Same!

🤣 if I had a tool I'd be right there with you. I am so excited about this 😃

Yup, saw this on David the Good's vlog. Good information.

Just get one. You'll thank me later!

Me too!

Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks!

Thanks for letting us know, I never tried needlenose! I'll remember that!

Any issues using aluminum foil and then poking a hole to cover the can? So far so good using chili cans this way in my toaster oven

@@RahulVarshney956 If you're using aluminum foil, your retorts aren't getting nearly hot enough to make quality char which needs to reach about 1500°F (815°) Aluminum melts at about 1200°F and can't be used for making a retort!

After 10 burns they were done, and after 8 they started getting holes. I got a box maybe 12x6x6" full!

@@dethmaul How long they last depends mostly on the water content of the feedstock. The more water, the faster they'll burn out! I keep using them, even after they develop holes in them, until I start to see some ash, and then I throw them in the recycling bin!

Thanks!

the char is hydrophobic, it doesn't 'fill with water'

@@sicsempertyrannis4351 You're partially right, at first IT IS hydrophobic. But as it's oxidized on contact with air and water, biochar becomes hydrophilic. Here's a documented scientific study to back this up: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcbb.12026

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you for the link to that study! Very informative.

Ah, so THAT'S what air spaces do! I wondered why they're so important. I didn't know they pumped air in and out.

Welcome!

Love your content! I realized that I need to acquire a piece of land..growing in a small backyard is ok but one needs a good sized plot to have enough to make it worth the effort

@@ianfrancisledesma4431 But it is always worth the effort to learn the principles of regenerative gardening so you can transfer your skills to your good-sized plot once you acquire it! Even if you have NO plot whatsoever, you can still grow in pots on the windowsill and try to get as much food as you can from that one pot. I grew four good-sized potatoes in a 16-ounce cup that I started by picking one eye off of a shriveled-up potato. It IS worth the effort! Take a look at that video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/adpiiaqKl5anZZ8.html There are the two potatoes you see, and then two more the same size in the interior of the cup!

Thanks, Dave.

Absolutely, I put most of the biochar into the compost, even the unactivated charcoal!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow thanks!

I'm new to the community, but had been casually experimenting with charcoal and soil, because my sandy soil doesn't grow much... Anyway simply putting charcoal in the bottom of the pots and growing as normal has produced positive results, so you probably don't need to worry about doing it 'the correct way' so much as you need to just do it the way that works best for you.

@@vidard9863With respect, you will find much better results if you charge your biochar beforehand. (There are a multitude of ways to do so, though I really think what you saw here covers all the bases well.) If you don't pre-charge the charcoal, for the first year or so, the charcoal will be absorbing nutrients from the soil, which limits what is available to the plants. Over time, this will balance out, but you will find lower productivity until this happens.

@@NorthernIllinoisWormFarm you are not wrong, however my soil is sandy enough that good compost has little effect because the nutrients can leech out of it before a single season is over as a result the charcoal added ends up with a higher concentration of nutrients than the surrounding soil in less than a year. Initially I just thought that it would store water for the plants, so the results have been better than I anticipated, but yes, charging it would be better, and I intend to add it to one of my compost barrels while it finishes, because frankly I don't have the time and resources invested in gardening at this time to do anything more complicated.

I've never heard of KLF. What's that?

Thank you as well! I think a lot of people agree with us about the interior spaces, but don't comment. If you have any input on why you also have come to that conclusion, please let us know!

Pore size and interior surface area are key factors that affect adsorption of ions and other materials in chemistry and also for bacterial growth for breakdown of ammonia into nitrites and nitrates in saltwater aquariums. Similar should be true in land based systems.

You're welcome!

There's an advantage to it. Larger wood pieces have less surface area, thus reducing the amount of charcoal loss from burning with oxygen ( unless you use a specialized kiln to make biochar there's always some oxygen in the vessel). That's saying, unless you are making biochar at the industrial scale this loss shouldn't be significant.

