Hal Hane

I have conditions here of 4, 5, 6... High Desert, Southern Kaliforniastan... add in the desiccating hot winds...
primary reason to utilize BioChar, moisture retention in the soil

John Suavecito wrote:Tony, I'm surprised that you're burning wood chips.  Can you make a clean burn with them?
JohN S
PDX OR

JohN, I use a barrel with a saddle cut to create BioChar, the last couple of burns I dropped wood chips on the coal base, about a half inch thick at a time... as soon as I started seeing ash form on the top of the chips I added another layer. After a few layers, I mixed the chip charcoal down in the barrel, added a layer of larger material. Once that layer had converted to charcoal I did the chip thing again. Those 2 burns yielded a lot more processed BioChar than any other burns I have done, approx 43 gallons of 1/4 inch and smaller char with about 2 gallons of material that did not pass thru my 1/4 inch screen.

Nancy Reading wrote:Hi Hal - welcome to Permies!
Biochar can indeed be awesome we have a whole forum dedicated to it. It doesn't improve every soil however (mainly I think if it is good to start with!). I'd like to use more biochar (despite being in one of the wetter parts of the wolrd!) because I'm hoping it will prevent nutrients leaching out of my soil in the rain! We'd love to hear more about your dryland experiences with it!

Nancy... it's also a home for those ever so essential soil organisms... the pore structures are pretty amazing at clinging to nutrients and that soil life. I seriously doubt that there is a soil it doesn't improve... perhaps, in some soils it's in subtle ways that are barely perceptible. What soil in the world couldn't use more carbon in it??? Biochar appears to be the foundation material for Terra Preta, which is found in the Amazon rain forest, and that's a pretty wet place for at least part of the year...

Elanor Gardner wrote:

Bio Char - another term I do not yet know....

BioChar is essentially charcoal made thru a very wide variety of methods, in a low oxygen environment, to which is added (once cooled) any number of substances to entrap nutrients. It is then applied to soils, again, thru a very wide variety of methods, to, among other things, help with water retention, provide housing for beneficial organisms, carry nutrients and add carbon to soils.
The primary reason I make and utilize BioChar is for its  water retention features, 1 lb. of BioChar can hold 7.5 lbs of water, and I live in one of the driest deserts in the world.