Can biochar be made in a woodstove?

kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Hey all,
I've been doing some reading on biochar and can't find anyone that has made it in an air tight woodstove. My blaze king woodstove is going full bore lately as the temps up north here have been getting down to -17 at times. I tend to load it up at the end of the night and damper it down over about an hour, until I turn it down for the night. 12 or so hours later I get it going again and there is always some chunks of blackened remains of wood in there. Would that be biochar?
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
kkt3 said:
Hey all,
I've been doing some reading on biochar and can't find anyone that has made it in an air tight woodstove. My blaze king woodstove is going full bore lately as the temps up north here have been getting down to -17 at times. I tend to load it up at the end of the night and damper it down over about an hour, until I turn it down for the night. 12 or so hours later I get it going again and there is always some chunks of blackened remains of wood in there. Would that be biochar?
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Yes that would be bio char. the best thing for you to do to make bio char would be to pull coals out of the stove periodically and get a stock pile of them going. after they cool, you then want to smash them up into little bits (the size of or smaller than a grain of rice). by smashing them into very fine bits, you are creating lots of surface area. the surface area is what handles the CEC.

you also must charge your bio char before use by bubbling it in some nutrient tea. Depending on how much you are planning to make, i used a 5 gal bucket with 4 gal of tea in it (including the mass of the char). liquid fish, alfalfa meal, kelp meal, (some use urine). I bubbled mine for a week, and then make an AACT with the char still in the liquid so microbes could house in the pores of the char as well.

biochar is totally worth it IMO, in my test run with it the plant i used the char in the soil mix did better than the controls.
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Thanks ShLUbY, I will be pulling some coals out today and start a stockpile.
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Hey ShLUbY, I'm gonna be using 20 gallon planters this grow and was wondering how much biochar I should put in each planter?
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
OrganiChron said:
Grow a plant with and without it. You won't notice any difference. Same goes for rock dust. All bullshit hype.
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I already have. Plant was larger and yielded more Than The controls. Same soil mix exactly except the char. Maybe ill do another test and document the results

Not to mention all the documented proof that biochar works when used correctly.

Rock dust does not improve yields. However it does improve diversity of minerals the plant intakes which i believe contributes to better smell and flavors in cannabis, and especially when it comes to growing produce.

You can believe whatever you want though
 
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ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
OrganiChron said:
I grow organic produce. That's how I know it's not worth my time.
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well i see there is no reasoning with you. to each their own. just don't tell people to ignore something because "it doesn't work for me", when there is proof that these applications are indeed beneficial. Good Day
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
wouldn't forests be made up of these different elements?nobody has been feeding the redwoods.unless you're going for soil where it's one run and done,I find it hard to believe that dusts,char etc isnt beneficial in a soil you plan on reusing
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
ShLUbY said:
Yes that would be bio char.
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Sorry shluby, but technically speaking that isn't biochar.
As far as I understand it, "biochar" is a tag for a charcoal, yes, but made under special conditions, i.e. with especially low oxygen levels. This gives you an almost pure carbon material, it is brittle and almost glasslike and, charged with nutrients or microbes or both, is great aeration material when going to fix heavy soils.

That said, of course you can use the charcoal from your stove or fire pit too. It won't last as long, and it isn't as porous. The only thing to make a person hesitate is something about possible undesired compounds in there, due to the higher-oxygen burn. Sorry I didn't remember the details, I guess I didn't think it was serious enough of a "threat" to consider ;)

@OrganiChron yeah I can imagine there being situations where biochar is totally useless (like in well-aerated, living soils). I'd say, like everything in nature, it all depends..

This is even more true for rock dusts, which were the first to get questionmarked in my mind - throwing minerals onto minerals? :rolleyes:
I do see some usefulness in layering compost piles though, whereby, a few handfuls of plain soil might do the trick just the same? ;)
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
Sorry shluby, but technically speaking that isn't biochar.
As far as I understand it, "biochar" is a tag for a charcoal, yes, but made under special conditions, i.e. with especially low oxygen levels. This gives you an almost pure carbon material, it is brittle and almost glasslike and, charged with nutrients or microbes or both, is great aeration material when going to fix heavy soils.

That said, of course you can use the charcoal from your stove or fire pit too. It won't last as long, and it isn't as porous. The only thing to make a person hesitate is something about possible undesired compounds in there, due to the higher-oxygen burn. Sorry I didn't remember the details, I guess I didn't think it was serious enough of a "threat" to consider ;)

@OrganiChron yeah I can imagine there being situations where biochar is totally useless (like in well-aerated, living soils). I'd say, like everything in nature, it all depends..

This is even more true for rock dusts, which were the first to get questionmarked in my mind - throwing minerals onto minerals? :rolleyes:
I do see some usefulness in layering compost piles though, whereby, a few handfuls of plain soil might do the trick just the same? ;)
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i see what you mean about the stove material not being a similar product to say "cowboy charcoal" that you can get from the stores. makes sense, and i definitely can say (and agree) from handling each product they are different in quality.

i would never be convinced that biochar is totally useless though. anything in a soil that can perform CEC well, house nutrients and microbes has got to only be beneficial (when charged properly before use and of course not over indulged).

and yes if you have actual native soil in your yard (which not every one does) then it would serve the same purpose as a rock dust as its compost of parent materials :)
 
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OrganiChron

OrganiChron

Member
It may have an impact on a few crops in certain situations, but after reading up the last few years and seeing garden trials, I just don't believe it's worth the effort. I feel the same about compost teas.
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
Compost tea I have no time for at all.

Biochar is a completely different scenario. If you don't want to use it, then don't, but please understand it has great value in a natural soil. Microbes love it, it's a great aeration component, initially it's one of the few items that holds N for you, and it also holds water.

It's a great component for your base soil
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
ShLUbY said:
i would never be convinced that biochar is totally useless though. anything in a soil that can perform CEC well, house nutrients and microbes has got to only be beneficial (when charged properly before use and of course not over indulged).
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Yes you're right, it was a bad choice of words.
Of course you are always adding structure, no matter how good the soil already is, which is long-term soil health care.
 
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ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
Yes you're right, it was a bad choice of words.
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and also i was thinking about it..... i dont see what would be bad about his stove char.... after all the forest fires are not O2 deprived charring right??? Is it the same quality as the controlled stuff.... probably not, but it should still suffice as that's the way nature did it!

:peace::peace:
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
Compost tea I have no time for at all.

Biochar is a completely different scenario. If you don't want to use it, then don't, but please understand it has great value in a natural soil. Microbes love it, it's a great aeration component, initially it's one of the few items that holds N for you, and it also holds water.

It's a great component for your base soil
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is this because you just know your soil has the heard it needs and they'll repopulate in equilibrium with the amount of humus/amendments in your soil?

i'm currently doing one run containers and amending after each run. I realized i was letting my soil get too dry after i harvested the plant, and the last grow i made sure to break up the soil right away while everything was very much active, and combine it all to start working on the roots and keep the cycle going....

i suppose i should just amend it right away????

maybe i just need to go no-till lol
 
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