@@minhducnguyen9276 Most of the subscribers to the website won't be either! But we are interested in learning what you find out. We're rooting for your success!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you sir. I'm trying to figure it out by myself. There are a few professors in my university who are already doing research on biochar. Unfortunately, My instructing Professor isn't one of those. She teaches sustainable farming but biochar isn't her expertise and picked the topic solely because I was interested in it.

@@minhducnguyen9276 Sadly some people will never get it because, in my opinion, they view everything you put into your garden has to be a plant nutrient, and they can't, or don't want to, understand that it's a method of facilitating microbial life

Wow Chris, that's fantastic! I would love to see some pictures! If would suggest you visit Elaine Ingham's channel to take the next step in your learning, to make sure everything is progressing on the micro level, especially the fungi to bacteria ratio. I bought an inexpensive microscope I hook up to my computer screen so I can see all the bacterial, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes in my soil. This has helped me to REALLY understand what's going on, so I'm not just repeating other people who are repeating other people, etc, etc. I know what works and what doesn't because I see what's going on. It can't be just theory for you as it it for a lot of people. Here's the microscope I use: amzn.to/41euAtC At least take a look, maybe someday you can get one. Here's a video of one of our subscribers: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fpp-lNZh1MfPlnU.html Microscopy take you to a whole new level in gardening!

Thanks for your viewpoint. Almost all of the science based studies I have seen show that putting biochar into the garden without charging it first will stunt the growth of your plants in the first year because the biochar pulls the nutrients out of the soil and temporarily make them unavailable to the plants. The purpose of charging the biochar in the barrels is to load them up with bacteria and nutrients BEFORE adding it to the soil so instead of of charcoal soaking up the nutrients FROM the soil, it will release the nutrients TO the soil. But it's quite possible, in my opinion, that what you're describing would work quite well on soil that already has lots of nutrients and soil life to correct its properties as you say.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Wonder if it is already harmed soil, or soil that has had little prior harm done to it.

I've done it both ways and the way I'm doing it now works the best for me! I use the sheet method I describe in this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJmng9Vlzd23YqM.html

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow What youce said is different than saying "my soil has been under organic, no-till, polycropped production for 15 years. I've tried it both ways and "precharging" the charcoal works best."

I also said that what you're describing would work quite well on soil that already has lots of nutrients and soil life, to correct its properties as you say. If my soil has been under organic, no-till, polycropped production for 15 years, my soil would be pretty darned good, and I said that what you said would work quite well for that!

Thanks for your comment! Definitely, definitely, more is NOT known about biochar than what IS known, and what was once thought of as truth is being replaced by more advanced information. However, there are many "experts" still holding onto the former "truths." My opinion is, that if they are really experts, they would understand that there are no experts. There is science, however, and true science is always evolving and coming to a greater understanding of natural things as they’re revealed. For example, it was once thought that grinding biochar to a fine powder was best for plants, and I think that water quenching kind of falls into that same category. I think those ideas came about because of the paradigm of using activated charcoal in a water purification perspective. In that case, you want to “open up” the pores by removing the tars and other things, but when used as a soil conditioner, those tars and other things are actually food for the microorganisms! When they use charcoal for water purification, they want to create as much surface area as possible because the way it works is basically through electrical charges attracting toxins which in turn attach themselves to the charcoal, purifying the water. With biochar, however, the most important part isn’t the surface area, but rather the cubic area of the interior pores. Even if the pores are present, but filled with tars, the benefits of the tars are that they provide food for the bacteria and promote a diversity of life in your garden, especially now that we know of the synergy of all the other larger, but still microorganisms, like fungi, protozoa, and beneficial nematodes. Here is a great study done by researchers and published on the NIH website that gives us an even greater understanding and pushes us past the old paradigm: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466324/ Let me know what you learn from the article. I'm on the same quest as you!

