# Biochar question.



## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

I took some small pieces of Biochar from my fire pit. I smashed it into a fine powder and threw it into a five gallon bucket. I then filled it with water and poured it on the lawn (Hybrid Bermuda grass). I repeated this process for about five buckets. This was my first time ever doing this. I'm trying to get some carbon into my clay soil. What are y'all thoughts? Am I wasting my time? I had a good look ing lawn last summer but I'm hearing Biochar will help with drought conditions during the dog days of summer.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes I think this is a waste of time. It can actually be detrimental.


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

Thanks G-man for responding. In what way could this be detrimental? Changing the soil pH level?


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

For it to be effective biochar, you have to take your dog's dropping, burn those in the fire pit, then put the product in water on your lawn.


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

Movingshrub are those without dogs sh%# out of yuck &#128514;


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Thrownerdown said:


> Thanks G-man for responding. In what way could this be detrimental? Changing the soil pH level?


What are you burning in your fire pit? Is it a pure carbon source without any other chemicals? Did you reach the temperature to make biochar?

Carbon can bound whatever chemicals there are in the soil making them not available to the plants.


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

g-man I'm burning pine wood in my fire pit. No chemicals on the wood. Yes I reached the proper temperature. I knew carbon can bind chemicals in the soil. I don't think that will be a problem though. I think that's actually a benefit during drought periods. Think of it as a storehouse for organic materials including water. This is my first year using it, time will tell the truth. I'll know this summer right?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Wood has different natural chemicals in it than only carbon. What is the proper temperature you reached? Why do you think that carbon binding chemicals the plant uses will not be a problem? How will it store water?


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

Just watch this Series G-https://youtu.be/svNg5w7WY0k man. Hopefully it will answer your questions. I'm not a soil scientist. They do have one in this YouTube series. That's why I came on here to ask for opinions. I'm not looking for a argument. We disagree. That's fine with me. You gave me your opinion that's great. No further opinion from you is needed from me. I would love to hear from others that have actually tried it and their results. God bless


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## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

@Thrownerdown very informative video, thanks :thumbup:


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

@Powhatan your welcome.


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## NewLawnJon (Aug 3, 2018)

I will leave the biochar production to the pros and just throw down what they make. There are so many variables that go into making biochar from the wood type being used (hard wood, softwood, and different variations can all have different effects on the soil), temperature to maintain, and creating a homogenized product are all important.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Thrownerdown I'm not giving you my opinions. There is research on this. Most of it is behind paywall and with crops being the target. (Eg. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016523701100204X)

You did not answer what you actually did(eg temperatures)?


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

@Thrownerdown - when you say fire pit, are you referring to an open-air burn? I think the value of biochar comes from the limited oxygen pyrolysis process that your video reference uses as well, so as not to turn the feedstock into ash. (While charcoal can be classified as biochar - there are valid arguments that they are technically one and the same - I don't think ash fits that bill any longer, hence the limited oxygen burn).

As an aside I collect and throw my fireplace burn pile on my lawn, but mostly bc I'd rather have it put to use than thrown in the woods. Plus our acidic soil seems to love it.


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

@corneliani thanks. That's what I'm looking for opinions from people that have tried it. To see what their results were. Time will tell this spring for my lawn.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

corneliani said:


> @Thrownerdown - when you say fire pit, are you referring to an open-air burn? I think the value of biochar comes from the limited oxygen pyrolysis process that your video reference uses as well, so as not to turn the feedstock into ash. (While charcoal can be classified as biochar - there are valid arguments that they are technically one and the same - I don't think ash fits that bill any longer, hence the limited oxygen burn).
> 
> As an aside I collect and throw my fireplace burn pile on my lawn, but mostly bc I'd rather have it put to use than thrown in the woods. Plus our acidic soil seems to love it.


One way around this is something I use for smoking meat. Take a cast-iron pot, drill a few small holes in the bottom and put the lid on. The wood burns clean, produces good smoke for cooking, and leaves you with charcoal.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

This is something that I know nothing about, but why couldn't you use 100% lump charcoal?


