Biochar is in the news these days saying it can help solve climate change (Project Drawdown), grow healthier food with less water, manage fewer chemical inputs, reduce erosion and clean up pollution. It has so many uses and we here at CharGrow are happy to explain more.
But first, what the heck is biochar? Biomass ( wood chips, leaf litter or dead plants) put through a process called pyrolysis (a real hot fire in low oxygen) creates biochar. We wrote a much longer story about biomass pyrolysis . Many people want to try to make biochar at home or on the farm. While playing with fire can be fun, it is hard, dangerous work…so see below to get info on our proven solutions.
By the way, charcoal and activated carbon are close cousins but are used differently.
How does biochar work?
After biomass is done burning, biochar now has the following superpowers:
- Very porous. Under the microscope, biochar has lots of holes. One gram of well-made biochar can have the equivalent surface area of about half an acre. This allows the biochar to interact with a large quantity of other “stuff”. What to put in all those little holes depends on what you want to use it for – saving water, storing excess nitrogen, housing soil microbes, and more (bulleted below).
- Tightly bound. This carbon is now highly stable and maintains its structure instead of leaking into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. In highly fertile soils of the Amazon region (terra preta), the biochar found in the soil originated from 500 to 7,000 years ago.
- Negatively charged. The surface of biochar binds to positively charged chemicals like nutrients or contaminants.
Image of biochar pore structure under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A honeycomb scaffolding is visible, with a network of walls, channels, pores and micropores.
What does biochar do?
All those superpowers allow biochar to:
Applications of these superpower abilities are found in gardens, farms, nurseries, greenhouses, golf courses, green rooftops, and many more.
Biochar products
Biochar Prime™ is our product that is just straight up, high quality biochar. Biochar Prime is great if you want to do bioremediation, make compost, stormwater management, erosion control, or blend your own custom biochar soil amendment. Our product is carbonized softwood, washed and drained. It is certified a 100% USDA Biobased product and is a by-product of sustainable forestry management practices. Usually you buy this by the truckload. Ask any other supplier about their source because some use municipal waste streams (aka sewage sludge). Guidelines for Choosing the Right Biochar
Plain biochar needs more added to it for best results in agriculture and gardening. This is what puts the Grow in CharGrow. Our process has created a biochar-based inoculant with seven years of ground-breaking research.
BioGranules™ takes full advantage of biochar’s very porous structure. We pack all of those little holes and crevices with high concentrations of beneficial soil microbes and pair them with microbial foods. It is all about the biology. BioGranules is a specialized tool to deliver biology directly in the root zone. Use it for your seeding and transplanting. It is available in 32-ounce bottles, 10 and 50-pound bags. See BioGranules application rates here. See our recent studies on hemp.
BioChar Source™ is a proven soil amendment containing 50% pure wood biochar. It is loaded with plant nutrition and beneficial soil microbiology and has proven growing results. The other 50% of the blend is organic compost, organic worm castings, mineral powders and mycorrhizae. This will build up some awesome growing soil but do not take our word for it. See all of our BioChar Source growing results. It is available in 20 and 40-quart bags and other sizes upon request. See BioChar Source application rates.