Definitely, definitely, more is NOT known about biochar than what IS known.." Right, it's still a miracle how it works. Having different conditions, my approach is also different. With less time in the field, more for watching YT Videos and investigating while I'm working (with my hands) , I 1st thought about the history and understanding Portugues, I read a bit in available PDFs. Going back or observing other cultures in similiar circumstances, what would they do, how they prepare their stuff, cook their meals.. and how they extinguish their fires so that char could be left? In the Amazonas with so much water around wouldn't it be obvious to use it? Reading about the particle size of the examined char, I imagined just this process could led to those numbers in the short PDF down below. For sure the indigenous People of South American did not stomp their char, what factual incentive they would have had? - but Perhaps like this their char was soft enough to be ground over time by tillage, animals, erosion etc. Anyway, that's just my theory and I'm just on a journey as everybody else. Nevertheless I'm glad to have found your completely underrated channel with so much detailed work and a prescious motif - thank you.

@@GWFries-gb7sh Thank you so much! One amazing thing to me is that, apart from all these man-made pockets of amazing fertility, that area of the world has some of the poorest soil on earth! Another amazing thing is that this fertility is self-regenerating. It is said that the terra preta gains about 12 cm (1/2 inch) per year in thickness even though more material is not being added. This second fact is what I'm trying to achieve in my garden with biochar and microorganisms which spread throughout the soil and mine it for nutrients and concentrate them in my garden beds.

Thanks for sharing this with us. I typed the phrase in you asked me and there's quite a bit of impressive research. Tell us where you purchased it from as it looks like it's not something easily made at home.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow I got it from a finnish company called charcoalfinland and the product is called "ecokoivu". I dont know if they ship outside of Finland. You can ask them by email. Or you can try search if there is some company in your country doing this pyrolysis, they might not even know how good this stuff is!

Wow, thank you!

Nice work! Did you see the flames coming out of the hole and from the sides?

Get them from a pizza restaurant. They're HAPPY to give them to you!

You are not going to be able to crumble biochar smaller than microbes, just an FYI

You can.

Isn't that true with everything?

Glad it was helpful!

there are many videos on Utube that demonstrate this with bigger cans (20-100L or 5g-25gallon ) inside 55gal US 44gal UK 200L steel drum fires.

You don't want to remove the rim, it maintains the structural integrity of the cans and makes them last a lot longer especially after going through the fire a few times!

As long as you're not buying the kind they make that has starter fluid, go for it!

How did it go?? I think i use the same coals in my grill. The red bag? I have some left i can use if it went well.

Hi Michal, I clicked on your picture and went to your channel, awesome setup for your hydroponics! I have some experience with peppers, and since you have a long growing season, I would prune the tops off your pepper plants to get a bigger harvest. That causes your plants to bush out and produce more stems, buds, and more peppers. Maybe you could try it with one and see how it works for you. Here's how I would do it: Your plants are at the size you could cut the plant in half. After you cut off the tops, you'll see new stems coming from each of the leaf nodes. Each of the new stems will grow into what is like a whole new pepper plant... all on one plant! I'm not sure about that dark area in the nodes. That could hinder the production of new stems. When you top your plants at this stage of growth you could actually take the top and root it to turn it into another plant! Here's a link to a website that shows you how to clone peppers: growhotpeppers.com/pepper-plant-propagation/ I hope this helps!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you for your tip - I actually did it many times and that really works well for me. I am just not sure, witch of my papers you've seen - I got even one that is 15 yo :-) My baby came thru some bad times, but doing great most of the time. If you are interested, can send you some pictures of her :-)

Thanks!

Thanks 👍

Thank you!

Thank YOU!

Sounds great!

Thank you for commenting and sharing that. We have a lot of Comfrey growing throughout our gardens and do that in the summer. Comfrey is great, but I don't think a lot of people know that.

Great idea, I've been making comfrey/ weed tea with cow dung thrown in, great to know another way to use this.

Nice, I hope people are reading the comments to see variations on how to do it!

Brilliant suggestion. Will try they as I dont have all the tools.

Thank you so much!

Not at all, there is no more water in my woodchips than in any old log you burn!

Awesome, thank you!

Me too!

Were the castings darker... really...new heavy duty poop.. several life time guarentied as it is already one of the most durable form of soil Bravissimo ...

It's hard to tell because the biochar is mixed into the bedding and castings already!

