[Terrapreta] manure biochar N-P-K question

[Gerald Van Koeverden]

Frankly i think we all agree...

If the sugar is free, it's great, especially in the short run.  But  
buying sugar to get that effect, is no different from your champion  
pumpkin grower injecting milk directly into his prize pumpkin!

Gerit

On 11-Sep-07, at 8:46 PM, Brian Hans wrote:

> But, as I read him, the addition of sugar to power the growth of  
> soil microbes can, alone, enhance the ability of the soil  
> microorganisms to provide more plant nutrients.
>
> Absolutely. We agree on this. What Im saying is that its just a  
> short term fix just as caffiene is. Unless you are willing to add  
> sugar y/y (ofc some people live on caffiene) ...this is a short  
> lived stimuli. And as we have already established, that the high C/ 
> N ratio will be a large deficit to the immediate crop unless N is  
> added to the system. I can see how year 2 might have a bit more  
> inorganics in place to increase yields (tho at a cost to year 1  
> yields) ...but then we get into ugly field of economics...
>
> If you plan on adding sugar to your soil to increase your yields by  
> 'mining' the minerals out of the subsoil...you will quickly  
> discover the folly of economics in that plan. The small increase of  
> total nutrients per ton of sugar cannot compete with the cost of  
> sugar. Sugar stimuli has been well known for years...but you dont  
> see farmers putting sugar all over their fields...because of simple  
> economics of yields y/y. Its much cheaper to put low grade sugar  
> on...in the form of biomass like manure and other NPK holding  
> biomass. Or even more cost effective to put NPK on. In the  
> end...its all about economics.
>
> Brian Hans
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