From what I understand about biochar is it is meant to change the soil over time. Creating a living soil that can change virtually any soil into that beautiful dark soil we love to see. With humic it can be a faster “fix” but it still is not about an immediate miraculous change. It’s about creating an environment that will keep getting better over time as long as there are roots in the ground
I'd like to see an untreated vs. fertilizer vs. biochar vs. humic vs. fertilizer humic vs. fertilizer biochar vs fertilizer humic biochar. Basically is all this just the nutrients or does humic or biochar do something special even beyond what fertilizing does. Organic material clearly helps plants, but do plants with adequate nutrition benefit from humic or biochar. That's what I want to see. Humic and biochar are very expensive. It makes no sense to pay that premium if fertilizer alone can do about as much as those products in conjunction with fertilizer.
The best way I've heard it explained, humic and biochar add no nutrients to the soil. All they do is make it to where over time, you need to add less and less nutrients to get the same effect. Plus the biochar stays in the soil for thousands of years. Native Americans used biochar in Central America for their agriculture and if i remember correctly, they dug 20 ft deep with rich black soil.
I second this-from this experiment, you could easily conclude that the biggest difference was from just adding the fertilizers after testing and not from the biochar or humic acid. Would be good to know if that is the case.
@@AmericanNuke54Terra pretta is definitely not biochar. Those central American Indians were putting down crude oil substances in their gardens. Only possible explanation.
Very interesting, I might look into using biochar and humic acid in the sections of my lawn that are very poor performing. After running some soil tests first, of coarse, And that's what I love about this channel, you really dive into the science and chemistry of what's actually going on. I'm sure these tests take a long time to set up, I can't wait to see what's coming.
Thanks for sharing this. There are a lot of conflicting opinions on humic acid and biochar and it's great to see this scientific approach. I watched part II already and it supports the findings of these visual observations.
I appreciate the results. I have also added the mycorrhizal fungi to the soil for better roots. Can this influence the results when the test goes longer to show the root development? I notice that the plants are healthier with the fungi added when some of my neighbors garden is starting to suffer in the heat my keep going.
Loved the idea and the information the experiment provided but shocked that the control wasn't treated with fertilizer as well. By not treating the control with fertilizer, it negated the purpose of the control. It is widely known applying fertilizer will generate a growth response. Basically, the controls became the humic acid with fertilizer and the biochar with fertilizer and the experiment changed to what affect does combining the two amendments HA and biochar have on growth and performance. It would be beneficial to repeat the experiment using fertilizer in the control.
Hey SoiLab, you definitely should respond to the issue in Eugenie's comment. I re-watched the video to hear if you said you also added the fertilizer to the control. If you didn't, she is totally correct. If you did, then it's an excellent, valid experiment. Well, either I missed it or you didn't mention it either way -- very frustrating. I hope you're still reading these comments 3 mo after you posted this video, bc I sure as hell want to know that I didn't just waste my time watching an invalid experiment.
This is very true. If you are trying to ascertain if Humic and or Biochar have an effect then they should be the only things that change in each experiment. So all other things should be equal, including fertiliser. So the control must have the fertiliser that the other 3 tubs had, otherwise the experiment is invalidated, because the increased growing effects might have nothing whatsoever to do with the Humic or the Biochar and may come 100% from the fertiliser.
Howdy! I live in the DFW North Texas area and our St. Augustine Grass has developed Take All Patch/ Take All Root Rot. this fungal disease is very hard/ almost impossible to control. Fungicides have very little affect to no affect at all. Talking with Texas A&M, they have suggested to use Sphagnum Peat Moss to lower the pH level in the soil. Because our soil is made up with mostly clay, our soil tends to be or on the alkaline side. With these soil amendments you have used, do you think it can help recover the St. Augustine quicker with less usage of Sphagnum Peat Moss?
makes sense as humic is not a fertilizer. humic is similar to biochar as it makes nutrients available and also holds onto water and nutrients to be used as the plants need them.