That's one way I charge my charcoal too.

Welcome!

Glad it was helpful!

Yes to everything! The only thing I would add is that when you heat organic materials to 770°F everything else gets volatilized leaving the carbon behind. So cellulose, being C6 H10 O5 -- when you heat it to 770°F in the ABSENCE of oxygen, it separates the molecule into 6 atoms of Carbon (C6) and 5 molecules of water (H10 O5 divided by 5 is 5 molecules of H2O). (No Carbon dioxide is created and released into the atmosphere.) When you burn cellulose IN the presence of oxygen, it produces carbon dioxide (released into the atmosphere) and water with NO carbon left behind.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Got it! Thanks bunches for taking the time to explain!

Thanks, that's true but there are caveats. You ARE right, there are valuable uses for anaerobic organisms, and what I said also was right, but you have to follow my words carefully because they're easy to misunderstand: I didn't say all anaerobic microorganisms are bad, I said all bad microorganisms are anaerobic! The bokashi method uses anaerobic microorganisms to decompose organic matter faster, with the resulting product called *pre-compost*. You can also use this method of decomposition for meat and dairy-- things you wouldn't **_normally_** put in your compost pile! This *pre-compost* must either be buried in trenches in the garden or added to your traditional compost heap for further decomposition as it can harm your plants because of its acidity. Bokashi uses a *controlled process* that uses anaerobic microorganisms to break down organic matter. But then you must kill off those organisms before the resulting compost can be used in your garden. So if you do it right it IS beneficial! On the other hand, excluding air from a bacterially dominated compost pile, or having garden beds with hardpan underneath, (which also promotes harmful anaerobic bacteria), is not going to be beneficial for your garden.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thanks for clearing that up.

@@WatchAnotherClip Actually I appreciate you bringing it up so next time I make a video I'll be sure to talk about it!

Would then the bokashi juice not be good to add to biochar? Better to add to compost?

I've soaked dry wood chips in bokashi juice for a month, then buried them in garden soil. Not much left of them two months later.

You can do it!

Welcome!

A thank you for your comments! I've spent time thinking about what you’re saying, even before I started using and promoting biochar, and that’s partially the reason why I make biochar in my woodstove rather than in an open pit outside. Here’s a quote from this scientific study: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c00952 “The content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in biochar has been studied extensively; however, the links between biomass feedstock, production process parameters, and the speciation of PAHs in biochar are understudied. Such an understanding is crucial, as the health effects of individual PAHs vary greatly.” I fully agree with you that the research is dubious and that’s exactly what they have admitted in their study. That study, although it can be difficult to follow and understand, states that the smaller the biochar is crushed, the higher the number of PAHs. Also that the temperature reached during the pyrolysis determines the number of PAHs present. The study also noted that higher temperatures achieved in small lot pyrolysis destroyed most of the PAHs, while uneven temperatures utilized by open pit burning had the highest concentration of PAHs. So, to determine the temperature of your retort, here’s a chart denoting the colors of steel achieved at different temperatures. My retorts turn bright cherry-red to orange-red, indicating a temperature of @ 1500-1600°F (820-870°C): www.makeitfrommetal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Heat-Colors-of-Steel.pdf I also studied PAHs outside of the world of biochar and I noted a study on the PAHs present in rainwater: publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC32562 I suppose there’s a silver lining to all this, and that is, the information found in the following study talks about specific bacteria that consume PAHs: journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/AEM.66.5.1834-1843.2000 So the very fact that (correctly made) biochar is a home for, and conducive, to microbiological life, and the fact that our soils have been introducing PAHs to our soils through rainwater since the industrial revolution, leads me to believe that the specific bacteria needed to break down PAHs are already present in our soil, and using good farming practices including the use of biochar, facilitate the proliferation of those specific bacteria. If the correct bacteria are NOT present, facilitating that, in my opinion, should be the main focus of soil scientists. That’s why I’m so glad you brought it up. Perhaps those same scientists will someday study those bacteria that specifically consume PAHs and solve the food crises created by man! I believe the bacteria already exist in our soils evidenced by the sheer fact that we are able to grow food organically. However, they probably don’t live at all in lifeless chemically-based agricultural land! Without chemicals, you can’t grow food on those lifeless lands at all. With everything in consideration, I believe you must look at it from those bacteria’s perspective. They don’t view PAHs as toxins, they view them as a food source! Well-constructed biochar could actually be very helpful for these beneficial bacteria! It makes my garden grow great, and everything looks balanced fungally and bacterially under my microscope, so, unless shown otherwise, I view that as evidence as well of healthy soil!

