This is a good article on charcoal in Horticulture
You may want to go to the original for the references. I have edited them out.
Has anyone used charcoal for propagation? or know of any research on the subject? It may stop 'damping off" and promote germination of some plants. Does anyone know anything about this?
M F C F
Charcoal is much more widely used and available in the horticulture industry in the UK than here in Australia. They still coppice some forests. The English are also taking a new look at charcoal to replace water holding polymers, perlite and vermiculite.
Quote:
Horticulture
Charcoal has been used for horticultural purposes for at least two thousand years,
Archaeological research has come up with evidence of charcoal being used as a soil
ameliorator in the Amazon basin around the time of Christ. (Do a web search for "Terra preta" for more information-Michael)
Green keepers of golf and bowling clubs used charcoal extensively as a top dressing but in recent years this has been substituted by sharp sand, the reason may have been that the demise of the British charcoal industry caused a shortage in supplies of the correct grades. Fine charcoal powder used on lawns (golf) absorbs and eliminates excess amounts of fertilizer and chemicals present in the soil
Charcoal was widely available from horticultural sundries men up until the late 1960's,
for use mainly in bulb fibre where the pots do not have drainage holes. The charcoal was
said to keep the compost 'sweet'.
Orchid growing employs the use of charcoal and specialist growers of carnations and pinks find charcoal to be invaluable.
It has been reported that charcoal may act as a means of eradicating moss in lawns.
Trials have been carried out and the results are currently being analyzed
Research has shown that growing mediums that have charcoal present, are able to buffer the effects of sporadic watering, by reducing the frequency of watering whilst helping to prevent 'damping off'
Charcoal also reduces the leaching of fertiliser in free draining soils as the charcoal's porous carbon structure enables the nutrients to be held for slower release to the plants
.
The inclusion of charcoal in open seedbeds showed that it facilitates the uptake of nutrients. Calcium uptake almost doubles, with significant increases in potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, the pH increases slightly and there is an obvious increase in organic matter.
Charcoal has been recommended as part of the treatment for the eradication of a fungal disease, Cylindrocladium that infects Box hedges.
Charcoal has proved to be an ideal renewable substitute for perlite and vermiculite, compost additives used to increase aeration and aid drainage, but both finite resources.
They reported that the main reason for the decline in the use of horticultural charcoal was that it is a dirty material to handle. If uses can be found that have clear horticultural benefits and minimum handling, then we believe that a considerable market exists. For example, charcoal would make a good additive to grow bags, where the contents aren't handled much and there are problems with erratic watering.
The currently favoured water retaining gels are not liked by all growers and there are doubts about how well they actually release the water they have absorbed "Petunias in hanging baskets tested in greenhouses showed no benefits when water-absorbing polymers were used. And plants grown in media containing water-absorbing polymers required watering just as often as plants grown in potting soil containing no water-absorbing polymers.
Also, their usable life is limited by the amounts of salt or fertilizers in the soil
". Hence, charcoal could be used where watering may be a problem, e.g.
hanging baskets, or where it is hard to change the compost, e.g. in large tubs.
Charcoal could be incorporated into locally produced 'green compost'. No further
processing, other than simply grading would be required and transport costs would below. We have had preliminary discussions with Scarborough Borough Council about adding fines to their Green Compost and they hope to do some simple trials in hanging baskets.
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