Video Series On Biochar

[bigbendmarine]

I appreciate that with this forum there are some really smart folks using both prescribed burns to improved habitat as well as having experimented with biochar to varying degrees.

Over the past decade, I've become a BIG fan of using biochar with potted plants, small garden spots, with fruit trees, and even using it in directional strips in food plots to see if I could affect travel direction.

Funny thing is that my interest in it started due to DEAD spots I created when burning limbs and paper trash. For a year or so, there would be nothing but a pile of charcoal and ash in the spots where I burned, but fast-forward to the second year and there would be near jungle-like lush growth 4 to 5 times taller than the growth outside the spot. That's when I started reading/learning about biochar and understanding growth was being retarded for a year while the char in the area absorbed water and nutrients and initially robbed from plants, but once inoculated/charged delivered stored nutrients back to the plants.

Due to my positive experiences using biochar, I decided to put together a few videos speaking to the subject. This first video primarily speaks to what it is and the properties it has. Future videos I'll be posting will show how I make it, show several methods I use to inoculate/"charge" it before use, and finally show how I put it to practical use.

ABSOLUTELY welcome any constructive feedback / corrections from ANY forum members that may be more knowledgeable on biochar than I am.

 

[RGrizzzz]

I've been mixing in biochar when I plant trees for the last 2-3 years. I think it works.

I'd love to find a place to buy a load to spread on food plots.

 

[SD51555]

I've thought a lot about trying to make some at the cabin. I've got a stack of tag alder stems I saved from last fall's clearing work. I'd like to try to chop that into lengths and see if I can cook it in a trash can without melting the trash can. If it gets to be energy intensive, I may bail on that idea, or try to do it in a hole and then bury it to put out the fire. I'm going to be building 2-3 more raised beds this spring and would like to mix a trailer load into one of those gardens to see if it produces anything different.

 

[bigbendmarine]

If it gets to be energy intensive, I may bail on that idea, or try to do it in a hole and then bury it to put out the fire. I'm going to be building 2-3 more raised beds this spring and would like to mix a trailer load into one of those gardens to see if it produces anything different.

SD51555, will be posting video of my preferred method but may take some time to put it together... so don't mind sharing in adavnce I most prefer a plain old metal drum with a lid to put on top when want burning to stop (after lid goes on, it smothers quickly and prevents ash forming). When I first started using my drum, I drilled numerous 1" holes about an inch or two above the bottom to allow for air to flow when starting my fires as I like to get them hot quickly. Once burning well, the primary goal is to keep putting new wood on top of the burning wood as the burning wood starts turning black and showing white. That moves the fire up and leaves the wood underneath having a lower oxygen environment. The coals on the bottom naturally start to plug the holes and keep oxygen from entering at the bottom, but I sometimes also will shovel dirt up against the holes as that really cuts off flow. From there, about every hour and a half to two hours I go fill the drum back to the top with wood. It settles a good deal as coals are formed, so a full day still won't have the barrel overflowing. Put lid on as evening falls, and next day they're cool / can handle them. No complicated retort system, no trench digging, no spraying hot coals for an hour... just simple barrel works for me (and I HAVE tried multiple methods), and with this last batch I made I was left with very little ash... almost entirely black charcoal easily crumbled.

 

[Skeeter]

I've been mixing in biochar when I plant trees for the last 2-3 years. I think it works.

I'd love to find a place to buy a load to spread on food plots.

Be sure to find out what base material your supplier is converting to biochar. I've read about companies making char out of biosolids. They like to claim that all that's left at the end is pure carbon, but unless they've figure out alchemy, I have serious doubts. Would hate to be putting a whole city worth of heavy metals and pharmaceuticals on my food plot.

 

[Skeeter]

I appreciate that with this forum there are some really smart folks using both prescribed burns to improved habitat as well as having experimented with biochar to varying degrees.