Thanks for the advice... however, things are changing and some municipalities aren't adding chlorine anymore. They're adding chloramine, a much more powerful bacteriacide that does not dissipate from the water when you bubble the air through it! It's the world we're living in! I guess they have to do it. Imagine how many people could die if the water was contaminated by dangerous bacteria!

You are welcome

I think you're the first person to watch it!

Welcome!

Thanks for saying that! Just make it any way you want and put it into your soil. (But please activate it first, or you may be very disappointed with the outcome!)

Yes, you can make it from green wood. Its moisture content will be a little higher so it will take a few minutes more to pyrolyze. But the worst thing is when it rains on your pile. I always fill my garbage cans, and dozens of 5-gallon buckets, with the chips the day they get delivered, and then bring them into to house to be converted to biochar in the winter. You can put your cans in any fire like you're describing as long as the cans turn cherry red meaning your retorts have reached 1500°F (815°C) for the best quality char!

The only thing that's really in question is the lining of the cans. In my study, I believe that by heating the retorts to the temperature we do, about 1500°F, anything that's volatile, and potentially harmful, will be eliminated. If you are concerned, you can heat the empty cans red hot in the fire, remove them, let them cool, and then take a wire brush to clean out the residue!

Glad it was helpful!

Yes it will, as long as at least part of the can turns cherry red during the heating process, close to when it is done!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you for your response! Merry Christmas and God bless!

@@midwestribeye7820 Let me know how it works out for you!

The rim is actually needed, in my experience, to maintain the integrity of the can. When removed. I've found that the cans don't last as long. In addition, the edge becomes sharp, especially after they're been through the fire a few times.

And we appreciate your comments. And best wishes to you!

All the best

I am interested in your communuty.

Make sure you're subscribed and click the notifications bell. Keep us updated on what's happening in your garden... and make a BIG compost pile and completely empty into your garden beds every year along with your biochar!

You're welcome!

I appreciate that very much, Paul!

As long as the can turns cherry red you know it has reached that temperature no matter the size of the retort.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow thank you

You need to use steel cans for the retorts, and the steel conveniently turns cherry red when heated to that temperature. So once the steam and the flames STOP coming from the end hole and from the seams in the cans, you can be pretty sure you've reached the correct temperature!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow thank you for the clarification!

Sorry!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow 😊 thanks. It's a painful sound for some of us. (Anti-ASMR lol)

You're welcome 😊

You can make char in the retorts in any fire, so you could make a fire pit outside and make it. Or you can buy pre-mad biochar from a company like this: amzn.to/3Y8sUz4

Really good video and info (I should also say!)

Hi Mark, thanks for the question. I always use feedstock that's as dry as possible, but I have used woodchips that have been rained on. I usually put those in OPEN cans on top of the wood stove to dry out first, (but you have to watch them carefully or they'll start to burn). That will evaporate some of the water. One thing to remember is that *the expansion rate of water, when it turns to steam, is 1,700:1* meaning one cc of water will expand to 1,700 ccs of steam. So when you see steam pumping out of your retort, even if there's just a small amount of water, it will create a huge amount of steam, but there is still very little water in that steam. Even DRY wood contains some water but when you multiply it by 1,700 it looks like a lot!

Thanks Mark, please subscribe to help us get the message out to more people. Not only will people have the best gardens EVER, and grow the most nutritious food for keeping healthy... they will also reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by making biochar! It's a small FREE way you can partner with us to get the message out!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Of course, just have. Thanks for your reply. I tried your method last night and it worked well. Its going to take me a long time to build up a significant amount though!!