Make video on Biochar + Mycorrhiza. It is being said that Mycorrhiza houses itself in biochar instead of plant roots and it turns parasitic (instead of being symbiotic) and starts sucking nutrients from plants, leading to undesirable effects.
I just came across your channel and this video. I had to stop it at 2:38. I’m a permaculture design instructor. These soil amendments that you’re using will only show you 100% results positive or negative in living soil in a full garden environment with biological process is happening. Such as the mycelium growth and soil, moisture retention and pH balancing. If you had a full outdoor garden of a variety of plants that are all beneficial to each other using those soil amendments, you will see these things increase in size in a way that you will not imagine being such, a size. for example, if you had six fruit trees and two 4 x 8 beds and a handful of potted plants, this would give you a better test result for each of the types of plants you could grow with the soil amendments. If you only add the acid in biochar to, a soil that has no nutrients and no chance to grow any mycelium. You’re not gonna see much of a result from your bio chart. It needs food and microorganisms to complete the entire ecosystem underground. This is why your results are hitting & miss. if you take some soil samples and take them to the local so testing lab in the city, they could tell you exactly what you have going on in your test buckets. I know I have no videos to prove my point, but there’s plenty of Permaculture design videos on TH-cam that discuss the full food chain of the microorganisms underground along with the entire growth cycle in process. I hope this is helpful. I meant no disrespect just an observation that I seen in this video that was not fully explained nor was it fully tested in a full capacity. Lab testing certain things is fine to see if they’re sustainable for certain plants, but you still have to have the rest of the soil biology in order to see if it actually will do as it is said to do.
The tests are OK to get an indication... but Humic Acids are not a stable specific group. In general there is a bit of 'smoke' on the concept of humic acid and biochar... HUMIC ACIDS are a group of degradation products coming from the composting proces. Strongly related are vulvic acid and humine... All those components are involved in the proces of transport of minerals and other substances to the rootsystem of the plant and also involved in the structure of the soil. It's a dynamic system. My point is that this Humic Acid Family is present in a normal composting proces... but of course the proportions of the components can be different depending on the composition of the compost. BIOCHAR can capture, hold and exchange ions, particualar organic groups, into its 3D carbonstructure. Those organic groups, like humic acids, can carry and hold minerals etc.. Also the stucture and quality of the biochar can vary depending on the sort of organic material it was 'pyrolised' and how this pyrolysis was done (tempertures, time, oxygen contact etc...) BIOCHAR works like a dynamic storage and HUMIC ACIDS are one of transportgroups that come and go with minerals. My main point is that you should not buy 'Humic Acids' but find out which compost combination gives the best result for your situation... the same for biochar... it can work but... OK, did I make it even more complicated ? Sorry 😀😀😀
Humic acid and bio char is just a carbon source that work over a period of time, creating microbiological processes that make nutrients in available form to plants. Your ‘charged bio char means fertilizer added so it doesn’t retain it, so…
I bet most your benefit is coming from aration from the biochar here. does not look like proper potting soil so drainage is probably your weak point here. is there drainage holes?
*The more Oxygen used to make Bio-Char the more POT-ASH is made. Potash is HIGHLY alkaline as Pot-Ash and Animal Fat is how the pioneers made Soap 150 years ago!! The Humic acid may simply be Neutralizing the Pot-Ash within the Poorly made Bio-Char. The Bio-Char machine I built uses 5800 Watts of electric power at 240VAC for 2 hours and it's totally air tight so the pH of my Bio-Char is right at Ph 7.2 (More like activated Carbon) - When I made Bio-Char the old way buy burning wood in an open flame and then smothering the glowing amber's the pH was 10.9 when mixed with water which burns the roots of most plants. I'd try mixing your bio-Char with sulfur or sulfuric acid or just make the Bio-char in a 99% anaerobic atmosphere (no air!!!) to keep the pH of the Char as neutral as posible.*
I'm pretty sure the test is flawed from the start. Why not use a clone of a plant instead of planting genetically variable radishes? Tomato would be a great option.