Over the past decade, I've become a BIG fan of using biochar with potted plants, small garden spots, with fruit trees, and even using it in directional strips in food plots to see if I could affect travel direction.

Funny thing is that my interest in it started due to DEAD spots I created when burning limbs and paper trash. For a year or so, there would be nothing but a pile of charcoal and ash in the spots where I burned, but fast-forward to the second year and there would be near jungle-like lush growth 4 to 5 times taller than the growth outside the spot. That's when I started reading/learning about biochar and understanding growth was being retarded for a year while the char in the area absorbed water and nutrients and initially robbed from plants, but once inoculated/charged delivered stored nutrients back to the plants.

Due to my positive experiences using biochar, I decided to put together a few videos speaking to the subject. This first video primarily speaks to what it is and the properties it has. Future videos I'll be posting will show how I make it, show several methods I use to inoculate/"charge" it before use, and finally show how I put it to practical use.

ABSOLUTELY welcome any constructive feedback / corrections from ANY forum members that may be more knowledgeable on biochar than I am.

Do you put any stock in the claims behind quenching? Have you done any comparisons? I have mostly just used the wood chips from my smoker, then charge with castings or clean urine.
My squash has kept much longer over the winter since I've started adding biochar to my garden.

 

[RGrizzzz]

Be sure to find out what base material your supplier is converting to biochar. I've read about companies making char out of biosolids. They like to claim that all that's left at the end is pure carbon, but unless they've figure out alchemy, I have serious doubts. Would hate to be putting a whole city worth of heavy metals and pharmaceuticals on my food plot.

I buy the bagged stuff from the local landscape supply yard for the trees. Seems very expensive to do a whole lawn with.

LESCO® CarbonPro-G™

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mirimichigreen.com

 

[SD51555]

SD51555, will be posting video of my preferred method but may take some time to put it together... so don't mind sharing in adavnce I most prefer a plain old metal drum with a lid to put on top when want burning to stop (after lid goes on, it smothers quickly and prevents ash forming). When I first started using my drum, I drilled numerous 1" holes about an inch or two above the bottom to allow for air to flow when starting my fires as I like to get them hot quickly. Once burning well, the primary goal is to keep putting new wood on top of the burning wood as the burning wood starts turning black and showing white. That moves the fire up and leaves the wood underneath having a lower oxygen environment. The coals on the bottom naturally start to plug the holes and keep oxygen from entering at the bottom, but I sometimes also will shovel dirt up against the holes as that really cuts off flow. From there, about every hour and a half to two hours I go fill the drum back to the top with wood. It settles a good deal as coals are formed, so a full day still won't have the barrel overflowing. Put lid on as evening falls, and next day they're cool / can handle them. No complicated retort system, no trench digging, no spraying hot coals for an hour... just simple barrel works for me (and I HAVE tried multiple methods), and with this last batch I made I was left with very little ash... almost entirely black charcoal easily crumbled.

I'd really like to see that. That method would save a shitload of time and firewood. I had thought about cooking it in a closed container (with a vent hole at the top) with firewood from underneath. I have/had no idea how long it would take to do a 55 gallon drum sized batch that way. I like the idea of using tag alder to do it because it's plentiful, close by, and it's about all the same size. I'd just have to cut it to drum length and stack it full.

 

[bigbendmarine]

I'd really like to see that. That method would save a shitload of time and firewood. I had thought about cooking it in a closed container (with a vent hole at the top) with firewood from underneath. I have/had no idea how long it would take to do a 55 gallon drum sized batch that way. I like the idea of using tag alder to do it because it's plentiful, close by, and it's about all the same size. I'd just have to cut it to drum length and stack it full.

