[Terrapreta] Charcoal Injector

[Sean K. Barry]

Hi Jeff,

I can't say that I know anything about this.  I would think, though, that one could find a way to inject charcoal into the slot provided by a chisel plow, behind it for instance (if you even use this form of "low till" practice).  Anhydrous ammonia injection is of a liquid.  Possibly, you could pulverize charcoal into very fine dust, mix it with water, and inject it also as a liquid with the same or similar equipment?  Barring that, I would say that the charcoal needs to be "tilled"/"cultivated" into the soil.  Most, I think, consider incorporation to the depth of the root zone is ideal and sufficient (scary when you consider that alfalfa can root 15 feet deep?!).  Is it possible that the switch grass can survive being "tilled" with charcoal into the soil?  Maybe you could wait to let it go to seed, till the charcoal in then, water the shit out of it, and when the sprouts pop, put a little fertilizer on it?

The "SPIKE" or the "NO TILL" injectors from NUHN look like the ticket for doing what you want to do.  I think you just need to make the charcoal into a liquid "slurry" maybe to use it in those equipment.

Just some ideas.

SKB
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jeff Davis<mailto:jeff0124 at velocity.net> 
  To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 8:51 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] Charcoal Injector


  Dear List,

  Being a switchgrass grower I would not want to plow up the grass in order
  to add charcoal to the soil. I do not think that adding it to the top of
  the grass would do much.

  I do not know anything about these injectors so does anybody know if the
  below machines would inject charcoal into the soil but not damage the
  grass:

  http://www.nuhn.ca/prod_injector.html<http://www.nuhn.ca/prod_injector.html>


  Jeff






  -- 
  Jeff Davis

  Some where 20 miles south of Lake Erie, USA

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