Biochar from orange, lime, grapefruit, etc. trees

Hello folks,

I am doing research on different types of wood biochar and am looking to purchase some citrus wood biochar to do some testing on this spring.  Unfortunately in Wyoming we don't get a lot of citrus for obvious reasons, lol.  Anyone here have the ability to make a few gallons of biochar from citrus fruit wood?  

Rowdy Yeatts wrote:Hello folks,

I am doing research on different types of wood biochar and am looking to purchase some citrus wood biochar to do some testing on this spring.  Unfortunately in Wyoming we don't get a lot of citrus for obvious reasons, lol.  Anyone here have the ability to make a few gallons of biochar from citrus fruit wood?  

What is it you are trying to test for?  My understanding is that once wood is turned to charcoal, there is no difference in the type of wood used.  

This is my understanding as well.

Trace Oswald wrote:

Rowdy Yeatts wrote:Hello folks,

I am doing research on different types of wood biochar and am looking to purchase some citrus wood biochar to do some testing on this spring.  Unfortunately in Wyoming we don't get a lot of citrus for obvious reasons, lol.  Anyone here have the ability to make a few gallons of biochar from citrus fruit wood?  

What is it you are trying to test for?  My understanding is that once wood is turned to charcoal, there is no difference in the type of wood used.  

We do testing on many types of wood biochar to see the differences in properties including soil trials.  Yes there are some differences although in most cases they are minor.  Citrus is one we have not tried.

So can you supply citrus wood biochar?

I can imagine there being subtle differences in wood species used for biochar - namely the trace minerals that don't combust or react in any way sticking around in the carbon. However, given that biochar is effectively a sponge for other nutrients (and water and microbes) I can't imagine this difference has much of an impact.

There are differences but they are pretty subtle. The main variable will be the carbon to mineral ratio. In softwoods like pine and fir, this will be higher. Hardwoods like oak, willow, and citrus will have slightly higher ash content and a correspondingly higher pH. But it's not nearly as big as the difference between biochar made from woody feedstocks versus that made from things like straw or cornstalks, bamboo, manure, etc.

One thing that you will discover is that soft woods make soft biochar, and hard woods make tough stuff. Really does show up at crushing time!