[Terrapreta] Charcoal, Earthworms and Switchgrass

Fri Apr 13 16:47:32 CDT 2007

Hello everyone,

Charcoal is NOT soluble.  It is often so porous, that when it's dry it has a specific gravity below 1.00 (density lower than water), so it floats until it becomes saturated.  If it is merely applied on top of the soil, I don't think rainfall or snow will work it into to soil.  It is more likely to blow away or wash away.  Water may bind it together, but only as long as it is wet.  Dry, charcoal will be dust or small particles again and may wash or blow away again.  If charcoal is made with chunks or chips of wood, it starts out as larger particles/chunks.  With more handling, it breaks apart.

Realistically, I think that to hold charcoal "in" soil, will require that it is incorporated (cultivated in).  It only needs to be done once, though.  Charcoal "in" the soil may be a benefit because it likely will not compact when wet as it did before.  Since charcoal is hydrophilic, it attracts water and remains wet, retaining more water in what were formerly drier soils.  Inside the soil and near the root zone, charcoal will provide its greatest benefits to the plants growing in the soil.  Charcoal provides a habitat for soil microorganisms (full of many protective holes and channels, laots of water around too).  The soil microorganisms support plant growth by providing the mechanisms which make soluble nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, etc.) available to the roots of the growing plants.  When charcoal enhances the health of the soil microorganisms, then plant growth is subsequently enhanced.  This is why "Terra Preta" improves over time.

Virgin charcoal starts out more sterile, containing less nutrients (this depends in part on volatile matter content).  As the microbes populate the charcoal in the soil, it is the biological structures of the microbes that binds nutrients "into" and "onto" the charcoal particles in the soil.
Charcoal can trap nutrient ions temporarily, but the plant nutrients are water soluble and water will eventually carry the nutrients either away (leaching) or into the roots of plants (fertilizing).  It takes molecular binding of the nutrients atoms into the biological structures of the microorganisms within the charcoal to "hold" nutrients "in" the charcoal.  When the microbes die, water will re-dissolve the nutrients that are still there and the roots systems can get at them.  This is how the natural symbiotic relationship between soil microbes and rooted plants has existed for eons.  Charcoal is just a catalyst that can improve it.

In the Amazon digs on "Terra Preta" sites, charcoal can be found in "chunks" fairly deep into the soil.  These chunks were not carried down into the soil by earthworms.  It was buried into the soil by people putting more soil and composted biomass on top of it.  Charcoal was also continuously reapplied onto the sites and further buried over time.  The culture that did this probably invested tremendous effort over time to manually manipulate the soil like this.

Work and patience are required, I think, to "cook" up "Terra Preta".

When charcoal has been put into the soil just once and the catalytic action begins to work, it may well relieve the requirement to put industrial fertilizer (made from fossil fuel natural gas) onto the fields every year by tractors run by fossil fuel (petroleum diesel and gasoline from oil).  So, even if putting charcoal "into" soil now uses some fossil fuel now, in the long run, the field will require less fossil fuel and potentially produce more abundance.

Regards,

Sean K. Barry
Principal Engineer/Owner
Troposphere Energy, LLC
11170 142nd St. N.
Stillwater, MN 55082
(651) 351-0711 (Home/Fax)
(651) 285-0904 (Cell)
sean.barry at juno.com<mailto:sean.barry at juno.com>

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Larry Williams<mailto:lwilliams at nas.com> 
  To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 11:43 AM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Charcoal, Earthworms and Switchgrass

  Tom-------It seems that jump starting the earthworm population due to  
  the prior herbicide usage and tillage practices might be in order.  
  The question is how fast would the charcoal get into the soil if the  
  earthworm population is reduced or minimal at best. I am not a farmer  
  although my background includes training in forest ecology which I  
  have applied to urban landscaping with good results. Some forest  
  ecology also applies to my gardening techniques which are different  
  from no till agriculture and permaculture.

  I have used a 5' rototiller for years in my landscaping before I  
  realized that soil mixing destroys soil structure. I really didn't  
  understand what the structure of soil was. Soil structure, as I know  
  it, is a myriad of structured pathways and play pens whether created  
  by roots, critters, vermin or different combinations of these  
  activities. Ecological diversity teaches me a lot of lessons. I now  
  believe that rototilling would be alright for crop roots provide rain  
  didn't settle the soil, i.e. compact it to a greater or lesser degree  
  depending on the puddling of water. The plow pan is another lessen in  
  compaction that limit root growth needed for some plants.

  Just as a point of reference, a permaculturist that gardens near me  
  can easily put his hand up to his mid-palm into his garden site. I  
  was impressed. I use a shovel to much to be able to accomplish the  
  same in my garden site although I lightly layer with a variety of  
  organics continuously throughout the year to encourage biological  
  activity in the soil. This layering following a pattern in forest  
  ecology.

  In the fall if charcoal was spread over a test patch or a field of  
  switchgrass, could a disc lightly mix it into the top two 2-3 inches  
  without damaging the switchgrass to badly. There must be some  
  existing earthworms down to the microorganisms and micro fauna that  
  would more quickly benefit with the charcoal in the soil rather than  
  on the soil.

  If i remember correctly, a healthy population of earthworms can move  
  an inch of dirt to the surface in 100 years. Just curious how to  
  shorten the amount of time to restore the soil's growth potential  
  without oil or with a minimum amount of oil. Earthworms and charcoal  
  (and liming?) may be part of the answer. In a different situation  
  fallen leaves would be another part of the answer. The near future  
  will be far different than what we know today-------Larry

  ---------------------------------
  On Apr 12, 2007, at 8:38 PM, Tom Miles wrote:

  > A technique suggested today by folks in the Southern Iowa is to apply
  > biochar on switchgrass in the late winter and let the snow and rain  
  > work it
  > in. Wind is clearly a problem.
  >
  > There was interest in the idea of using bio-char as a soil  
  > amendment to
  > bring up the productivity of areas of poor quality, hard clay. So  
  > you may
  > not treat the whole field but just the areas that need it. They're  
  > applying
  > about 35-40 lbs N/acre as urea applied with the herbicides.
  >
  > A side comment was that the heavy use of anhydrous ammonia on these  
  > fields
  > in earlier years of intensive corn and soybean killed off much of  
  > the large
  > earthworm population. From what I have seen bio-char seems to be a  
  > good way
  > of restoring the earthworm population which obviously would have  
  > positive
  > effects on soil texture.
  >
  > Tom Miles
  >
  >
  > -----Original Message-----
  > From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org<mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org>
  > [mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Davis
  > Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 4:25 PM
  > To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
  > Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Charcoal, Earthworms and Switchgrass
  >
  >
  > Kurt wrote:
  >> Another possible way of preparing the charcoal for adding to the soil
  >> might be to mix with a bit of clay and form it into little balls, by
  >> agglomeration, a subject that Jeff is very familiar with from his  
  >> work
  >> with fireballs. The biggest problem with powdered charcoal seems  
  >> to be
  >> the messiness and easy transport on the wind. The idea of  
  >> agglomerating
  >> it into small balls (I visualise leadshot size) is also similar to  
  >> the
  >> seed covering ideas one finds in "The Onestraw Revolution" by  
  >> Fukuofa.
  >
  > I would use water for the charcoal binder, lot easyer than clay.  
  > And, yes,
  > water is a binder.
  >
  >
  > Jeff
  >
  >
  >
  >
  > -- 
  > Jeff Davis
  >
  > Some where 20 miles south of Lake Erie, USA
  >
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