Thanks Stefan, Here is a website that will tell you everything you need to know about the coatings: www.foodpackagingforum.org/food-packaging-health/can-coatings My personal view is that the high temperatures we're subjecting the cans to in the woodstove will volatilize anything that could be harmful. But you could first do the crimpings you need to do on the cans, and then put them into the fire empty, and then the coating comes off very easily with a wire brush AFTER you let them cool down.

Hi Josh, thanks for your question. From what I’ve read in the studies people have done, the optimal amount of biochar for most crops is around 10% of the soil makeup. However, most of the tests were done in pots, where ALL the medium was mixed in precise ratios. In garden beds, the rooting area can be from 10 inches to three feet deep so using the results obtained from planting in pots is pretty irrelevant. But just assume your rooting zone to be 10 inches deep for convenience. You would need to apply one inch of biochar to get that 10% ratio. Your five-gallon bucket contains .67 cubic feet of biochar, so five gallons would only be enough to supply a 2x4 foot area to that one-inch depth. Once that area was completed you wouldn’t ever have to put any more in, except for the fact that as your fertility increases, your rooting zone could go from 10 inches to 30 inches, in which case you could add more. A full garbage can is about 125 lbs of activated biochar, and it’s about enough for one of my garden beds to about an inch thick. So I produce enough for about 4 beds per year. I presently have 25 beds and I plan on adding about 50 more on my property, so I will be making biochar for many years to come!

This is very interesting. Thank you for the reply. I could easily calculate the amount or char needed in a 10 inch rooting area. And add in the yardage as I expand. The numbers don’t lie. I just wasn’t thinking of the over all scope of this. Unless I was able to make or buy a thousand pounds it will take years

@@joshd1512 The way I look at it Josh, and it's different for everybody, but if I'm going to heat my house anyway and I get free woodchips from the power company, why shouldn't I heat my house all winter for free with the woodchips? I don't think I can ever make too much in my lifetime! (I can always put it on my lawn!) Plus I'm preventing all that CO2 from going into the atmosphere.

Yes, I use urine, and I think it's fantastic and safe, but as you said, it's not for everyone! Urine is sterile, and when I think of chicken manure and all the other things I put into my soil, urine seems pretty innocuous! For the second part of your question, GOOD Bacteria need air to live. If you cut off the air, anaerobic (bad) bacteria will take over and in all likelihood produce methane, That's why I always put air holes down into the char as it's charging. Anaerobes are your enemy in gardening! I just had an idea. Why not put perforated pipe down in the center of the biochar as it's being charged, kind of like a Johnson Su Compost Reacter, to get a constant supply of oxygen to the middle and bottom of the piles. Thanks for the inspiration!

Absolutely. I first thought of using paper towel or toilet paper cores, but perforated 1 1/2" pvc pipe could work...maybe 3 or 4 per container. I might also try a plastic mortar mixing tray (about 8" deep) to let the charcoal bathe in the urine, but then it could be easily turned over and airated .

Thanks much. I do the trays outside when the weather's warmer. But it's just more convenient to have it in a garbage can in the house and activating it AS I'm making it through the winter!

If you use my sheet method as seen in this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJmng9Vlzd23YqM.html you can use it almost right away as you're not mixing it with the soil. But I do like to charge it up for about 30 days at least!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow ty! Good to know!

I can do that...SIR!

Hello, honesty I don't believe it matters very much WHAT you put in as long as you're putting living biology in. From everything I've learned, you want your biochar to be 50% of the mix with the other 50% of everything else you put in. so it could be 50% biochar and 50% worm castings. Or it could be 50% biochar, 25% worm castings, 20% chicken manure, and 5% comfrey tea. Of course, these are general guidelines of what works for me. After you activate it in this way, you then add it to your garden soil at a rate of 10-20% of the top six inches, ideally, or add a scoop to your planting holes, (and mix it in thoroughly with the soil), when you don't have enough for the top six inches of your whole garden! That's my take. There are people who have devoted their lives to studying biochar and finding out the exact percentages, and even they would have to guess what would work best for your exact environment, soil type, climate, etc. But I would start with 50% biochar and a total of 50% of everything else. John

Thanks and welcome!

