Terra Preta - The parent thread which started it all

[coldhead]

A while ago I saw on tv a show about the above.

It is patches of extremelly fertile soils in areas in south america, around the amazon, that where cultivated for ages before any european apperance. As the locals died off rather quickly after exposure to the europeans, not much scientific/real knowledege exists about this 'soil'.

The tv show had a local that stated that he and his family had been selling this black soil for ages and it just kept on growing.

The blurb from the show mentioned there was charcole added to the mix.

Any hypographers heard of this stuff?
Would adding chrcole to the mix of my mulch help me?
Should I be commerciallizing this new breakthrough?

[Fishteacher73]

The problem with biomes such as tropical rain forests and tropical reefs is that there is such an abundance of life that the nutrients available are all used IN the life and the soil/water is VERY nutrient poor. The standard method in the Amazon is the "slash and burn". This is when the forresty is cut and burned prior to cultivation (the source of charcoal). This returns all the various nutrients stored in the plant diversity to the soil. The problem is when the crops are harvested, the nutients are then removed with the crop and reasonably infertile soil is left. This sounds like a poorly researched and biased show that this came from. The only real way to allow for farm land to stay fertile is either through artificial fertilization (not the best) or a cycle of crop rotation and allowing fallow periods upon the field.

[UncleAl]

Would adding chrcole to the mix of my mulch help me?

I always add activated charcoal to potting mix. It's inexpensive by the bag. Cacti and epiphytes are especially appreciative. You want a porous fraction in soil anyway - sand, pearlite - to aid aeration and drainage. As in an aquarium water filter, activated charcoal provides a porous, high surface area matrix for biology to happen and reach equilibrium.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by UncleAl

I always add activated charcoal to potting mix. It's inexpensive by the bag. Cacti and epiphytes are especially appreciative. You want a porous fraction in soil anyway - sand, pearlite - to aid aeration and drainage. As in an aquarium water filter, activated charcoal provides a porous, high surface area matrix for biology to happen and reach equilibrium.

___Good info Al. Activated charcoal is charcoal that is high heated in the absense of oxygen thus driving off volatile contaminants & leaving more porosity. Activated charcoal operates by not obsorption, but adsorption. Besides aeration, activated charcoal binds many organic chemicals such as chlorine & others found in pesticides.
___Over time, activated charcoal is used up because all the cavities have filled. Periodically float the particles to the top of soil & discard, then add new.

[coldhead]

Stink time...

amazon info page - half way down
http://www.internext.com.br/roosmale/#D

whole page.
http://www.geo.uni-bayreuth.de/bodenkunde/terra_preta/

[Turtle]

___Do I understand then Terra Preta is not an intentional product of the Amazon's acient inhabitants, but rather the result of their garbage piles? Is that the stink joke?
Do you know have any skeletal remains shown up in Terra Preta?

[coldhead]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Is that the stink joke?

that is a reference to another thread.

Nobody is shure because the locals died off rather quickly.

Quote from another site.
http://www.geocities.com/gbechtold/gbtp.html

What is Terra Preta ?

Terra Preta (or: Red Indian Black Soil) is an anthropogenically (man made) modified, fertile soil, which has developed in small patterns from the unfertile Latosols (Oxisols) in the Amazon lowlands. Influence of man is shown by abundance of many artefacts (ceramics) of prekolumbian Indians, which have been living in these areas some + 2000 years.

It is not absolutely sure, if primarily Terra Preta existed and Indians selected these sites because of their fertility, or if Indians have 'modified' the soils of their dwelling sites by mulching and compost.

In soil terms, Terra Preta is to be defined as a subtype of Latosol, which has a high till very high C content (more than 13-14 % organic matter) in its A horizon, but without hydromorphic characteristics. Organic matter can be found in depths of 1 and 2 m (e.g. at 50 cm depth, 5.1 % OM). The author made the proposal to talk of TP only, if OM content at 50 cm depth is of more than 2.0 or 2.5 %.

[danielled330]

Is that the stink joke?

I'm studying terra preta at the moment and its found to be the most consistently fertile soil on earth! A combination of the slash-burn technique, human waste and for some reason (as yet undiscovered) pottery urns in which they buried their dead, raised the soil organic matter. This SOM is more stable than other soils and can be repeatedly cultivated without losing fertility. Thats why locals in brazil sell it, its super soil basically.
Large civilizations were found to have existed in areas where terra preta is found, supported agriculturally by the soil.

Check this link out
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon...eldorado.shtml

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by coldhead

A while ago I saw on tv a show about the above.

It is patches of extremelly fertile soils in areas in south america, around the amazon, that where cultivated for ages before any european apperance. As the locals died off rather quickly after exposure to the europeans, not much scientific/real knowledege exists about this 'soil'.

The tv show had a local that stated that he and his family had been selling this black soil for ages and it just kept on growing.

The blurb from the show mentioned there was charcole added to the mix.

Any hypographers heard of this stuff?
Would adding chrcole to the mix of my mulch help me?
Should I be commerciallizing this new breakthrough?

I just watched this show on the Science Channel. 2005 date on it. The title & first half of the hour long show focussed on a 1542 Spanish explorer's account of wide spred populations on the Amazon & tributaries, and the second half focussed on terra preta.
Fishteacher mentioned slash & burn as unsustainable, but the show explained that the current practice reduces all to ash, wheras controlled burning to charcoal leaves...well, charcoal. The charcoal is thought to hold the nutrients (by adsorption) from washing away.
More than just a charcoal rich soil, the show closed with the ongoing catalogueing of the thousands of different micro-organisms in the soil in the search for what is responsible for the stuff apparently 'regrowing'.
At the least, add activated charcoal to your garden ay? At's wut it's all aboot.

[Michaelangelica]

This is a very good article on terra preta soils " saving soil as well as the planet" an amazing article with a lot of implications for climate control, global warming as well as agriculture
http://www.bidstrup.com/carbon.htm

The question now seems to be "Are their special microrganisms that keep terra preta soil fertile?"
or
"Can anyone achive Terra preta soil by adding 30-40 carbon to the soil?"
+ some pottery fragments?

Cornell Uni is doing a lot of reseach on this at the moment.
The whole thing is a very big deal with amazing consequenses for us all.
Check out the terra prata home site + Cornell Uni.'s site
Michael