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Been waiting for this juicy video! I ended up mixing the Wakefield biochar with sand and compost. I did a regular mechanical aeration first and then deep core/vertical mulching (about 6-8 inch deep) of my front yard. I raked and shoved the mix into the holes. Let’s see what happens 😂.

Thanks for such great information. I tried several brands of biochar on my lawn. It is hard to get Biochar it through the grass into the soil. Wakefield stuck to the grass and noticed it in the grass clippings which was a real wast of money. Even though the Andersons may be expensive due to the DG technology, it makes sense since it passes by the grass leaves , then dissolves close to the soil surface which makes more sense.

What do you think about HumiChar? And also plan to put lawnbox fall fix which has humic acid as well. Hopefully the carbon content dump is fine since I already ammended the top 6 inches of soil with compost. Speaking of which, I did some expirements with different soil compositions with sand, clay, dairy manure compost, peat moss and table scraps based compost from a bin ... You should do something similar. The section with the primed compost bin blew everything else out of the water for new seeding.

Prior to this year I had only used the Anderson product. This year being an engineer I tried making my own via 1st buying lump charcoal and pulverizing it which worked pretty well. I sifted it through a 1/4" screen and then through window screen. The dust went into harvested compost and the chunkies into the spreader. The area I top dressed with compost mix has been growing like crazy all year and the area with just the charcoal stayed green all through the drought. Fun stuff we do and learn!

@SuperPussyFinger

2 жыл бұрын

You may be interested in what one expert identifies as the primary distinction between charcoal and biochar: kzread.info/dash/bejne/foubk8imZrbZYbA.html

@JBSwanstrom

2 жыл бұрын

@@SuperPussyFinger I technically used charcoal since it wasn't innoculated with a biological charge. I could have soaked it in a chicken manure tea or compost tea this would created a bio char. Thanks for the reply!

Subscribed when you mentioned the cows safe the planet book 🔥

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

That book is so good! 😁 thanks for watching and subbing!

Those fine particles will go down much better with a drop spreader as opposed to a broadcast spreader.

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

I think you might be on to something, ill have to pick up a drop spreader and try to see if that works better for the ground up stuff.

@stevebabiak6997

2 жыл бұрын

I use my Scott’s drop spreader for pulverized lime, a very fine powder, with no problems except for the possibility of openings getting clogged due to grass that is too tall and / or wet.

Thank you for this video and all the time you put into it!!

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

You're welcome Ron! It definitely was more time consuming than I had planned and I don't have a strong conclusion yet but this is how I learn, through trying stuff out and researching the scientific litterature out there that I can find.

@ronwright9050

2 жыл бұрын

@@TurfMechanic - Did you notice big cost differences once you determined the application rates?

Love this type of content

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

So glad to have you watching, thanks!

That "clay" like stuff is likely grease from the machinery in the equipment somewhere, biochar can be abrasive and build up in equipment, so they likely grease frequently and my loose some to the contents, not ideal but it had the right consistency for a used grease in the sort of equipment for what I would expect.

What do you think of dirt booster plus since it contains bio chat along with other things?

Andersons 22-0-4 Fertilizer with HCU & Black Gypsum DG: have you tried this yet?

Can't wait till next year to see the results......or lack thereof.

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

Me too! I expect this is something that will help come summers when temps heat up so long as I apply a dose every time I core aerate. Twice a year for me.

You’re the man 🍻

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

I'll cheers to that! Thanks for watching!

I have considered adding biochar to my renovation this fall, but I have read about the need to "recharge" it or it will lock up the nutrients in the soil. What are your thoughts on that?

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

I don't believe it will lock them, that's the point for it to help hold them, or in other words not let them leech out of the root zone or waste away. As roots and michorizal fungi tap into the "ground charged" biochar it should serve as a beer tap so to speak for the lawn. Possibly adding an extra dose of fert to the lawn after applying biochar is a good idea, id have to look into that some more. Anyway, im adding another round of 5-5-5 Fall Fix to my lawn tomorrow so hopefully that will help charge my stuff in the cores a teeny bit faster. 😁

@georgecarlin2656

2 жыл бұрын

If the biochar is in the soil and it is already charged it never "un-charges" itself, instead it creates nutrients for plants via microbes and fungi that it promotes thanks to its huge surface area (1 gram of biochar has between 10 to 260 square meters of surface area), water retention capability 7 times its own weight, superior cation exchange capacity, aeration and whatnot. It's recommended adding biochar to soil by volume between 5% to 20% and it should be in the soil and properly mixed with it, not spread on top of it. Of course the latter is recommended when you can't afford to till it into the soil.

I have that same spreader and it left "lines" in my yard when I fertilized (Better grown about the width of the wheels). Any tips on what I can do to prevent that?