Welcome, I hope you enjoy it!

Glad you enjoyed it! After the fire stops coming out of the end hole and seams, most of the volatile gasses have already burned and it is completed. At that point take the retort out of the fire with tongs and let it cool without opening. The coals will still be red hot inside so if you open the retort all the coals will turn to ash. If there's even ONE tiny red coal in there it will turn the whole thing to ash! I usually leave the retort overnight to cool and open it carefully, making sure not to spill it out, the next morning to see if it's done. If everything is black, with no brown wood visible, I'll dump it into the garbage can to inoculate. If there is uncarbonized material remaining just close it up and put it back into the fire to complete the process, usually about 15 minutes.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Genious really, this a totally different method than what I have read so far (which required extinguishing immediately by immersing into water). Since your "retorts" have very small holes to take oxygen inside, so practically they can cool down without further burning I guess. Looking forward to trying it myself - as son as I have the opportunity- Thanks so much!

You're right, they do not burn any further if there is even one red coal inside, the pressure will be pushing air OUT not drawing air in. Some people say you need to quench the coals to fracture the charcoal to clean out the pores to make room for the food for the micronutrients, but I find it unnecessary and actually counter-productive. What they call "impurities" ARE actually food for the microorganisms! Why would you remove food for the microorganisms to make room for the food for the microorganisms? Besides that, I do this in the house, and it makes a terrible odor when you quench the hot coals. Believe me I've tried everything!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thanks very much for sharing your experiences and for your explanation. Meanwhile I thought if it would be a good idea to let the retort cool down inside an airtight (or almost airtight) metallic chamber, just to guarantee that it won't restart burning. Just an idea. Thanks so much

@@user-kt7bg8fm3z It never does! But if it did, it just means it wasn't done. Put it back into the fire. But it never does!

Thanks for commenting. Make sure you watch the other videos in the Biochar Playlist so you'll know how to best activate and use it!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow I have watched them and am slowly watching through the rest of your videos. You are a gifted teacher! I just watched a video by David the Good showing and praising your retort. He did a very good job and gave you all the credit; told everyone to come to your channel to find out everything they needed to know to make one. It was a fun watch.

@@lindaschenck7013 Thank you so much!

Wood ash and biochar are completely different things. Wood ash is almost pure minerals, and biochar is almost pure carbon. So they have different effects on the soil. While wood ash raises pH considerably, biochar raises it minimally. In the old 1940’s paradigm of chemical farming, if you had high pH, you would add sulfur to your soil, NOT limestone, (which would increase the pH even more). Organic growers trying to ameliorate pH in that way are still chemical farming. It’s mixing the old and new paradigms, and a lot of people who say they grow organically still do it. It’s like a given, add some lime to raise the pH. The new paradigm organic scientists like Elaine Ingham and Matt Powers show us that well-made, aerated compost with the proper fungi-to-bacteria ratio, with lots of diversity in its composition, has the ability to BUFFER pH, and that is: to bring it to neutral, (lowering high and raising low pH). They also show that microorganisms are the key to healthy soil and good crops, not quantities of water-soluble nutrients measured by NPK and pH testing meters. The health of your microbiology and plants are your indicators of whether your soil is healthy or not! Healthy soil and plants are accomplished by the actions of, what I call, the big four: beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and beneficial nematodes, along with the rest of the supporting cast-- the microarthropods, arthropods, and the higher trophic levels, that can turn inorganic elements into the EXACT form of nutrients your plants need. The plants are in control of all this. The plant's root exudates actually TELL the fungi and bacteria what nutrients they need, and the fungi and bacteria work on the sand, silt, clay, rocks, and all the organic and inorganic matter, to convert it into the exact plant soluble nutrients it needs! This is exciting stuff, and of course, there’s going to be pushback from the old paradigm! But you can’t be lacking in ANY of the classes of biology stated above or it just won’t work, and that’s what compost and biochar are for! And BTW all this can be seen live under a microscope. Organic growers say to feed the plants, and not the soil. What we’re really saying is: feed the microbiological living organisms, and not the soil! That’s what compost and biochar are for. One last point I want to make: In the event the power grid were to go down, to use an extreme example, building long-term fertility is going to win every time. If the chemicals conventional farmers use for growing were suddenly unavailable they would not grow anything on that lifeless, chemical, toxic plot of ground. As for your question on making your biochar in an open pit outdoors, I think it’s a great way to make large amounts all at once, and the ONLY reason I DON’T do it is that I want to harvest all that free energy wasted going up into the atmosphere. Biochar works well in container growing because it holds moisture and nutrients, and since potted plants don’t have connections to the mycorrhizal network, you have to be in control of making sure your plants are getting all the nutrients and biology they need.

