Terra Preta - Dark Soil - Experiment

[mad librettist]

lumber is made out of wood, but if i'm cooking or growing a garden, i don't want milled lumber in my charcoal. who knows what it's been treated with. good charcoal should be real wood: branches, stumps, twigs.... just trying to give a heads up. back to terra petra

I think I'm ok with milled lumber until I can make my own.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

lumber is made out of wood, but if i'm cooking or growing a garden, i don't want milled lumber in my charcoal. who knows what it's been treated with.

schwagg

'Milled lumber' is just that - milled. It's not treated with anything.

Pressured-treated lumber is treated but then again it's not processed (after treatment) into sawdust or any other wood product after the chemical bath/injection.

And just for sh*ts and grins, 'lump charcoal' (like the one you're promoting) is made from 'milled lumber' - it's not 'charcoal briquets' but rather wood charcoal processed for the barbeque deal from basic wood logs/timber.

HTH

CC

 

[onegreenday]

I thought they carried on the terra preta tradition
and there was a practicing farmer along a river bank in the video above.
But the large aborigine villages were wiped out by disease

 

[xmobotx]

A critical look at char use in soils from Woods Hole.
I notice his char came from hardwoods. The terra preta char of
Brazil came from savana grass, was much finer & perhaps a different ph than Woods Hole found.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX7vMAC2cSQ&NR=1

this guy seems to think we're all going out and mixing our soil at like 1/4 w/ charcoal or something.

here's where i disagree:
- chunks and larger pieces of charcoal seem fine to me
(dust/fine=unnecessary)
- the char should be in the compost pile
(we're trying to accelerate a loooong process)
- of course rate of application/amount of char
(duh - plants don't grow in straight char)

I have not read this entire thread, but was discussing it with CC (to whom I am indebted for teaching me about soil among other things). After reading the first few pages and the last couple, I was wondering if anyone had considered if the black soil described with the broken pieces of pottery seemed to have more than simply a terra petra (charcoal) but that the broken pottery could potentially be an excellent breeding ground for microbes (like pumice) and that the blackness of the soil could have included some form(s) of Humic Acid. Anyone got any leads or links as to the validity of this train of thought?

absolutely, i am certain that the char and the unfired pottery shards act as habitat/shelter for microbial activities
i also think the unfired pottery acts as a sort of "clay reservoir" but this is purely speculative (i belong to the camp which feels the pottery shards are a contributing factor)

Yay how cool my 1st sticky!

Glad this thread has been of value to our community.

Charcoal is certainly an excellent home for microbes and the pottery as well i imagine xebeche. As for the humus yes i am very sure over time it would be good source. The main reason i like char is its ability to hold on to nutrients and prevent them leaching from soil/soiless mixes. A little goes a long way. Just be sure to marinate it it 1st!

xlnt SS_OG - this is a kickass thread

the nutrient holding capacity is yet another huge attribute of char - i feel it cools a hot soil and releases nutes gradually as the plant uses them up

that video pissed me off as it seemed based on heavy char ammending vs compost then (w/ this very limited comparison) it dismissed char

a little does go a long way and it should get introduced via the compost pile (and/or marinating w/ nites)

Isn't lumber made of wood?

epic

 

[Wooderson]

Hey Great Thread; I haven't read that much sorry if this is covered but I'm curious about the pottery shards, so could you break up some "Terracotta" flower pots and add the shards to your mix? If so how much per gallon to a soil mix?

 

[xebeche]

Wooderson,

I would recommend a pumice to mix into the soil. It is porous enough to hold some water and give the microherd a place to live and breed. The soil mix I use already has it in there, but when I made my own I had the recipe down. I'll post the amount when I find my notebook.

 

[Wooderson]

Wooderson,

I would recommend a pumice to mix into the soil. It is porous enough to hold some water and give the microherd a place to live and breed. The soil mix I use already has it in there, but when I made my own I had the recipe down. I'll post the amount when I find my notebook.