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

THROWER DOWN! HOPE FOR DA BEST!


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## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

Gilley11 said:


> This is something that I know nothing about, but why couldn't you use 100% lump charcoal?


I suspect you probably could ... I understand for the "biochar" soil amendment usage it has to be incorporated into the soil profile (charged or not) near the plant roots. Charcoal and biochar are both produced using pyrolysis processes.



> *Biochar: Carbon Mitigation from the Ground Up*
> 
> _Christoph Steiner, a research scientist at the University of Georgia, says the difference between charcoal and biochar lies primarily in the end use. "Charcoal is a fuel, and biochar has a nonfuel use that makes carbon sequestration feasible," he explains. "Otherwise there is no difference between charcoal carbon and biochar carbon._
> 
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649247/


*Biochar or charcoal?*

https://greenreview.blogspot.com/2016/07/biochar-or-charcoal.html


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

bmw said:


> THROWER DOWN! HOPE FOR DA BEST!


That's what I'm talking about LOL 😂 👍


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

It worked out great. I had a great green up this year.


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## Drewmey (Oct 3, 2018)

Thrownerdown said:


> I'm not looking for a argument. We disagree. That's fine with me. You gave me your opinion that's great. No further opinion from you is needed from me. I would love to hear from others that have actually tried it and their results.


AKA: "I've made up my mind and I am only here to chit chat about this with people that already agree with me". Not exactly a "Biochar question" like the title. More like someone who is bored and only wants to hear what people say if they agree with them. :lol:


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

Unless I'm missing something completely, biochar/charcoal in itself does not offer any impetus nor nutritional value for turf growth / greenup. Greenup should be mostly credited to soil temps. Open areas w/o shade will green up faster on their own w/o any human intervention and frankly, nothing you can do will speed it up any. Only once the soil temps tell the plant it's safe to wake up will any amendments be impactful. For warm season lawns this starts at the 60-65 degree soil temp level. As a confirmation if your efforts helped towards an earlier greenup use your neighbors lawn as a comparison.

Going forward you may (should?) benefit from the added storage of nutrients & water that biochar is believed beneficial for. I personally use a biochar/compost mixture as topdressing for my lawn but am seeing some sponginess and layering due to it not mixing in with the existing soil. I may need to do regular core aerating in order to get this deeper into the soil profile.


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## Drewmey (Oct 3, 2018)

corneliani said:


> Going forward you may (should?) benefit from the added storage of nutrients & water that biochar is believed beneficial for.


This is my understanding of the benefits of biochar. Therefore, I have sort of wondered if the product is not particularly useful for those who are already either using organic fertilizer, slow release fertilizer or spoon feeding fertilizer. I think I remember a grass factor youtube video talking about how biochar had a structure that allowed nutrients to get stuck in them for a while. And this helped create that slow release. So it may be useful in certain scenarios. But it also may be harmful in certain scenarios. I imagine it would make a fall nitrogen blitz more difficult in terms of timing your nitrogen apps. Also, in the transition zone with cool season grass, I often try to halt all nitrogen in the peak of summer. Biochar could essentially release it unwantingly, causing undesired growth.


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

"Unless I'm missing something completely, biochar/charcoal in itself does not offer any impetus nor nutritional value for turf growth / greenup. Greenup should be mostly credited to soil temps" You're right you missed what I was saying. I was showing how biochar did not affect the green up in any way. Biochar did not lock in nutrients and hinder my lawn green up.


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## Thrownerdown (Sep 12, 2019)

[quote=Drewmey post_id=246990 "I think"...."So it may be useful".....in certain scenarios. But it also "may be".....
Maybe, maybe, maybe, I think, I think... blah, blah, blah. I actually tried it and showed my results. That's why I'm on this forum to see results not keyboard Commandoes &#128514;&#128514;


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