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you for your thorough and speedy reply. I have been an organic indoor gardener for almost 30 years and a worm casting tea brewing aficionado for half that time. I just recently started making my own compost and castings to have the knowledge of what exactly goes into it. Also started building a couple of raised beds from some pallets I rescued from a dumpster. I find the relationship between plants and microbial life completely fascinating! It blows my mind to think how long thier evolution has been taking place, surely Prehistoric, before dinosaurs walked the earth. Thanks again for the schooling!👍

We're all in this together. Let us know what the results are from your new raised beds so we can learn from your experience!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow would be my pleasure, thank you for your time and knowledge, great stuff😎

It seems that any plant can grow on NPK and it may look vigorous and healthy. But every plant needs virtually every element possible like iron, boron, magnesium, and dozens more to supply us all those nutrients when we consume it, that it may give its life-giving properties to us. I suppose you could theoretically grow vegetables using the Kratky method but you would have to use organic nutrients (compost tea) with microbiological life in it. But then you'd have to use a bubbler to keep it aerobic, defeating the whole purpose of the Kratky method. I have tried it by the way, and it didn't work very well. That's my experience and opinion, maybe there's someone who has it figured out. Let us know if you find out anything concrete!

Hi Eric, thanks for your question. I don't know if you've seen the video I made on how I incorporate biochar to my soil: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJmng9Vlzd23YqM.html but, for that bed, adding two inches (5cm) of biochar, about 250 lbs (113kg), will get me to the 10% ratio I'm looking for in the top 20 inches (50cm) of soil... just for that one bed. And I have about 30 beds and am planning on building 20 more! If you can cover your entire garden with 2 inches, you're right, you won't ever have to make it again!

@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you for your reply. I am 67 years old, living in NH alone. I am planning on 4 - 4ft x 12ft x 32 inch high raised beds. Two for asparagus and 2 for vegatables. I will also be planting in ground sweet corn, potatoes, melons and winter squash. I have 3 acres on top of a hill, which until 2001 was our family dairy farm cosisting of 240 acres for 3 generations. Full sun for about 12 to 15 hours in the summer with full south exposure and a 20 acre field south of that. My soil is listed a Carlton Loam. It is so fertile that I can not stop anything from growing, vegatables or weeds! I am going to raised beds for the sole reason I can't bend over or be on my knees like I used to. I am a true beliver that everyone should attempt to grow their own vegatables, weather they have land like I do or live in a city where they can only have a back yard garden or a few pots on their balcony. Gardening is very theraputic, rewarding and yes, challenging! But the way socity is going today, so important!

Hi Eric, thanks for telling us about yourself. Please help us out by hitting the "like" buttons whenever you can, AND hitting the "Subscribe" and "Notify" buttons so you won't miss any of the new content I've got coming soon. And it will be very important about _specific aspects_ of soil fertility to help you eliminate those weeds. Now that I'm 64, I don't want to pull weeds either, and, for the most part, I have already eliminated them from my garden! What a joy, finally, to not have to weed!

You can make it from any type of wood.

I already have one: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJmng9Vlzd23YqM.html

Welcome aboard!