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

Sat Dec 29 01:14:54 CST 2007

Yesterday, a greenhouse grower told me that coir has virtually  
replaced rock wool as the standard hydroponic medium locally for two  
reasons: wettability and waste handling.
1.  Coir not only holds moistrure better than rock wool, but it also  
is easier to re-wet if it does dry out.
2.  Disposing of rockwool means paying landfill costs; however coir  
can be re-cycled for free through a local topsoil retailer who just  
mixes it in with topsoil.

Gerrit

On 28-Dec-07, at 10:54 AM, Greg and April wrote:

> 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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