John Suavecito

I agree. I would rather use wood to grow mushrooms if I can.  Not always possible, though.
John S
PDX OR

Great info about the available range of use.  Maybe someone will invent something.
John S
PDX OR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnSFKS25FGs

Check it out.
John S
PDX OR

I think that probably a lot of people who use pressure cookers to make mushroom spawn will easily be able to make hydrochar as well.  For others, it may be more difficult.
John S
PDX OR

I started reading an article that said that biochar produces more nitrous oxide in the atmosphere than hydrochar. Then I thought, What the  &%$#*! is hydrochar?

Apparently, it's a real thing.  It has some of the same uses as biochar.  As you guessed, it uses moist organic matter.  



I'm not pretending that I really understand hydrochar. There are so many smart people on these forums that I'm sure people will help us get what it's about.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hydrochar-real-world-5-uses-youll-actually-see-2025-boomingmarket-f9luf

Apparently, it's cooked like in a hot pot.  I will be interested to see how people make it and use it.  One advantage of hydrochar is that you don't have to dry the material.  Another is that it is more efficient in retaining the carbon as it's made.

There are real differences between biochar and hydrochar.

https://imgroupofresearchers.com/welcome-to-the-science-of-hydrochar/

John S
PDX OR

I had been rat-free for almost a year.  Then with the cold and the storing of apples in the fall, I thought I'd heard something.  I saw apples getting eaten.  I looked at the old, soft plywood floor and noticed a small hole in it.  I blocked it, but the next day, I noticed a big hole in it.  Uh Oh!

I realized I couldn't just put more soft wood there, and the door had to close. It was by the door.  What am I going to do? I went to the nearby restore and bought a cookie sheet for $2! It seemed to work temporarily, but the ends were rounded and it went up on all four corners.  That seemed to beg temptation to the critters to nibble around it.  I got out the hack saw and flattened it and cut the rounded edges off, so it was a rectangle.  That seemed ok, but it felt like it could move.  I put two bricks on the edge of it.  Now I knew they couldn't move it.  

However, the other day, I saw what I thought was a juvenile rat, crawling along the top shelves.  I had trapped him in the tool shed!  I set out mouse and rat traps. Yesterday I think I caught him.  I threw him in the trash and now I'm crossing my fingers that I'm once again rat-free. I've neither heard nor seen any critters since.

John S
PDX OR

Many people will end up appreciating your Pearls of wisdom, even if they don't remember they're from you, or from Pearl.

John S
PDX OR

Why wouldn't you mix it with real soil?
John S
PDX OR

I can't tell how much it costs. It's a great idea for someone who is running a small business with it.  We get 10cents for each can here.  I don't need a high volume device.
John S
PDX OR

Wooden sticks like that in the ground get lost or become part of the soil in my experience.  An engraved/etched label on aluminum will outlive me.

JohNS
PDX OR