No-till aeration?

Groat21

Active Member
Hey guys, I was just wondering what a good ratio of aeration/compost/peat I should be going with, as well as any input on which aeration would be best?

I can get perlite for $1/litre ($4/gallon), but I’m filling a 60-75gallon container with it, so I’m just wondering if there are better alternatives? Thanks!
 

Fluffy Butt

Well-Known Member
Pumice is the best, but don't sweat it if you can't find it cheap. Perlite will work about as well. You could also use scoria.
Shoot for 40% aeration total. 30% pumice/perlite and 10% biochar would be ideal, with 30% peat moss and 30% compost.
 

Groat21

Active Member
Pumice is the best, but don't sweat it if you can't find it cheap. Perlite will work about as well. You could also use scoria.
Shoot for 40% aeration total. 30% pumice/perlite and 10% biochar would be ideal, with 30% peat moss and 30% compost.
What are the benefits of the biochar? Also should I get the charged or uncharged from this website? It’s real close to me, and best prices I’ve found for most products.
http://blackswallowsoil.com/products/other

They also have 4 cubic feet of perlite for 25, and 1 cubic foot of pumice for 25. I’ve read about problems with perlite floating to the top though?

Thanks for the quick response!
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
What are the benefits of the biochar? Also should I get the charged or uncharged from this website? It’s real close to me, and best prices I’ve found for most products.
http://blackswallowsoil.com/products/other

They also have 4 cubic feet of perlite for 25, and 1 cubic foot of pumice for 25. I’ve read about problems with perlite floating to the top though?

Thanks for the quick response!
Biochar is really just charcoal, made by heating without any/much oxygen in a process called pyrolysis. The benefits were first realized when ancient Indigenous sites were found in the Amazon basin containing stockpiles of it, and the Spanish found these sites to be amazingly fertile and productive. The normal soil in the Amazon is anything but fertile, as about 99% of the nutrients are sitting above your head in live growth. Nutrients get recycled fast in the rain forest.

Biochar really doesn't add any nutrients itself, but they are carbon sponges with each piece containing millions of microscopic holes, able to hold onto (bind) nutrients. The same property and large surface area makes them serve as a refuge for bacteria and mycorrhizae. Biochar is also considered a longer term sequestration of CO2, since it can literally last hundreds and perhaps thousands of years without oxidizing. So people are even looking at the possibility of using it to fight climate change.

No idea what the company "charged" their biochar with exactly, and if they don't disclose it, I would probably pass considering there are many sources of bacteria that will move into your biochar once your soil is established for any length of time.

The main problem with perlite is that it doesn't last compared to pumice and crushed lava rock. That being said, perlite is fine if you don't intend to be handing down your soil to your grandchildren, particularly if you're doing no-till. If you use a light mix with mostly peat like Pro-mix HP or something, yeah the perlite within the top inch of the soil will rise up if you flood the pots during watering. But it's only the top surface of the soil - don't worry about it. Preferably you should be using a mulch and/or cover crop over that anyway.
 

Groat21

Active Member
Biochar is really just charcoal, made by heating without any/much oxygen in a process called pyrolysis. The benefits were first realized when ancient Indigenous sites were found in the Amazon basin containing stockpiles of it, and the Spanish found these sites to be amazingly fertile and productive. The normal soil in the Amazon is anything but fertile, as about 99% of the nutrients are sitting above your head in live growth. Nutrients get recycled fast in the rain forest.

Biochar really doesn't add any nutrients itself, but they are carbon sponges with each piece containing millions of microscopic holes, able to hold onto (bind) nutrients. The same property and large surface area makes them serve as a refuge for bacteria and mycorrhizae. Biochar is also considered a longer term sequestration of CO2, since it can literally last hundreds and perhaps thousands of years without oxidizing. So people are even looking at the possibility of using it to fight climate change.

No idea what the company "charged" their biochar with exactly, and if they don't disclose it, I would probably pass considering there are many sources of bacteria that will move into your biochar once your soil is established for any length of time.

The main problem with perlite is that it doesn't last compared to pumice and crushed lava rock. That being said, perlite is fine if you don't intend to be handing down your soil to your grandchildren, particularly if you're doing no-till. If you use a light mix with mostly peat like Pro-mix HP or something, yeah the perlite within the top inch of the soil will rise up if you flood the pots during watering. But it's only the top surface of the soil - don't worry about it. Preferably you should be using a mulch and/or cover crop over that anyway.
They are pretty open, and I have been emailing back and forth with them, I’m sure I could find out what they “charge” it with. They do claim that the uncharged biochar will rob nutrients for a year or so though...

So for perlite, how long roughly would it last? I mean I’d like to keep this no-till going as long as possible, but if we’re 10 years vs 100, it depends on the price.
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
They are pretty open, and I have been emailing back and forth with them, I’m sure I could find out what they “charge” it with. They do claim that the uncharged biochar will rob nutrients for a year or so though...

So for perlite, how long roughly would it last? I mean I’d like to keep this no-till going as long as possible, but if we’re 10 years vs 100, it depends on the price.
Yikes! Rob the nutrients from your soil for a year or so? Frankly I'd take what they say with a bit of skepticism. The entire idea of biochar is to temporarily bind nutrients that would otherwise wash out of soil from leaching. They will quickly fill with bacteria and fungi hyphae, and all the nutrients will still be available to your plants when your plant decides it needs them. In other words, biochar forms like a reservoir of nutrients, absorbing extra that your plant cannot immediately use and storing them for later. To me, pre-charging it pretty much negates this important function.