A better test would have been adding ferts to the control. Obviously the plants/grass are going to fall short without ferts. That way you would know exactly how much the amendments are really working. This test is flawed for that reason
From what I understand about biochar is it is meant to change the soil over time. Creating a living soil that can change virtually any soil into that beautiful dark soil we love to see. With humic it can be a faster “fix” but it still is not about an immediate miraculous change. It’s about creating an environment that will keep getting better over time as long as there are roots in the ground
Not a living soil, that's something else, but it does take time. Humichar takes 8+ months to get the desired results
I'd like to see an untreated vs. fertilizer vs. biochar vs. humic vs. fertilizer humic vs. fertilizer biochar vs fertilizer humic biochar. Basically is all this just the nutrients or does humic or biochar do something special even beyond what fertilizing does. Organic material clearly helps plants, but do plants with adequate nutrition benefit from humic or biochar. That's what I want to see. Humic and biochar are very expensive. It makes no sense to pay that premium if fertilizer alone can do about as much as those products in conjunction with fertilizer.
Just bought 40lb humichar for $90, delivered to my door. It ain’t that expensive
Compost contains humic acid and carbon make your own from waste. Dont waste money
The best way I've heard it explained, humic and biochar add no nutrients to the soil. All they do is make it to where over time, you need to add less and less nutrients to get the same effect. Plus the biochar stays in the soil for thousands of years. Native Americans used biochar in Central America for their agriculture and if i remember correctly, they dug 20 ft deep with rich black soil.
I second this-from this experiment, you could easily conclude that the biggest difference was from just adding the fertilizers after testing and not from the biochar or humic acid. Would be good to know if that is the case.
@@AmericanNuke54Terra pretta is definitely not biochar. Those central American Indians were putting down crude oil substances in their gardens. Only possible explanation.
Very cool study, guys! I would be curious to see root mass comparisons amongst these tests
Thanks @TheLawnMentor. This is a great idea, you may see this in a future video.
@@SoiLab let me know!
That is insane value added to me, glad to see a scientific approach to this.
I'd like to see worm castings added to the test, I've seen great results in my lawn/ garden.
What was the initial soil pH & pH after amending the soil with Humic acid? Tomatoes can be sensitive to pH and it affects growth rate.
Very interesting, I might look into using biochar and humic acid in the sections of my lawn that are very poor performing. After running some soil tests first, of coarse, And that's what I love about this channel, you really dive into the science and chemistry of what's actually going on. I'm sure these tests take a long time to set up, I can't wait to see what's coming.
Humichar is a product made for lawns
Thanks for sharing this. There are a lot of conflicting opinions on humic acid and biochar and it's great to see this scientific approach. I watched part II already and it supports the findings of these visual observations.
Good video, however I was left wondering what was it that you used to charge the bio-char in the third tray from the left ?
What product was used for charged biochar and humic acid?
I appreciate the results. I have also added the mycorrhizal fungi to the soil for better roots. Can this influence the results when the test goes longer to show the root development? I notice that the plants are healthier with the fungi added when some of my neighbors garden is starting to suffer in the heat my keep going.
What products were used :)
Loved the idea and the information the experiment provided but shocked that the control wasn't treated with fertilizer as well. By not treating the control with fertilizer, it negated the purpose of the control. It is widely known applying fertilizer will generate a growth response. Basically, the controls became the humic acid with fertilizer and the biochar with fertilizer and the experiment changed to what affect does combining the two amendments HA and biochar have on growth and performance. It would be beneficial to repeat the experiment using fertilizer in the control.
Hey SoiLab, you definitely should respond to the issue in Eugenie's comment. I re-watched the video to hear if you said you also added the fertilizer to the control. If you didn't, she is totally correct. If you did, then it's an excellent, valid experiment. Well, either I missed it or you didn't mention it either way -- very frustrating. I hope you're still reading these comments 3 mo after you posted this video, bc I sure as hell want to know that I didn't just waste my time watching an invalid experiment.
After watching a few of these videos, it doesn't seem like they ever have a "Control w/fertilizer only", ever..?!🤔👍✌️
This is very true. If you are trying to ascertain if Humic and or Biochar have an effect then they should be the only things that change in each experiment. So all other things should be equal, including fertiliser. So the control must have the fertiliser that the other 3 tubs had, otherwise the experiment is invalidated, because the increased growing effects might have nothing whatsoever to do with the Humic or the Biochar and may come 100% from the fertiliser.
