[Terrapreta] Marketing comment for TP. (was volatile matter andchar)

[Greg and April]

Remember, I was talking about the coir being used in relation to hydroponic / aquaponic set up's where the entire nutrient flow is based on the water circulating through a system.     It's the actual flow of water that makes it unsuitable, and it ( the coir ) ends up washing into the rest of the system where it can end up blocking pipes, unless you have a fairly extensive filtering system.

In a basic greenhouse, using coir as a peat moss substitute works just fine - in fact I use it ( and some calcium carbonate sand ) in a small plaudarium that houses some toads.    I have also used it to start seedlings for which it's texture and moisture holding ability is wonderful, but that same texture makes it fairly easy to wash away, with any  water flow above a small trickle.


Greg H.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gerald Van Koeverden 
  To: Greg and April 
  Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 10:09
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Marketing comment for TP. (was volatile matter andchar)


  Greg,


  Coir can't be all that unsuitable.  1000 commercial greenhouse growers can't be all that wrong!


  But whatever, let's focus on the potential of charcoal for propagating plants.  How many examples can we find where charcoal is already being used in plant propagation, other than in orchid growing?


  Here's a potential high end use for charcoal in micro-propagating berry/currant plants:


  Gerrit


  "Newly developed blackberry cultivar Čačanska bestrna was successfully 
  micropropagated. For black currant, cv Čačanska crna further research should 
  be done to optimize conditions for succesful multiplication. 
  Buds from the branches cut during dormancy (end of January) were used as 
  the initial explants and set to develop under laboratory conditions at room 
  temperature. Aseptic culture was established on Murashige and Skoog (MS) 
  medium with BA 2.0, IBA 0.5 and GA3 0.1 mg 1-1. MS media with BA and IBA 
  or NAA and GA3 were used for multiplication phase, whereas medium MS with 
  mineral salts reduced to 1/2, organic complex unchanged according to MS, 
  with 1.0 mg 1-1 IBA, 0.1 mg 1-1 GA3 and 1g 1-1 of active charcoal was used in the 
  rooting phase. 
  Well developed root system and high quality of rooted plants induced a 
  high percentage of acclimatization (100%) of cv Čačanska bestrna under the 
  ‘myst’ system in  greenhouse whereas the percentage of acclimatization of cv 
  Čačanska crna was low, 40%." 


  http://www.agr.hr/smotra/pdf_71/acs71_23.pdf


  On 26-Dec-07, at 12:16 PM, Greg and April wrote:


    If I might be able to add a few comments to think about -

    Coir has a problem with being real loose, and slowly washing into the circulating system.    Coir also biologically degrades. 

    Pea Gravel has a problem of being very heavy and little porosity.

    Expanded clay may or may not have good porosity, and while lighter than pea gravel, it is very expensive.

    Marble to pea sized charcoal has a good chance to fill a niche that many people may not realize.

    Light weight, good porosity, little to no biological degradation - and if the charcoal can made reasonably cheep it could be just the thing that hydroponics and aquaponic systems could use.

    Greg H.

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Gerald Van Koeverden 
      To: bhans at earthmimic.com 
      Cc: Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org 
      Sent: Monday, December 24, 2007 13:54
      Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Marketing comment for TP. (was volatile matter andchar)


      Brian,


      I definitely think there is some potential in commercial hydroponic vegetable production.  But in this matter, charcoal would be competing against coconut husk (coir) as the main rooting medium which has replaced rock wool in area greenhouses. 


      To be fair, you should be comparing the wholesale price of the soil-less mix ($700) to the wholesale price of charcoal - $200/ton.  No?  This makes it a lot more interesting...and feasible.


      Gerrit

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