Biochar Demonstration Project: 2014

October 18, 2014

2014 Biochar Expo

The Biochar Expo of 2014 held at the Douglas County Master Gardeners’ Discovery Garden, Roseburg, Oregon, provoked an interest in a Biochar Demonstration Project in the garden’s Compost Area. The project would compare the effects of biochar on plant growth. Over the next few months, some high grasses behind the Hummingbird Garden at the back of the Compost Area were taken out in order to make space for two raised beds.

This project is designed to compare plant growth between raised beds prepared with and without biochar (agricultural charcoal). The beds contain a nearly identical mixture of topsoil, compost, amendments, and plants. The pH and soil chemistry are monitored and adjusted as necessary, and plant growth documented.

Biochar is a fine-grained, carbonized product similar in appearance to common charcoal. It is made by heating a 'biomass' such as scrap wood, chips, garden debris, forest slash, etc. to near-combustion using little to no oxygen in a process called 'pyrolysis', or 'gasification'.

As a soil amendment, the structure of biochar adds porosity, as well as water and nutrient retention. It also stimulates the activity of agriculturally important microorganisms, increases CEC (cation exchange capacity), and raises soil pH.

For more information, contact nobaily@gmail.com.