Hello Dan, Charles from north Florida here. I usually throw in a handful of raw biochar into my worm bin every now and then. It gives the worms some grit for their gizzard, provides a better home for the nutrients and microorganisms, and some of the pebble size and larger pieces help reduce on compaction. By the time it leaves the bin it is fully charged. Love your content. God bless you and your family. Stay safe.
@@kimfroman2023 I imagine when it will no longer absorb any more liquid. (That is why you want to use liquids with as many nutrients as possible, to my understanding.)
Hello from the Appalachian Mountains, northeast Tennessee! Love your videos, your voice, thoughtfulness, insights, teachings ~ your kindness is felt & I really appreciate your content, thank you 🙏
Thank You! You just cleared up all my questions about biochar. I have quite a bit of burned logs and charcoal from clearing out the suckers and dead branches from my front yard, and now I know to inoculate it with nutrients before I put it in the ground. Also, to break it up. Thanks again.
Hello from the southern part of the Philippines! Thanks for the tips! I love your garden! I've been trying to make my own. Not very successful so far but I'm making progress. Keep on gardening and keep giving us more tips. 😆😇 Thanks a lot!
I am researching and practicing zero-dollar gardening and have been really frustrated with the information about making biochar. This information is vital to us all, thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Dan. Thank you so much for sharing this video. I'm a very experienced gardener and am very familiar with different types of organic nutrients. I compost both hot and cold and have multiple worm bins, but the one thing that has always intimidated me was biochar. I watched so many videos and saw so many complex setups to create it and with their being so many different ways to make it, I didn't know which would work and which wouldn't. You've taken the guesswork out of that and made it straightforward and downright easy. I have a couple of questions that I hope you don't mind answering 1) I do have an outdoor fire pit and have fires frequently during the summer. I do use a hose to extinguish the fire if I go in before it's out. However, even from the beginning of the fire burning, Ash begins to form. I understood your explanation of getting the fire basically fully engulfed and then hosing it off but won't there already be ash involved as well? Is that wet ash part of the biochar? Or should that be discarded? 2) You said to add nutrients to the char over about a month's time. Can you be more specific? If I add a bunch of nutrients on one day, perhaps fish meal or kelp meal or idk any of the organic liquid nutrients I use, why would I need to repeat that throughout a month and since it is necessary to continue to add, how often should I add and what happens as the liquid level builds up and the char can no longer absorb anymore? In regards to worm castings, do I have to make worm tea to add it to the char or can solids also be added? Meaning can I just mix my castings and with the char and will the char absorb the casting nutrients? I'm thrilled that I found a video that takes the confusion and fair factor out of making biochar. I just want to make sure I do it correctly and look forward to your answers. Love your channel and your videos. Please keep them coming 😊👍
While I appreciate people like this to genuinely seem to want to help others...it's annoying when they don't bother to read and answer comments/questions.
@@LZH13067 For me, I only see the last notification. It doesn't tell me all the ones that are posted. I have to go back and look. I have a much smaller channel. So it's do-able! Can see why older comments would get missed.
Its important to remember what separates Bio Char from coal: The Bio Char is 'Bio'logically 'Char'ged with microbiological life that provides* 99.999% of the effectiveness found in Bio Char.
I really appreciate when People expand my knowledge ,thinking of a piece of bio char like it dry sponge, really helped me picture it. If you try and clean a pan with a dry sponge, you will only get a headache. But when you add some soap and water to that sponge, it makes everything work better gets the job done. Adding the nutrients in the living systems in the biochar, does a large portion of the work for you
Hello from South Florida (Zone 10)! I am so glad I found your channel a couple weeks ago. Your videos are so informative, and they always motivate me to get out and work in the garden. I started sheet mulching some paths with cardboard, and I got myself a hori hori, which is awesome. Every day I learn something new from you. What a blessing!
A hori hori is a Japanese garden knife that is great for digging, pulling weeds, cutting, and measuring depth for planting. I believe Dan did a video showing the features of this tool here on Plant Abundance.
Awsome video, I have a small Hobostove wood burner which I use for boiling a kettle. Each time I use it I end up with a shovel full of charcoal which I save for use in the garden. Its a great resource!
