Amazing we don't have a thread for this; given it is my, and many others, major interest in
TP? Agrichar (now copyrighted by BEST) Biochar etc.,
Eco Carbons Horticulture
(Strange no contact or link for this company)
Paghat's Garden: Horticultural Charcoal Quote:
Any claims that charcoal has some benefit above oxygen- & moisture-retention in the soil are unfounded.
Any claims of value above that of sphagnum, bark, or perlite are either vendor bullshit or gardener mythology. It does NOT lower the possibility of odor-causing bacteria.
It does NOT "absorb odors" or "improve drainage" when put in the bottom of pots before adding soil.
It does NOT "retain Nitrogen for future use by your potted plants."
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Paghat's Garden: Horticultural Charcoal 
Really? it is so good to be so positive. I love it
If you are going to be wrong do it in a loud voice, I do all the time.
[i]
Charcoal? ash or BBQ briquettes? What IS he talking about? 
Quote:
While Colorado gardeners concerned with the environment may be tempted to dispose of barbecue grille ashes in the garden rather than the trash, this is a poor practice because of our soil type.
Charcoal is most commonly made from burned wood. It is highly alkaline (high pH) and also rich in potassium salts. Colorado soils are already highly alkaline and rich in potassium. Adding charcoal ashes to gardens here only adds to soil characteristics already in excess, and doesn't supplement deficient elements such as nitrogen that limit plant growth in our area. Supplementing deficient elements is also known as fertilizing. Wood ash is fertilizer of the wrong type for Colorado.
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Charcoal is Not a Good Soil Amendment in Colorado
The charcoal I am using has a pH of 6.
My carnations and pinks love it.
Quote:
Horticulture
Charcoal is used in different grades as a top dressing for the improvement of lawns and bowling greens.
These top dressings act as mulch and also provide valuable trace elements and sweeten the soil.
Pottery mixtures used in nurseries often contain fine charcoal.
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Chapter 6. Charcoal utilisation and marketing
I wonder what the "trace elements" are?
What is a"Pottery Mix"?
Quote:
Uses of Charcoal in Horticulture and Gardening.
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.
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 fertiliser 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.
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 fertilise 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.
*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 fertilisers 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 be low.
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.
The full article is here
cache:I0TgdV-gQ_UJ:www.visitthemoors.co.uk/uploads/publication/978.pdf - Google Scholar |
*NOTE
The same results were found in research conducted by the ANIA
Australian Nursery Industry Association. A spokesman commented "They work great in distilled water in laboratories."
Still the Nurseries and Hardware shops are full of them and almost
no charcoal is to be seen!
Charcoal in Horticulture 
