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Terra Preta - Dark Soil - Experiment
- Thread starter SilverSurfer_OG
- Start date
Nice work!
I have been screening my mature compost and finding lots of char too lumpy for the sieve. This will be crushed again in my half-oil drum and added to my new heap i'm making in the next couple days... Good times
I have been screening my mature compost and finding lots of char too lumpy for the sieve. This will be crushed again in my half-oil drum and added to my new heap i'm making in the next couple days... Good times
MuricanWeedwolf
Member
Sorry to say, but Terra Preta is only extraordinary in terms of long term (centuries) soil management, not over the timespan of an annual plant, and is completely irrelevant for a soil mix that will be discarded after use.
Numerous studies have found biochar to have no measurable effect over short-term time spans even in soil, and even long term, it's only going to help improve heavy clay soils with little organic matter in them.
Don't waste your time and money jumping on this bandwagon IMHO
Numerous studies have found biochar to have no measurable effect over short-term time spans even in soil, and even long term, it's only going to help improve heavy clay soils with little organic matter in them.
Don't waste your time and money jumping on this bandwagon IMHO
thanks for the synopsis. in general, the knowledge gained from considering terra preta applies directly to the living soil regimen many of us have considered & developed over the course of the last 7 years in this organic forum & private sub-forums. perhaps you could mull that info over & help us w/ a synopsis on that tech as well?
MuricanWeedwolf
Member
my apologies, I was referring only to the soil building qualities of biochar in real soil (AKA the ground) with respect to "Terra Preta". So far, biochar has not achieved short-term measurable results in mineral soil.
As an amendment in container soil mixes, it is top notch. Highly recommended.
idk if apologies are in order. we can't replicate terra preta entirely @ least so far. i'm not so sure about wasting time & money though? For a time many added clay to their container mixes as well as bio-char ~inspired by the terra preta ideal. the clay becomes added exchange sites raising cation exchange capacity. the biochar must be "charged" to avoid tying up nitrogen & then acts as a sort of buffer in the soil. silver surfer's own side by side is detailed in the thread w/ apparent results. Today, that crowd has actually moved away from the discussion but many still employ clay/biochar in their mix {inasmuch as they are still using the same mix ~some in the same containers since those days} The recycled soil paradigm is a different perspective & it wouldn't be fair to expect someone new to this to instantly embrace some of the things which make it more effective when they cannot be quantified in the typical regimen
Hi there 
I m OrtegaPretaOrganics aka OPO
I only work with my own Terra-Preta-Mix since 1,5 years indoors and outdoors and refresh the old Prtea-Soil with my own ,special mix for cannabis Bokashi. (=with Carbon ,vulcanic loam,EM a)
I ve 2 different Bokashi-mixes:1 for grow and the other for Flower(=with Baldrian-Flowers,a little bit Bat-Guano and more nice nutridents).
-If you work with Terra-Preta,-you never should give compost to your soil,-because tiss will stress or kill the system of the EMa Microlife in your soil
-Even indoor it is the best soil ever + will give the best quality!
= I think it is stupid to use a other soil without carbon + EMa,coz it never can ve the same quality as Terra-Preta + it is the solution for all aggricultur + a better future for the mother nature .......
Here is a interestesting link ,-but sorry,-only german language :
http://www.em-chiemgau.de/php/index.php
or this one:
https://www.emiko.de/?gclid=CNOL6oHN7coCFekp0wod2jUK1Q
+ here some Preta grown Buds :
I m OrtegaPretaOrganics aka OPO
I only work with my own Terra-Preta-Mix since 1,5 years indoors and outdoors and refresh the old Prtea-Soil with my own ,special mix for cannabis Bokashi. (=with Carbon ,vulcanic loam,EM a)
I ve 2 different Bokashi-mixes:1 for grow and the other for Flower(=with Baldrian-Flowers,a little bit Bat-Guano and more nice nutridents).
-If you work with Terra-Preta,-you never should give compost to your soil,-because tiss will stress or kill the system of the EMa Microlife in your soil
-Even indoor it is the best soil ever + will give the best quality!
= I think it is stupid to use a other soil without carbon + EMa,coz it never can ve the same quality as Terra-Preta + it is the solution for all aggricultur + a better future for the mother nature .......
Here is a interestesting link ,-but sorry,-only german language :
http://www.em-chiemgau.de/php/index.php
or this one:
https://www.emiko.de/?gclid=CNOL6oHN7coCFekp0wod2jUK1Q
+ here some Preta grown Buds :
This Doku is not serious,it is esoteric-waste
The secret of Terra Preta do Indio is the first :-The carbon + twice: the other things:Waste,Keramic,ash+ the microorganissm
It is the solution for feed up to 10 000 000 000 humans without any Monsanto-gen-junck food,-all 100% Bio with the best quality for everybody!!