Cool Thanks xebeche

 

[jaykush]

here's where i disagree:
- chunks and larger pieces of charcoal seem fine to me
(dust/fine=unnecessary)

but the powder has a greater surface area than chunks. by far! this is why its better.

wooderson you can use terra cotta pots, as long as they are not glazed. smashing them up is a bit of a pain and i usually sift them through a 1/2 inch screen to get the big ass chunks out. a small handful per gallon is good. really its just to help aerate and add to the soils CEC.

 

[mad librettist]

i am just using powder and chunks to cover the bases.

 

[xmobotx]

but the powder has a greater surface area than chunks. by far! this is why its better.

i think the idea that surface area=efficiency is going to work/has it's merits

i am just using powder and chunks to cover the bases.

i m interpreting it as "in nature, we will find mixed sizes and varying degrees" so representing the nature model means diversity in particle size

as to what works better? i m not sure better is as important where there is an acceptable degree of success - in this instance

i must be wrong - cause i don't really know anyway - lol

my spin eh?

in compost tea, i want chunks floating (strained out for use)

wooderson you can use terra cotta pots, as long as they are not glazed. smashing them up is a bit of a pain and i usually sift them through a 1/2 inch screen to get the big ass chunks out. a small handful per gallon is good. really its just to help aerate and add to the soils CEC.

i like this as methodology and rationale

 

[mad librettist]

as to what works better? i m not sure better is as important where there is an acceptable degree of success - in this instance

wow I was looking for those thoughts but could not find them, nor the words. thanks!

 

[Wooderson]

but the powder has a greater surface area than chunks. by far! this is why its better.

wooderson you can use terra cotta pots, as long as they are not glazed. smashing them up is a bit of a pain and i usually sift them through a 1/2 inch screen to get the big ass chunks out. a small handful per gallon is good. really its just to help aerate and add to the soils CEC.

Cool Thanks jaykush, I know that back in my chemy/rockwool days plants loved terta cotta; BTW can i use ferti-lome charcoal from the garden center? If so how much per gallon?

 

[jaykush]

ive never heard of ferti-lome, is it 100% natural wood charcoal?

 

[Clackamas Coot]

jaykush

So if a person bought a bag of lump charcoal and crushed it into small pieces - how much would you want to add to 1 c.f. of potting soil?

Thanks!

CC

 

[Wooderson]

ive never heard of ferti-lome, is it 100% natural wood charcoal?

Here is a link to it http://www.teskepetandgarden.com/browse.cfm/fertilome-charcoal-4-quart/4,960.html

 

[xmobotx]

wow those guys in the link say you can use charcoal for containers w/ poor/no drainage - hmmm

i do think the charcoal has big benefits

 

[Wooderson]

Bio-Char

Bio-Char

I just saw this about Bio-Char - "Biochar can be used as a soil amendment to affect plant growth yield, but only for plants that love high potash and elevated pH"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar

So would this benefit cannabis then?

 

[jaykush]

clack you know im not a measurements person. the best i can give you is about 10-15% of the mix. i cant even say i do that though because i add it to my compost piles, and use my finished compost as a potting soil or amend that into the ground. i just add handfulls when creating compost piles, this inoculates the char with both microbes and nutrients that would have otherwise leeched out of the pile.

XMO if a soil has bad drainage, char is NOT something you want to add. as it holds moisture even longer.

wooderson, i have been using char for a few years now, i grow hundreds of different species of plants including cannabis with it. i have yet to see a plant or soil that doesnt favor an addition of char. have you read the thread? seen the pictures that prove it benefits cannabis?

 

[Clackamas Coot]

clack you know im not a measurements person. the best i can give you is about 10-15% of the mix. i cant even say i do that though because i add it to my compost piles, and use my finished compost as a potting soil or amend that into the ground. i just add handfulls when creating compost piles, this inoculates the char with both microbes and nutrients that would have otherwise leeched out of the pile.

XMO if a soil has bad drainage, char is NOT something you want to add. as it holds moisture even longer.

JayKush

Thanks! That gives me enough information to start with............

I appreciate your post!

CC

 

[jaykush]

imo its the far more lazy way, yet at the same time its far more effective in the end. makes your compost supercharged too lol.