This might help me a lot, I found a video about making charcoal, now I can combine it with this technique and nurture my whole garden. I was also planning to make a big rustic rock mill, which is basically 2 huge rocks hand carved, I already knew I would be able to make good organic material turned to a dust like consistency with some wood chips. Other machines to make the same stuff are really expensive. I will add some biochar. thanks
The easiest biochar is collecting it when camping ,out of the fire when it has gone out.At home I make biochar by placing wood chips in a metal frypan with a lid and placing it in the wood heater for a while.Small quantities for minimal effort which increases to larger amounts over time.Keep growing
Thank you for the video. I found it just in time. I made a lot of biochar just as you said with a fire. I did not know you need to load it first. Thank goodness I did not use it as yet. I will start loading it tomorrow
I just made charcoal yesterday using my Weber kettle grill. I just removed the top grate and built a fire and continued to smoke the fire until I had coal to the rim and then put the top on and closed the vents. And used the garden hose to cool the outside and hit the hot spots inside the grill. I ended up with about 3 gallons of charcoal. Now to break it down today and inoculate the charcoal and wait. Thanks for the tips, Happy Gardening and Healthy Harvests
I've been buying lump charcoal by the 50# bag at Sam's, but it's a huge, backbreaking chore to smash it all down and sift it. Yesterday, I got the bright idea to run it through my electric wood chipper. The result was pieces about 1/4" to 3/8" in size, which is perfect for my tastes. I learned three things: 1) Don't do this if you are sweating. 2) Do this BEFORE you shower. 3) Use clothes you plan on throwing away, or do it naked. I'm also going to have to hose the chipper down, but this only took me 45 minutes, as opposed to 5-8 hours. so it's worth it.
@@AlvinMcManus Good advice! Luckily, it was mostly blowing out the sides and bottom, and I tend to step back when using it. As black as my clothes got though, I may very well have inhaled a bit. I'll definitely grab a mask next time, thanks!
I have read that to make biochar you need to burn it without oxygen so it retains its carbon aspect. So an open fire or fireplace wouldnt work unless you place it in a tin or something. So my question is not using oxygen important in the process? That for me adds to the complexity of it. If i were to make biochar with oxygen then charge/seed it with biological matter would it still be a super soil?
I just make my biochar in the fireplace while heating my home all winter. One heavy pot at a time. I set a couple bricks on top of the lid and let it burp itself. Once it's done spitting fire, I use the fire tools to pull it out and set it onto the brick hearth.
Love this! We also use a fireplace in the winter and was thinking of doing this. I’m pretty new to the process yet so wasn’t sure about the safety aspect of it. Just makes sense to do it somewhere where you already have a fire going. I was thinking of just drilling some small holes in the pot to let the gases escape.
Hello Dan. I use a steel drum to burn brush in, Once the drum is full I just keep piling on top and around the drum tu clean up the piles. I put it out when I burn all that I wanted to clean up.
Hello, gardener extraordinaire. Like your ways to garden- always something smart and fresh. I, actually, made biochar from whatever in designated metal container. I even put there bones from bullion. Getting rid of branches made my garden look much better. I mix it with all my amendments, especially when I make mix for new trees so it will be used for years to come. My only concern , living in Az, that soil's Ph might become too high. Here we have alkaline soils and Ph balance is tricky to achieve. Also, worms might get affected. Would you consider to make video on this topic, please. Love your pond. I even tried to talk fish shop to sell me their used water from aquariums. It is a nature where I found highest wisdom, partially because you showed us her ways.
You can top dress with the char if it's a concern. The nutrients will break down and feed the roots. A annual soil test using an inexpensive kit will keep you on track. Adding a little acidifier fert like hydrangea feed might be good if you have high ph.
Hey Dan. Love your channel. Isn't it better to leave it in chunks, small & larger? The larger pieces have more cavities / space & many plants roots can search for them easier. I wouldn't be using it in powder form. Cheers from Australia 👍
Can I just say that I have found your channel in Starting my own garden for my family got say thanks and also if anyone hasn't ever said you sound a bit like Pedro Pascal the actor which is pretty cool love the content and thank you for the many tips and advice given has really helped start my garden
As far as i know its only about the way charcoal absorbs Nutrients and releases them slowly. Any type of charcoal does that so for that it doesn't matter. The product will be harder and a lot denser if you dont give it oxygen and maybe it releases the nutrients slower. I think though every type is good to go
Also the way Charcoal forms is that wood doesn't completely burn to ash. Wether you achieve that in a pit or a sealed environment doesn't matter although the yield is higher if you prevent it from burning to ash. If you dont let it burn down but water it out it should be similar. Its about unburnt wood
My motto is "Keep it simple, stupid!" There are too many unnecessary complications in life and it's refreshing to see that making biochar doesn't need to be a complicated process! Thank you!
Thank you for the video. I am wondering though, if I add lots of nutritious liquid with some liquid from sauerkraut or kombucha and some flour or molasses to feed the good bacteria to start things fast, do I really need to wait the whole month? After one-two days my biochar bucket is bubbling already and it will stop once bacteria eates up all the food. Of course, I can add more. I just don't understand why would it take so long for charcoal to soak through and bacteria to move in?
As a KNF farmer, Ive got the idea of using IMO and my compost processing to charge the Bio Char with as much microbiological diversity as possible. Not sure if it could be worth using 1%Bio Char in my IMO collections but it's something I think about alot.