Perlite will last a very long time in a no-till soil, so I wouldn't worry about it. Ideally though I'd try add some pumice and/or crushed lava rock as well because it's also a very good slow release micronutrient source - like releasing tiny amounts over 100 or 10,000 years. Lol
 

Groat21

Active Member
Yikes! Rob the nutrients from your soil for a year or so? Frankly I'd take what they say with a bit of skepticism. The entire idea of biochar is to temporarily bind nutrients that would otherwise wash out of soil from leaching. They will quickly fill with bacteria and fungi hyphae, and all the nutrients will still be available to your plants when your plant decides it needs them. In other words, biochar forms like a reservoir of nutrients, absorbing extra that your plant cannot immediately use and storing them for later. To me, pre-charging it pretty much negates this important function.

Perlite will last a very long time in a no-till soil, so I wouldn't worry about it. Ideally though I'd try add some pumice and/or crushed lava rock as well because it's also a very good slow release micronutrient source - like releasing tiny amounts over 100 or 10,000 years. Lol
Yeah, I didn't really buy into that! They do have great products, but the descriptions can be quite funny lol
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I didn't really buy into that! They do have great products, but the descriptions can be quite funny lol
I know this might be controversial, but buying a big bag of plain hardwood lump charcoal (NOT briquettes!) and crushing it up into smaller pieces works just as good as the more expensive biochar IMO. I've learned to do everything on the cheap, not because I'm poor, but because it works just as well and I have other priorities. Take a drive outside the city and visit a "seed & feed" store for farmers. This is my #1 source for amendments when starting a new soil. Everything comes in the size of 50 lb feed bags, including alfalfa pellets for horses, even kelp meal. I even snatched a giant sack of azomite for about $60, and it's a life time supply. It was hard to lift it into the trunk of my the car it was so heavy! Lol
 

Groat21

Active Member
I know this might be controversial, but buying a big bag of plain hardwood lump charcoal (NOT briquettes!) and crushing it up into smaller pieces works just as good as the more expensive biochar IMO. I've learned to do everything on the cheap, not because I'm poor, but because it works just as well and I have other priorities. Take a drive outside the city and visit a "seed & feed" store for farmers. This is my #1 source for amendments when starting a new soil. Everything comes in the size of 50 lb feed bags, including alfalfa pellets for horses, even kelp meal. I even snatched a giant sack of azomite for about $60, and it's a life time supply. It was hard to lift it into the trunk of my the car it was so heavy! Lol
Pumice is the best, but don't sweat it if you can't find it cheap. Perlite will work about as well. You could also use scoria.
Shoot for 40% aeration total. 30% pumice/perlite and 10% biochar would be ideal, with 30% peat moss and 30% compost.
Im have a tough time finding pumice/lava rock around here. Found one place for $30/cubic foot, but shipping will be high.

What about BBQ lava rocks? Too big/wrong kind?
https://www.homehardware.ca/en/7lb-barbecue-lava-rocks/p/6422542

Edit: I found this one as well, not sure which would be better, if any...
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/barbecue-lava-rock-value-bag-7-lb-0851286p.html#srp

Thanks guys!
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
What are the benefits of the biochar? Also should I get the charged or uncharged from this website? It’s real close to me, and best prices I’ve found for most products.
http://blackswallowsoil.com/products/other

They also have 4 cubic feet of perlite for 25, and 1 cubic foot of pumice for 25. I’ve read about problems with perlite floating to the top though?

Thanks for the quick response!
Lets do a quick math problem.

*I* run close to 40% aeration in my no tills, mostly perlite with some pine bark mulch and some biochar. For a 75 gal container that works out to very close to 4cf of aeration. You can get 4cf of perlite for $25. The same amount of pumice is going to cost $100. Pumice may be slightly better than perlite, but in no case is it 4x better, nor is it worth 4x the cost. Neither is lava rock and in many cases the red decorative lava rock is nothing more than dyed concrete, hardly an aeration amendment.

I've used perlite for over 45 years and on the average go through about 8cf/year. My no till mix lasts around 5 years +/- till the peat moss fully degrades and the perlite has barely degraded. This all gets dumped on top of my soil gardens and worked in.

Be wary of what you read, much of it is just made up opinions and instead, search out VOE (Voice Of Experience), from people like Northwood.

Organics should not be expensive, or difficult.

Wet
 

Groat21

Active Member
Lets do a quick math problem.

*I* run close to 40% aeration in my no tills, mostly perlite with some pine bark mulch and some biochar. For a 75 gal container that works out to very close to 4cf of aeration. You can get 4cf of perlite for $25. The same amount of pumice is going to cost $100. Pumice may be slightly better than perlite, but in no case is it 4x better, nor is it worth 4x the cost. Neither is lava rock and in many cases the red decorative lava rock is nothing more than dyed concrete, hardly an aeration amendment.

I've used perlite for over 45 years and on the average go through about 8cf/year. My no till mix lasts around 5 years +/- till the peat moss fully degrades and the perlite has barely degraded. This all gets dumped on top of my soil gardens and worked in.

Be wary of what you read, much of it is just made up opinions and instead, search out VOE (Voice Of Experience), from people like Northwood.

Organics should not be expensive, or difficult.

Wet
Thanks for the informative reply! That is why I like this site, you get more first hand knowledge.

I just scored this lava rock for free on Kijiji, it came out of their garden. it’s full of small and large pieces, but I’m willing to crush it if necessary.

I was just going to rinse it, but would I need to clean/sterilize it before using it? Thanks!
 
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