[Terrapreta] Effect of Washing Charcoal

[Philip Small]

On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 12:00 AM, Michael Bailes <michaelangelica at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I managed to kill some acid loving plants with pyrolysis charcoal from rice
> hulls and other sources.
>
That would be a classic problem that we TP-enthusiasts should help gardeners
to avoid.

> The phrase "Lowered soil acidity", is a little ambiguous.
> Does it mean pH goes up or down?

It means pH goes up.

> Rarely people test the char- or soil- before they add char to soil/ potting
> mix etc.

...and rarely do people test to the soil to see how much N or P in can
supply before they add fertilizer.  I know, I know.  We should be able to
tell folks enough so they don't do something completely ill-advised, like
using high-ash charcoal to grow blueberries.

In my view, investing in a soil pH meter should be a higher priority for
TP-enthusiasts than investing in a brix meter (to gauge plant health), but
then that's who I am. Soil pH test kits are pretty cheap, and, personally, I
prefer them over the probes because there is less to break, and you can see
micro-site variation within the soil. The Hellige-Truog Soil Reaction (pH)
Test kit<http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=3068>I
use is made by Orbeco in the USA however there is an Orbeco dealer in
Australia: Extech Equipment <http://www.extech.com.au/>. The kit is listed
on the soil testers
page<http://www.extech.com.au/Orbeco/prodPages/soiltesters.html>as
model 694. Extech's phone number is shown as (03) 9761 3300, and the
toll
free number for outside Melbourne is 1800 338 132. In the email reply from
Extech, the sales manager mentioned additional shipping costs because the
kit's reagent requires special handling in shipping.

>
> I am not even sure if I know what pH means any more.

pH is wonderfully dynamic and complex in soil.  A simplistic measurement of
pH is good for communication purposes but misleads in it's inferred
conciseness.

>
> The more I learn about soil science the more confused I get.

Same here, or at least, the more I learn, the more there is to learn.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /attachments/20080627/7d6be097/attachment.html