Hey...VICKI🐦in NORTH CAROLINA, here...I've got a QUESTION, for YA...in YOUR COMMENT, YOU said..."as a KNF farmer"...I think that's "KOREAN Natural Farming"...I'm gonna GOOGLE, that!?! But...then YOU said..."I've got the idea of using IMO and my compost...........", so MY QUESTION is, what does "IMO", stand for??? does it simply stand for "In MY Opinion", or is it something you're adding, to your COMPOST??? SORRY, if that's a DUMB QUESTION...but NEWBIE GARDENER, here!!!🙋♀️ I sure do HOPE, YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION!!!🤞😁🤞
@@vickibyrd6514 IMO is Indigenous Micro-Organisms and are the main element in a KNF system. Some KNF farmers swear up and down that their IMO is the only thing they need; they typically make compost teas, inoculate compost batches, and topdress their growing spaces with it.
We have one pineapple guava tree too. But it has not given us any fruits yet. This year we moved it to a sunnier location and it currently has many blooms. We are hopeful that we get to try its fruits this year
What mixture did you add for this video? Was it a concentrate? I'm newer into gardening with these methods I usually just stick a seed in the ground and poof, growth. But this has me hooked. If we all teach our neighbors this stuff just imagine how well we could do
Preloading it with nutrients answers my question. I knew mixing wood chips in soil would suck up nutrients and was wondering if it would do the same. Cool.
Hello from Cape Town , South Africa. We live in a beautiful, semi-arid coastal region. The soils are very sandy and in some places just sand , period. I’m going to try make some bio charcoal like you showed, and mix it in with the soil in the garden. Regards!
Hello from central New Mexico! We have such alkaline soil and water that I haven’t found a way to change that. Ash is bad juju! Now, if I had a way to eliminate all the ash and only use the char, it would be different. In the meantime, I use the stuff that I’d charge the char with. I’m making liquid bio but eliminating the char. If I can find a way to make it without all the high pH, I’m game!
Thanks for the video. Three questions: 1) Does it matter what types of wood I burn, ie. Oak, pine, walnut, cedar, sweet gum? 2) If I use something like Miracle-Gro to preload should I mix at the normal mix rate or should it be more concentrated due to the time release action the char gives? 3) Last one. Lol I add rabbit manure to my garden every year, should I cut back on the amount or does the Char provide different stuff?
Im probably not the best person to answer but ill try to help: 1) Yes, something such as pine wood creates a much lower pH final product BUT ALLEGEDLY charging the Bio Char introduces microbiology that regulates the leechating acidity for a more widely applicable product. 2) I would never use Miracle Gro for anything that I plan on labelling and selling as organic. KNF (Korean Natural Farming) and JADAM (I think it means Japanese/Asian Dominant Anaerobic Microbes) provide some of the simplest AND most complex nutrient solutions for organic agriculture. Aside from that, simply mixing a small amount of good compost into your Bio Char and letting it inoculate before applying will do a great job of charging your product. 3) You will more than likely be able to amend 1 application of Bio Char and then use much less rabbit pellet than you normally do (if you are using a good compost in your gardening), and I would suggest using the excess manure in your composting, even if it requires creating a longer term processing system to fully break down and release all of whats available in the manure. I hope I was able to give you some direction even if I couldnt give you the best answers. Stay Lit and Stay Blessed
@@justrynnagitthere1430 WOW!!! YOU are soooooo KNOWLEDGEABLE...I am DEFINETLY gonna TAKE ADVANTAGE, of YOUR WONDERFULLY KIND KNOWLEDGE!!! THANKS sooooo MUCH!!! GOD BLESS!!!🙏 VICKI🐦from NORTH CAROLINA (hardiness zone 7b)😁 P.S. Maybe YOU oughta start YOUR OWN RU-vid GARDENING CHANNEL...just a thought!!!🤷♀️ P.P.S. Wishing YOU a GLORIOUS CHRISTmas SEASON!!🙌
Biochar is not charcoal. Charcoal is pre biochar. Biochar is pure carbon. Charcoal still has impurities. Burning charcoal or wood in a low oxygen container will remove the moisture and impurities and all that’s left is a lattice of carbon. The carbon will stay in the soil for centuries and makes homes for the microbes the plants use to extract the nutrients the plants use.
Thanks for the awesome info. Could a nutrient source be spent mushroom substrate containing wood, soy, and mycelium? Or would I be better off burning that?
Dan, I'm seeing so many ways to make this. But, the timing on how long you load is all over the place. Some say 6 months, all the way down to 1 to 3 days before using. Has anyone come to a better time line on how long must you wait? This is very confusing.
I have a question. I live in a condo complex on the ground floor. I dont have acess whereby I can burn wood on the community property. My question is can I use hardwood lump charcoal sold in stores. It is not the briquetes but chared wood. Some call it old fashion charcoal but it resembles the product you have after burning wood with no oxogen. It sells for about 16 dollars a 20 lb bag.
