to be working great. Its in the sun when it isn't raining.
Can look to the water filtering industry and see how they work with the stuff.
Pretty sure they don't throw it away.
I used to have a fish tank, we used activated charcoal to filter the water. A good rinse with soap and warm water was enough to bring it back to like new. The fish didn't die (from the charcoal). lol
I think I read somewhere baking it works as mentioned.
I just rinse my out with hot water in the shower. Seems to work good enough for me. I don't really worry a lot about stealth unless I'm growing Chemdawg ffs.
Ive actually moved my canister I'm running now outside. It gets rained on routinely and seems to be working great. Its in the sun when it isn't raining.
Maybe they were burning the bodies of all the "volunteers" sacrificed in the name of religion or sport or something.
