Terra Preta - Dark Soil - Experiment

[Team.Lift]

Already.... if... humans, being stewards to this planet, "start" to become one themselves with the cosmos and more important the soil (of course).

I am resourcing mostly "Paramagnetism" by Philip S. Callahan, ph.D.
Also, "The Enlivened Rock Powders" by Harvey Lisle.

Things have been and will be at work whether we want them to or not, as you have eluded to. Harnessing those "things" is a matter of choice, not really belief or even science based fact building ego-satisfaction. We have much research into various methods, people need not be so skeptical.

A century isn't very long really, and half of that is the average US lifespan (or abouts, which is sad). Many of these practices like terra preta have been practiced for much longer than a century. In Ireland, these towers I referred to have been there for centuries.

Going back to the mineralization. I think that is where your energy lies. Clearly why everyone now wants this zeolite, many of them not even realizing much of the rock they may already be working with is "rated" paramagnetic.

We should probably start a Paramagnetism thread so we can continue this conversation not in the Terra Preta zone.

 

[h.h.]

We should probably start a Paramagnetism thread so we can continue this conversation not in the Terra Preta zone.

Sounds like a good thought. It might serve to remove some of the mystic. If nothing else it may help create an greater understanding of the different processes presented on this forum. Or it may just confuse the hell out of us. It doesn't really matter as long as we're thinking. All things being one of course. Char once again takes precedence.

 

[chappie]

I did go ahead and make a "paramagnetic rock" thread to keep this thread on track:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=6224664

Thanks for all the great contributions!

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

I am finding a combo of biochar, rockdust (basalt) and peat moss plus a good topdressing/amending with worm castings and red scoria/lava rock to be a kick ass medium to grow in.

The acidity of the peatmoss can be balanced quite easily with biochar. This can also be amended with lime if one is short on biochar or just wants a calcium/mg boost.

Great for cuttings and seedlings with awesome root development.

 

[Richard Nose]

Very interesting stuff in here, nice thread

 

[DEATH BY SNUSNU]

Onboard. Been burning bananas and adding to the soil mix. I think its too early to see any results but maybe on the next few runs. Oh yeah so how is the ashy stuff fair as a medium for micro herds?

 

[DEATH BY SNUSNU]

Wow this is crazy...but ya gotta love when shit happens like this.
I go to Page 3 and Thaiphoon sp? answers my question boom! didn't even have to search far to find the answer I was looking for. Microbes love the pores of burned wood and ash no worries then.

 

[magiccannabus]

Skimming over this thread I didn't notice much or any discussion regarding one of the more interesting properties of charcoal; when it is exposed to water it releases CO2. Could this be partly the source of some of the increased growth rates and resistance to heat?

I have an unknown amount of charcoal mixed into my soil. Its all from my cooking fires. I have access to free hardwood scraps from a manufacturer I know, so I burn wood in the grill most of the time. When it gets down to where there is only little bits of it, I sift those out and add them to my soil mixes. I would say less than 5% of my total soil is charcoal. My first attempt used a greater amount, but I was seeing serious nutrient issues with that mix. I may try a greater amount again now that I've been using a different soil mix. I honestly haven't noticed anything spectacular from it, but it does provide some diversity to my soil, which I appreciate.

 

[Luther Burbank]

Did you prime it with an N source before adding it in? It can act as a nutrient sponge if you add it in just by itself. All the carbon will cause the area around it to go wonky breaking down the carbon. Soaking in fish emulsion for a while beforehand will stop this.

 

[magiccannabus]

I prepped the soil for 3 weeks leading up to it's use. I mixed it with rich compost, EWC, and treated with ACT 2 times a week, and made sure the moisture content didn't make it go anaerobic or let it dry out.

There is some possibility the chlorine remover I was using at the time was causing a salt build-up in my mix though, so I would really like to do a better test in the future. I wouldn't take my results as science!

 

[Siever]

My first attempt used a greater amount, but I was seeing serious nutrient issues with that mix..

I used to have the same problem. I also have used it without any problem.
Now I don't use it anymore. I can't say I notice a loss of yield since I discarded the use of charcoal. I think I already posted something similar in this thread.

Siever

 

[Luther Burbank]

Outdoors, maybe there's some use, but in indoor mixes more and more this stuff seems like a pipe dream and like more of the noise that goes along with organic gardening. "Well tribal peoples did it, so it must be better than what we do". It worked for them for a variety of reasons - but they weren't growing pot under lights with perlite and peat as the bases of their soil.

 

[magiccannabus]

There is almost a "nostalgia factor" involved with a lot of the thinking about organics that I've run across. While on occasion the IQ level of some of the discussions in the IC Mag organic section can be low, generally speaking the people here have intelligent and productive dialog that really advances our awareness about this plant and its needs. This is totally not the case out there in the general population though! I live in a farm state, and most people here don't even really understand that there is a debate between chemical and organic farming proponents, let alone what any of it means. I could hand them a bag of chemical salts with no label on it and tell them it was the newest organic craze and they'd take it home and use it and probably never know the difference. This woeful ignorance is responsible for a lot of the bizarre or otherwise irrational notions so many seem to have about organic farming.

