Biochar - How to make it fresh to save money?

Hello all

I am thinking to add 5-10% Biochar to my soil, however I was wondering is this just plain old charcoal grounded down?

I dont want to waste money buying a branded product if thats all it is...

There's tutorials on YouTube on how to make bio char. You need a pit or some metal bins and some wood to burn.

JDMase said:

There's tutorials on YouTube on how to make bio char. You need a pit or some metal bins and some wood to burn.

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Hi, I cannot do the burning, thats the only part. (i dont have the time or space for the burning)

I was hoping to buy bags of charcoal and ground it down myself

I wouldn't recommend briquettes, but lump charcoal may work. Make sure the pieces are charred through and I'd soak your grindings in a high N tea

Yep, biochar is basically just ground up lump charcoal (NOT briquettes). Lump or 'cowboy' charcoal is light and will look like whatever was used to make it, pieces of branch, chunks of trunk, whatever.

Some 'charge' it before use, but I've never bothered myself. That's your call.

Ok thanks guys, Im guessing the briquettes have some other added stuff?(perhaps easy ignite fuel?)

Il lookout for some lump charcoal today.

@420nstargazer - What would you charge with for N? I was thinking to use worm castings.

I've made my own biochar. Just crushed lump wood into smaller bits, left it for a couple of weeks mixed up with worm compost.
There's quits a few videos on youtube on the different ways of charging it up, but like Wetdog, some don't bother....

Smashing this stuff into smaller pieces is not so straightforward...

How did you guys do it? Ive tried putting it into a thick gauge plastic bag or tarpauline sack and using a hammer, however the bags just end up splitting in the end...

I would think it needs to charred all the way through and then it should crumble? I've only done this for gardening a couple of times so I'm no expert but I've burned hardwood for heat for as long as I can remember. After a couple of burns you should get the hang of the different consistencies from ash to "chunks".
I'm a little burnt on this hot summer day so apologies if this makes little to no sense.

@Tangerine_ I am not burning it myself, I have brought a pack of Lumpwood charcoal - As charcoal comes in lumps, I am trying to break it down into small 1-3mm pieces...

Gotcha. Yeah, I imagine those would be difficult to break down further...unless you had a wood chipper/shredder

Maersk said:

Smashing this stuff into smaller pieces is not so straightforward...

How did you guys do it? Ive tried putting it into a thick gauge plastic bag or tarpauline sack and using a hammer, however the bags just end up splitting in the end...

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Tell me about it! A couple of tedious f***ing hours smashing lump wood wrapped in an old bed sheet.
Thankfully it's not a job to do for every grow if you're recycling your soil...

Maersk said:

@Tangerine_ I am not burning it myself, I have brought a pack of Lumpwood charcoal - As charcoal comes in lumps, I am trying to break it down into small 1-3mm pieces...

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It may not work.

Those large chunks may not be charred all the way through.

sworth said:

Tell me about it! A couple of tedious f***ing hours smashing lump wood wrapped in an old bed sheet.
Thankfully it's not a job to do for every grow if you're recycling your soil...

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Yeh, was planning to recycle, Even the dust comes through the tarpauline, I am going to try wetting the charcoal and then smashing it.

Im goint to using a car to run over it a few times, that might work.

whitebb2727 said:

It may not work.

Those large chunks may not be charred all the way through.

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I was able to source some good pure charcoal, can confirm it is charred all the way through.

Maersk said:

Yeh, was planning to recycle, Even the dust comes through the tarpauline, I am going to try wetting the charcoal and then smashing it.

Im goint to using a car to run over it a few times, that might work.



I was able to source some good pure charcoal, can confirm it is charred all the way through.

Click to expand...

I use my truck. @68 that hammer shit gets old real quick.

The bag the charcoal come in is amazingly strong. What I do is, remove the big chunks for use in the smoker and any more until there is ~1/3 left in the bag. Spread it out inside the bag in mostly a single layer (too much will cause the bag to burst, as you noticed), and just start running it over.

Most crunches up pretty easily, but some will need some hammer time. I mean, you run it over 5 or 6 times with a fullsized pickup and it's "That's all you got?". Oh well, there's always the smoker. LOL

It is great for mixing with manure first, it locks up the nutrients and prevents it off-gassing ammonia and fouling the groundwater.

What is this lumpwood you guys are talking about?
Is it charred in a special way?

I was told it has to be burned at around 700°C and quenched to lose all the toxins that are otherwise in "normal" charcoal, but that may be a new-agey thing?

I do agree with the idea of "true" biochar having the largest surface area and porosity though...

calliandra said:

What is this lumpwood you guys are talking about?
Is it charred in a special way?

I was told it has to be burned at around 700°C and quenched to lose all the toxins that are otherwise in "normal" charcoal, but that may be a new-agey thing?

I do agree with the idea of "true" biochar having the largest surface area and porosity though...

Click to expand...

Lumpwood is usually pure charcoal.

According to wikipedia, Biochar is just a name for Charcoal used in a different purpose.

Burnt wood is burnt wood...

If you over burn it, it goes ashy, if you dont burn it enough, the wood still remains...

So you can visually see whether what you have is suitable or not by looking - no need to spend $40 on ground up "biochar" when you can buy a 5kg bag for $5 and make it yourself...

You can look at this clip to see how to make your own coaler. it basically is a can inside a can. The inner can only has a few holes for gas to escape and the lid gets put back on lightly, is stand on the bottom of the larger can, which has a few holes drilled around the base to let oxygen up between the sides of the two cans. This space is packed tightly with pieces of wood and twigs then set alight on top, it will burn to the bottom and extinguish itself. The inner can is to prevent oxygen getting to the material being reduced to carbon. This gives black coals with no ash.

This stuff is amazing and a game changer for the future of our species. Large populations lived on some of the worst soils possible using this method. Once the carbon is loaded with nutrients it has a half-life from 1000 years plus..... It is the gift that keeps on giving. Another part of what makes it work is that microorganisms can be safely harboured inside. You can kill your carbonated soil by using salt based fertilisers, but in a year or so, it will bounce back. SO once you start, treat that soil as a living organism.