|
Not Ranked
:
+0 / -0
0 score
Re: Breaking up wood charcoal - Would a wood chipper work?
Commercial briquettes are charcoal dust with a clay or starch binder.
Both of these will soften in water: if you soak the briquettes too long they'll fall apart.
This could work for you. Skip the chipper and just pour out the charcoal slurry with a dipper.
Remember though you've got to add nitrogen to the carbon or wait a year for the process to happen naturally.
Otherwise the charcoal will absorb nitrogen out of the soil. Some plant species will suffer.
In my garden, I've kept careful track of progress between my biochar and control plots.
Despite pre-soaking with compost tea, peppers and corn are slower growing on the biochar plots than the controls. I am amending the plots with fish emulsion to balance out the difference.
I suggest that you could build a compost pile, pour on the charcoal slurry and then add lots of manure.
Aerate that well and by the time the compost is done, the charcoal should be charged with nitrogen.
|