I sometimes call it "modern" or "advanced" organic farming when I talk to people about gardening, because with a scientific understanding of the natural systems, we can help them achieve their full potential on a very consistent basis. The idea isn't to have everyone farm the way the Amish do. They don't get even close to the yields of chemical farmers, but what they do is pretty crude compared to what a modern organic farm does.

 

[bigshrimp]

I've been adding a cup of char dust per 30 gallons every re amend for a while now, My soil is quite dark by this point. Though i cant put my finger on any specific benefit other that soil structure, i feel like it has done good things for my plants/dirt.

Char is one of those things where you will see the greatest benefit in extremely poor soils, healthy soils will only see a marginal increase in productivity.

Still feeding it to the worms too, char - local clay - and rockdust.

 

[harold]

like we know forest soil is usually very poor, so i guess if the indoor soil is primo? you wont notice a huge difference

 

[Shaun1says]

Hey guys, first off I am very exited to see a thread like this that has had a lot of interest with everyone. I have always had a huge interest in Biochars and recently have opened a distribution company for 2 brands of char here in California.

The only problem with making it at home is that unless you can get the temperature VERY high (above 550 degrees) you will not burn off all of the volatiles in the organic matter. This will leave trace levels of toxins in the soils that will actually negatively effect some of those microbes that we cultivate for a period of time.

The second problem that I see most of you are already dealing with is the pH. Typically home char makers (which honestly is my biggest competition) come out with a product that is 8.5 or above which makes it a very uninhabitable area for organics to come live in. Typically there is a 18-24 month "cross-over" period where the pH will drop to a usable range where microbes can move into the porous structure. Creating a Ph bath is going to be your best bet to decrease that time.

The final variable between chars is going to be pore size. The hotter you can cook your char the better the pore size is going to be up until about 675 degrees when the porse become too large making it a not as good host for the bacteria.

I'm currently doing a large scale trial head to head trial with a few differnt soil mixes with and without Biochar here https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=290118 we are using a pre-inoculated and Ph washed biochar that is the biproduct of making biofuels. Our first trial saw a 21% increase in yield with a 25% decrease in water and nutrients with OG Kush

 

[MJtheIndicator]

Did you prime it with an N source before adding it in? It can act as a nutrient sponge if you add it in just by itself. All the carbon will cause the area around it to go wonky breaking down the carbon. Soaking in fish emulsion for a while beforehand will stop this.

Do you think this is wise for indica dominant plants? The sativa is a heavy feeder, but indica varieties don't seem to favor nitrogen.

 

[MJtheIndicator]

As for terra preta being pH 6.5; tropical rainforest soils based on basalt/granite tend to be highly acidic because of the parent rock and high rainfall, so charcoal/ash would be perfect for getting the pH right. Throughout the world's tropical areas, slash and burn agriculture is employed and ash is added to provide nutrients (and incidentally get the pH where it needs to be).

I would assume a fair amount of growers using terra preta aren't approximating or replicating Amazonian conditions. Although cultivars like Oaxacan sativas might thrive in such a setting and the arguable Amazonia indica might as well or Haze, White Widow etc., I would like to see growers set a baseline both genetically and environmentally. Something like an orchid house would make more sense to set these kind of benchmarks, but such an effort would be an extravagant attempt for most marijuana farmers.

Although the thread covers terra preta, it reads more like an experiment in charcoal amendment and is somewhat difficult to gauge which zones these growers are experimenting in.

 

[Mikell]

Hey guys, first off I am very exited to see a thread like this that has had a lot of interest with everyone. I have always had a huge interest in Biochars and recently have opened a distribution company for 2 brands of char here in California.

The only problem with making it at home is that unless you can get the temperature VERY high (above 550 degrees) you will not burn off all of the volatiles in the organic matter. This will leave trace levels of toxins in the soils that will actually negatively effect some of those microbes that we cultivate for a period of time.

The second problem that I see most of you are already dealing with is the pH. Typically home char makers (which honestly is my biggest competition) come out with a product that is 8.5 or above which makes it a very uninhabitable area for organics to come live in. Typically there is a 18-24 month "cross-over" period where the pH will drop to a usable range where microbes can move into the porous structure. Creating a Ph bath is going to be your best bet to decrease that time.

The final variable between chars is going to be pore size. The hotter you can cook your char the better the pore size is going to be up until about 675 degrees when the porse become too large making it a not as good host for the bacteria.

I'm currently doing a large scale trial head to head trial with a few differnt soil mixes with and without Biochar here https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=290118 we are using a pre-inoculated and Ph washed biochar that is the biproduct of making biofuels. Our first trial saw a 21% increase in yield with a 25% decrease in water and nutrients with OG Kush

Heya, thanks for the tips for improving products anyone can make at home I always prefer DIY over passing the buck.

 

[Luther Burbank]

Do you think this is wise for indica dominant plants? The sativa is a heavy feeder, but indica varieties don't seem to favor nitrogen.

I don't believe this to be true of narrow-leaf or broad-leaf vareties. I've seen heavy and light feeders in both. I absolutely believe priming charcoal to be necessary. If you put it in unamended you will tip the boat. The huge carbon sources becomes a drain on the nutrients in the soil as nitrogen is tied up attempting to decompose it. Better to prime it and not only have it not stall your soil but contribute something.