+with Terra-Preta Soil all farmers grow with a no-till style with this soil (-exept one refresh every second year with Bokasi+Diabas)
-It s perfect for every Area where its not to cold or to hot+dry together
+Save CO2,clean the water (=carbon) for helthy fishes at the Rivers around
Hi there
I m OrtegaPretaOrganics aka OPO
I only work with my own Terra-Preta-Mix since 1,5 years indoors and outdoors and refresh the old Prtea-Soil with my own ,special mix for cannabis Bokashi. (=with Carbon ,vulcanic loam,EM a)
I ve 2 different Bokashi-mixes:1 for grow and the other for Flower(=with Baldrian-Flowers,a little bit Bat-Guano and more nice nutridents).
-If you work with Terra-Preta,-you never should give compost to your soil,-because tiss will stress or kill the system of the EMa Microlife in your soil
-Even indoor it is the best soil ever + will give the best quality!
= I think it is stupid to use a other soil without carbon + EMa,coz it never can ve the same quality as Terra-Preta + it is the solution for all aggricultur + a better future for the mother nature .......
Here is a interestesting link ,-but sorry,-only german language :
http://www.em-chiemgau.de/php/index.php
or this one:
https://www.emiko.de/?gclid=CNOL6oHN7coCFekp0wod2jUK1Q
+ here some Preta grown Buds :
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Yo OPO...its good to see another CUSTOM terra preta designer
Recipe : coco, big chunks of bio char, perlite, rock dust, rice hulls, dolomite and I soak the mix in em1
Murican,
I think a lot of biochar experiments have had bad design.
Most folks do not charge up their biochar. It takes months if not longer to get the air out of the biochar so that water and eventually good biology begins to use it as a food source.
Recently I saw a mineral analysis done of biochar I think that the real value of this material is that it is an amazing calcium source proportionately to the other elements.
In annuals, the value of this material will depend on what was done to it post production which will depend greatly on the particle size and what was done with it prior to use. Otherwise, you are correct, there will be no short term response.
There is a lot of bad science floating around. Like anything else in life, one needs to wade through huge amounts of garbage to find the hidden gems.
I think a lot of biochar experiments have had bad design.
Most folks do not charge up their biochar. It takes months if not longer to get the air out of the biochar so that water and eventually good biology begins to use it as a food source.
Recently I saw a mineral analysis done of biochar I think that the real value of this material is that it is an amazing calcium source proportionately to the other elements.
In annuals, the value of this material will depend on what was done to it post production which will depend greatly on the particle size and what was done with it prior to use. Otherwise, you are correct, there will be no short term response.
There is a lot of bad science floating around. Like anything else in life, one needs to wade through huge amounts of garbage to find the hidden gems.
High guys 
Thrilled to see this had now had 100k+ views.... awesome!
Make it, crush it, compost it. Cant go wrong
Thrilled to see this had now had 100k+ views.... awesome!
Make it, crush it, compost it. Cant go wrong
ayyyy wb SSOG!
the easiest method of charging (for me), has been adding air-float char to the food-scraps that go into the worm bin.
put food-scraps into a blender, add a little water, blend. add in char, blend once more, and it pours easily into the worm bin.
what comes out is perfectly balanced and charged biochar/vermicompost.
and i'm positive of the benefits.
no 'cooking' to assure of assimilation (actually 'cooks' inside worms), no worries about nitrogen depletion, no worries of using the wrong type wood...no worries of over applying(within reason-10% is OK).
loving it...!
This is a fantastic idea and I'm going to implement v.soon!
Hey SS. Long time. I agree, this sounds like a great idea.
The method of biochar we used was softwood shavings, charred and then rapidly charged with compost tea. This was done by placing the char into a barrel with holes in the bottom and then fill up with CT. The CT slowly drained through the holes.
We found this worked better than crushing hardwood. Steve Diver has run some tests supporting that smaller particles out perform larger chunks. Besides the slow release carbon (and other nutrients stored) the biochar provides excellent habitat for soil microbes as it contributes to soil porosity.
The method of biochar we used was softwood shavings, charred and then rapidly charged with compost tea. This was done by placing the char into a barrel with holes in the bottom and then fill up with CT. The CT slowly drained through the holes.
We found this worked better than crushing hardwood. Steve Diver has run some tests supporting that smaller particles out perform larger chunks. Besides the slow release carbon (and other nutrients stored) the biochar provides excellent habitat for soil microbes as it contributes to soil porosity.
TerraPretaGrown
Member
Hello everyone! Im building a long lasting long term soil, Terra Preta! Lots of charged biochar. Im on my 3rd round of using the same soil in my pots, there was a noticable difference in my soil that was 6 months old vs one month old, lots of micro biology, the plants grew faster and produced more flowers. Lots of great information here, ill always be learning in adding great ingredients to my soil. I dont flush my plants with excessive amounts of water however i do only use aloe water, coconut water to water with the last few weeks. I end up with a Smooth smoke its clean and burns to a white ash. Happy growing everyone.
Hey MicrobeMan! Yeah soil porosity is a big problem here in the summer... got some nice rotten wood for a couple new spots and will add some of my char/compost mix for good measure!
