I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube
Phil Stevens wrote:Things you don't want in your feedstock: Treated timber, especially the types that are made for long durability in the ground and have metals in them.
Some places need to be wild
This is all just my opinion based on a flawed memory
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Some places need to be wild
When I use them, I mix them with sawdust. Sawdust tends to compact and risks areas that don't get charred. The cones risk too much heat and trapped air, so a risk of them turning to ash. The mix seems to work for me. I'm using a Restaurant Heating pan inside a wood stove.Kyle Hayward wrote:So I have plenty of pine cones in my driveway...Anyone see a problem with using them, I know they are easily flammable and contain resins in the sap?
Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
Kyle Hayward wrote:So I have plenty of pine cones in my driveway...Anyone see a problem with using them, I know they are easily flammable and contain resins in the sap?
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube
Roger
Roger Engstrom wrote:How to apply biochar to the soil. On the surface only. Notill
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
"Tilling" as I understand it, is particularly disruptive because it mixes soil. John's system, isn't doing any mixing, so I wouldn't call it "tilling" myself.Roger Engstrom wrote:How to apply biochar to the soil. On the surface only. No till
Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
Kylie Bobongie wrote:I watched a doco on the traditional methods of making charcoal . They had a huge pile of sticks and covered it with wet coconut husk and then wet sand lit it from the top by dropping burning sticks and then covering it with the coco husk and more sand to seal it.
They had small air holes near the bottom and some near the top and checked it throughout the approx. 21 days finally covering the air holes and waiting for it to cool down.
Is this biochar?
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Jay Angler wrote:
Roger Engstrom wrote:How to apply biochar to the soil. On the surface only. No till
"Tilling" as I understand it, is particularly disruptive because it mixes soil. John's system, isn't doing any mixing, so I wouldn't call it "tilling" myself.
'It is a plant of great virtue;...therefore, give God thanks for his goodness, Who hath given this herb and all others for the benefit of our health.' (Mattheolus/Fuschius)
EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)
EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)
EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)
R Dell wrote:Thoughts on either cedar or woods high in juglone? (i.e. Black walnut, hickory, sugar maple, tree of heaven, hackberries, sycamore, cottonwood, black cherry, red oak, black locust, sassafras, fine fescue, American elm, etc.)
I've read conflicting information, some indicating that it could harm or restrict plant growth, but were unclear if juglone or other negative properties are eliminated through the pyrolysis or not.
Basically, if certain woods are avoided in a hügelkultur bed, should they also be avoided as biochar?
Juglone Ref: https://extension.psu.edu/landscaping-and-gardening-around-walnuts-and-other-juglone-producing-plants
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Ebo David wrote:I built a couple of TLUD's, but could never keep them lit. I was just about to build a Kontiki when I cam across a burn-barrel method (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNOiVCpRWXw ). I'll see if that works for me. I have maybe 100 tons of broken, rotted, tornado damaged wood to do something with. I've been wanting to figure out how to turn as much as possible into char.
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
John Suavecito wrote: I wouldn't worry about any of those except Black walnut, black locust and cedar. So really, it's a question of best use.
'It is a plant of great virtue;...therefore, give God thanks for his goodness, Who hath given this herb and all others for the benefit of our health.' (Mattheolus/Fuschius)
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)
EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)
I find that ones ecosystem is a factor also. People tell me that plants don't like cedar, but I've got a cedar hedge that tells me differently! I live in a cedar ecosystem and my theory is that the soil biology has developed (and I do nothing to damage it) to cope with and help plants cope with the local, native, cedar. A cedar hedge in the city with damaged soil, may be another story.R Dell wrote:I had some cedar laying around from a forest fire, and wouldn't want to add it to the compost if it would create negative affects.
Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
Ebo David wrote:@R_Dell, interesting point. To be frank, I am not sure. If you find out something definitive, please post back. From the following <https://www.sciencemadness.org/smwiki/index.php/Juglone>; it looks like juglone decomposes between 381–385C, and a typical biochar retort runs betwen 300C and 1000C, I would say that as long as you are cooking it at an elevated temperature, you should be fine. The question then is about pieces that are not completely charred...
Where I would stop though is if there are high metal content in the woods (lead, arsenic, cadmium, etc), unless you want the specific elements (like selenium). I did a quick search and found the following that might be useful for folks:
A global database for plants that hyperaccumulate metal and metalloid trace elements:
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.14907
It may be slightly OT, but I have to wonder how treated woods compare to natural woods which hyper-accumulate. Probably a small fraction, but I have not looked into it.
Jay Angler wrote: The dose makes the poison, and time cures many problems.
If you don't mind doing the work for the forest, save the cedar biochar for the cedar trees, and put it around their drip-line. It will still sequester carbon, which feel is worth the effort.
Phil Stevens wrote:
Treatment temperatures above 400C will destroy any organic compounds present, so we don't worry about juglone or the antifungal properties of woods like cedar and cypress.
'It is a plant of great virtue;...therefore, give God thanks for his goodness, Who hath given this herb and all others for the benefit of our health.' (Mattheolus/Fuschius)
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Phil Stevens wrote:Treatment temperatures above 400C will destroy any organic compounds present, so we don't worry about juglone or the antifungal properties of woods like cedar and cypress.
Heavy metals are another story altogether, but at the levels present in most wood I would not worry about it. If the trees grew in proximity to mine tailings or some other source, I would test the biochar just to be certain. You could still use it in non-environmental applications, like as an aggregate in concrete or asphalt. Or you could dump it into an abandoned mine ;-)
EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)
Special and important situation for you Ebo. I read a book about soil repair in Britain. Sunflowers were specifically grown for their ability to clean the soil of lead. You could grow and then dispose of to the dump, to get any lead off your land. In heavily contaminated sites, they actually dried the sunflowers and sent them to a company that burned them and recaptured the lead. Sometimes the problem really is the solution - less lead mined if we recapture it.Ebo David wrote:re: heavy metals...
I have a mutation of the MTHFR gene (see: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/mthfr-gene-and-folic-acid.html ). Any lead, mercury, cadmium, etc., I can keep out of my food is worth any amount of extra trouble.
Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
It's fun to be me, and still legal in 9 states! Wanna see my tiny ad?
turnkey permaculture paradise for zero monies
https://permies.com/t/267198/turnkey-permaculture-paradise-monies
|