I bet the tag alder will work just fine. This last batch I did, I stacked the deck against the best odds by using sweetgum and willow saplings growing in a ditch that runs 100 yards or so from my house to my pond that I was afraid might burn to ash more quickly than denser hardwoods such as hickory and oak that are more often used for charcoal. Nor did I let them age very long to dry out significantly -- stacked them and burnt them within a month's time. Results were far better than I expected, with very little ash produced. Again, mainly just required staying on top of adding limbs every hour and a half or so to move the flames up. I'm guessing the tag alder might be smaller diameter than the trunks I burnt that averaged about 3 to 5 inches? If so, the amount of time you have to add wood to your burn might be a bit more frequent... but the good thing is, once you figure out the time you can likely set a timer on your phone or watch and the same time will keep working.

Hope to put together the video on my burning method this week and will share it in this thread when I do. And might should add, not promising it's the very best method BUT is the simplest I've found and to one of Mark Twain's quotes, my philosophy admittedly is "continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection."

 

[SD51555]

Where did you scrounge up that type of drum?


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[SD51555]

I wouldn’t mind making up a drum or two of oak charcoal for grilling too. I’ve got lots of bur oak the right size for that.


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[bigbendmarine]

Where did you scrounge up that type of drum?


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Purchased a moultrie 55 gallon metal drum feeder years ago to use for pig trapping efforts. Quickly found out that bears are so thick in our area that a bucket of corn on the ground would keep the bears from knocking over feeders constantly so quit using the feeder and instead switched to using the drum for biochar cooks.

 

[SD51555]

Well I'm striking out trying to find a drum to buy online that isn't ridiculous in price. I live in a large hub city, so there's got to be somewhere a guy can find an open top un-lined drum with a lid and band. The question is, where to look?

I got plastic drums from a car wash, that was pretty easy. This one has me puzzled.

The other question I have is: How do you keep the drum from vacuum sealing itself as it cools after you throw the lid on?

 

[Angus 1895]

So what does bio char do?

If I have a pH of 7.3 would using it be contraindicated?

If I am to use it in potting / planting seedlings should I let the bio char marinate in the soil for a period of time before use?



I have a bunch in the burn piles on the place.

Thanks

 

[Telemark]

Excellent video. Looking forward to the rest.

I've been using biochar for a while now, and I recently started a project in Vietnam to create and sell biochar and other organic soil amendments to farmers there. I think it's an underutilized technology considering how simple it is.

I like that barrel method. I will have to try that.

 

[Telemark]

If I have a pH of 7.3 would using it be contraindicated?

It depends on the nutrient content but most likely it would not be recommended.

If I am to use it in potting / planting seedlings should I let the bio char marinate in the soil for a period of time before use?

Yes.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Well I'm striking out trying to find a drum to buy online that isn't ridiculous in price. I live in a large hub city, so there's got to be somewhere a guy can find an open top un-lined drum with a lid and band. The question is, where to look?

I got plastic drums from a car wash, that was pretty easy. This one has me puzzled.

The other question I have is: How do you keep the drum from vacuum sealing itself as it cools after you throw the lid on?

Would a 55 gallon drum work? The big bear bait dealers have tons of old drums lying around that they sell bear bait in. I bet you could buy a used one from them for $20.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Sharing the second video of the series... this one showing how I use a single / simple OLD rusted-out barrel to make the charcoal that subsequently is "charged" to turn it into biochar.

Discovering it's a bit tougher to edit these types of videos than trail camera captures that have very well-defined action start and stop points. Hopefully still will give the viewer enough a gist to go by.

One piece of information I forgot to include in the video is that I've discovered it helps to leave the charcoal I produce in a pile through a rain or two so that when I get around to chopping it, doesn't make for clouds of charcoal dust floating through the air (and into the lungs!). Obviously, the pores in the charcoal are taking in some of the rainwater, but when I get around to incolulating it I leave it "charging" for a long enough period that I doubt it hurts the nutrient-holding / microbial activity too much. Will share the charging process next (though not sure when will have time to edit / post).

 

[Gravel Road]

Your videos are great. Thanks for making them.

 

[SD51555]

Great video man! That seems way easier than anything else I've seen.