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

Possibly the type of fert you used? Faster ferts are more at risk of doing that than slow organics which I mainly use. I also recommend people apply fert on lower speed and do multiple passes, 4-5 passes instead of 1-2 will be far less likely to leave fert lines.

You must have spent a fortune on those bags.

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't call it a fortune but yes, I did spend quite a bit on those bags combined 😂 I learned a lot doing it though so I have no regrets.

This biochar thing is the new unicorn. Biochar helps only if you have really crappy soil with low cation exchange capacity. Typical clay soil has all the ability to hold water and nutrients but lacks organic. Don’t see any scientific benefit for adding biochar to typical soil. There just isn’t enough peer reviewed science to show me the benefits of biochar on the average clay soil. For my money a good compost is far better than the biochar unicorn

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

You might be right in some ways but I doubt you are completely right. If you take straight clay soil it needs amendments in it to be particularly useful. Mixing compost in adds the organic biomass and some nutrients but it will deplete over time. Biochar is stable carbon that breaks up the clay and doesn't breakdown meaning all microbial life can call it home while being choked out in straight clay. As an amendment to soil it's beneficial, I believe that, it's just a matter of how beneficial and is it worth the cost and trouble to add to the lawn or the garden or the farm, etc? From an environmental standpoint I think it's a worthwhile cause for anyone working with soils to add to the mix, fixing carbon in the soil is better for society than letting it convert to CO2 and enter the atmosphere...but that is a different topic altogether. Have a look at this publication for some science on the topic of biochar undervarious sources and scenarios: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5426627/#!po=64.4578

@bluejay3945

2 жыл бұрын

@@TurfMechanic thank you for the reply. I will look at the link but my previous research did not reveal a peer reviewed scientific study on the benefits to normal soil. The only affects were to depleted soils like in the equatorial belt. Until there is good science to back it up any results are purely anecdotal. When you look at the amount used on lawns and the production of these chars I just connect the environmental savings. Sorry. Show me the numbers. Again, it’s tough to rely dolled on anecdotal success. Science doesn’t work that way

@bluejay3945

2 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/eayhtdiTfNS_eNI.html. Probably the best field trial regarding biochar. I read your link. Not applicable to the average American backyard although I understand that biomass management in Brazil calls for creative science and biochar concoctions may be the answer. I still maintain that biochar is simply a gimmick to rope in the lawn snobs. If you are doing the soil testing, aeration. compost top dressing. Etc you should have a killer lawn. Biochar, liquid aeration, etc are a gigantic waste of time and money with only anecdotal evidence from people trying to make money as a side hustle

@bluejay3945

2 жыл бұрын

@@armyvet8090 so is sex but never saw an orgy on my front lawn. Unless you have rainforest soil or a soil with an extremely low CEC biochar is an expensive waste of time and money

@CarbonConscious

2 жыл бұрын

@@TurfMechanic great reply, only thing I can add to that to explain that biochar is great for clay soils is that it lowers the bulk density and increases the aeration and drainage. With very heavy clay soil you can go really heavy on the biochar and easily apply 20+% by volume. At those rates your best off making it yourself though or else it can get quite expensive.

Dude, that last one is either to use in a potting mix or feed to ducks or chickens and should only be sold for those purposes.

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

Definalt good to be mixed into soil, like a raised bed or potting mix but not fed to any animal, they wouldn't eat it if you tried either. It's only usable on the lawn post aeration I think. Even though it spreads it would never incorporate into the soil without holes.

@CarbonConscious

2 жыл бұрын

Livestock loves to eat biochar, multiple studies show it increases their feed conversion ratio as well.

If that pasty stuff left in the spreader has a stench to it, it might be sewer sludge …

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

I didn't notice a smell, didn't take any extra time to investigate either. Maybe I'll ask the company what their thoughts are in the coming week.

Why would the dispersible one have more ash?

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

It comes from coconut husk, a fibrous part of a plant rather than a wood. It's a common trend in biochar source material the further away from wood you get the more ash and nutrients left behind in the char.

@CarbonConscious

2 жыл бұрын

@@TurfMechanic I hadn't heard of that before, I thought ash content was mostly determined by the production method with oxygen being the driving factor behind ash. In my little retort I can char just about anything without producing any ash. The pH and liming factor of the char can vary though depending on the minerals that are present in the char.

@TurfMechanic

2 жыл бұрын

@@CarbonConscious that's the case especially in diy style biochar production. In commercial pyrolysis the source material is the biggest factor in ash content.

@CarbonConscious

2 жыл бұрын

@@TurfMechanic because they are too often using continuous gasifiers where the combustion area is too rich in oxygen. Some systems are even set up with energy production as the priority and this is at the cost of biochar quality.

Grandpa was a Pennsylvania coal miner that died from black lung. Please wear a mask.

It's highly over priced sadly...