Charging Biochar

[Minitiger]

Like the idiot that I sometimes (most of the time) can be, I ordered some biochar that wasn't precharged months ago from you-know-where (BAS, in case you don't know haha). Finally decided to "charge" it four days ago and use it in both a new batch of soil and a batch of soil I'm recycling. Two gallons of biochar in a five gallon bucket with water, urine and a megadose of Neptune's Harvest fish/kelp hydorlysate. And when I say,"Megadose," I mean it. Probably about two cups of the hydrolysate.

My questions are: how long should I let it sit? And should I also add an AACT? Like I said, it's been four days, been kind of stirring it two or three times a day. Or maybe turning it would be the best way to put it. I just wanna make sure they all get good and saturated. It doesn't smell anaerobic or anything, it just smells like the fish/kelp hydorlysate (which stinks in and of itself), but it doesn't smell "bad."

I'm gonna start an AACT today for my plants. Do y'all think I should add some to the bio char when the tea is ready, too? Or is it all good with just the fish/kelp and the, um, pee?

 

[Psychonaut47]

Microherd/microbeasties/bennies...you know the fungus and bacteria etc...I've never charged biochar tho, does it float in the charging solution?

 

[Minitiger]

Microherd/microbeasties/bennies...you know the fungus and bacteria etc...I've never charged biochar tho, does it float in the charging solution?

Yeah, it totally floats. I put the char in the bucket first, then added water, peed on it (gross haha), then added more water and fish/kelp hydrolysate. If I'd have known better, I would've put the water and all the other, uh, stuff in the bucket first, then I would've added the bio char. The way I did it made it float big time, but as it's been soaking, it's slowly been creeping and sinking down. Still, I think putting all the water and whatever you wanna add to said water in the bucket first and then adding the char would help it, um... I dunno. Sink? Is that the best word to use?

Either way, yeah, it's slowly getting saturated for sure. When I initially mixed everything up (roughly three gallons of water/urine/Neptune's fish and kelp hydrolysate and two gallons of biochar), it was near the top of the five gallon bucket. Now it's about four inches down from the lid.

I'm gonna add an AACT to it asap. What do y'all think? Should I drain the water/pee/hyrolysate first, before I add the ACT? Or should I just add the ACT to the bucket that the biochar's sitting in?

 

[Seamaiden]

My questions are: how long should I let it sit? And should I also add an AACT? Like I said, it's been four days, been kind of stirring it two or three times a day. Or maybe turning it would be the best way to put it. I just wanna make sure they all get good and saturated. It doesn't smell anaerobic or anything, it just smells like the fish/kelp hydorlysate (which stinks in and of itself), but it doesn't smell "bad."

I would give it about 24hrs. I think that given the amount of fertilizer you put in there, you should easily be able to get all those molecular sites filled in short order. A week may be better, and I base that on my experience using carbon in saltwater aquaria, it's done in about a week and then has to be changed out/removed.

I would add the char to the soil mix, not to the tea.

 

[Minitiger]

I would give it about 24hrs. I think that given the amount of fertilizer you put in there, you should easily be able to get all those molecular sites filled in short order. A week may be better, and I base that on my experience using carbon in saltwater aquaria, it's done in about a week and then has to be changed out/removed.

I would add the char to the soil mix, not to the tea.

Sweet, thanks!

I wasn't gonna add the char to the compost tea, I was just gonna pour some of the tea into the bucket that the biochar's sitting in. You're saying don't even bother? Is that overkill?

I have about 25 gallons of recycled soil just sitting in one of those Rubbermaid totes in my garage. I was planning on adding a gallon of the bio char to that and the other gallon of char to 21 gallons of a new batch of soil and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Do you think that that's long enough? For some reason, I'm kind of nervous about adding the biochar, but I had it sitting around, might as well use it, ya know?

 

[Minitiger]

Also @Seamaiden Is it possible for the biochar to get anaerobic if it sits in the bucket for too long?

 

[Seamaiden]

I wasn't gonna add the char to the compost tea, I was just gonna pour some of the tea into the bucket that the biochar's sitting in. You're saying don't even bother? Is that overkill?

Ah, gotcha! No, I think that would be a good thing because it could help get those microbes into their homes quicker.

Also @Seamaiden Is it possible for the biochar to get anaerobic if it sits in the bucket for too long?

I think it is possible, yes. But it's gonna have to sit for a while methinks.