This is a great video
Thanks @lawnrebel! We have quite a few additional studies in the works as well!
I love the addition of living plants in the soil tests! Is their a test you can do to take in to account the microbial activity?
How did you charge the biochar?
When you mentioned charged biochar. How did you charge it?
Very thanks guys now I'm finally decided on buying some humic acid now
What is the propotion of humic acid and biochar in the mixture of these two materials you used in the experiments?
Hello, thanks for this video,
what kind of light do you use ?
What kind of soil did you use? It doesn't look like it has much compost in it. Should have used a control with compost as well.
how about humic acid + biochar, double humic acid, double biochar? would it be similar result?
Great Study Matt.
Thanks @SoCalLawnNOrder! I hope you found the information helpful!
Thanks for your test.
Informative video. I hope that you can make a video about fish amino acid.
How does bio char and or humic acid work in sandy soil? Will it just drain our or actually amend the soil. Thank you
I'm using something called BioHydro but can't find any videos on it.
Howdy!
I live in the DFW North Texas area and our St. Augustine Grass has developed Take All Patch/ Take All Root Rot. this fungal disease is very hard/ almost impossible to control. Fungicides have very little affect to no affect at all. Talking with Texas A&M, they have suggested to use Sphagnum Peat Moss to lower the pH level in the soil. Because our soil is made up with mostly clay, our soil tends to be or on the alkaline side. With these soil amendments you have used, do you think it can help recover the St. Augustine quicker with less usage of Sphagnum Peat Moss?
makes sense as humic is not a fertilizer. humic is similar to biochar as it makes nutrients available and also holds onto water and nutrients to be used as the plants need them.
I might have missed it but is there a specific brand that you guys Used?
Make video on Biochar + Mycorrhiza.
It is being said that Mycorrhiza houses itself in biochar instead of plant roots and it turns parasitic (instead of being symbiotic) and starts sucking nutrients from plants, leading to undesirable effects.
what's the ratio?
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
humic alone seems to do a good job
I just came across your channel and this video. I had to stop it at 2:38. I’m a permaculture design instructor. These soil amendments that you’re using will only show you 100% results positive or negative in living soil in a full garden environment with biological process is happening. Such as the mycelium growth and soil, moisture retention and pH balancing. If you had a full outdoor garden of a variety of plants that are all beneficial to each other using those soil amendments, you will see these things increase in size in a way that you will not imagine being such, a size. for example, if you had six fruit trees and two 4 x 8 beds and a handful of potted plants, this would give you a better test result for each of the types of plants you could grow with the soil amendments. If you only add the acid in biochar to, a soil that has no nutrients and no chance to grow any mycelium. You’re not gonna see much of a result from your bio chart. It needs food and microorganisms to complete the entire ecosystem underground. This is why your results are hitting & miss. if you take some soil samples and take them to the local so testing lab in the city, they could tell you exactly what you have going on in your test buckets. I know I have no videos to prove my point, but there’s plenty of Permaculture design videos on TH-cam that discuss the full food chain of the microorganisms underground along with the entire growth cycle in process. I hope this is helpful. I meant no disrespect just an observation that I seen in this video that was not fully explained nor was it fully tested in a full capacity. Lab testing certain things is fine to see if they’re sustainable for certain plants, but you still have to have the rest of the soil biology in order to see if it actually will do as it is said to do.
The tests are OK to get an indication... but Humic Acids are not a stable specific group.
In general there is a bit of 'smoke' on the concept of humic acid and biochar...
HUMIC ACIDS are a group of degradation products coming from the composting proces.
Strongly related are vulvic acid and humine...
All those components are involved in the proces of transport of minerals and other substances to the rootsystem of the plant and also involved in the structure of the soil.
It's a dynamic system.
My point is that this Humic Acid Family is present in a normal composting proces...
but of course the proportions of the components can be different depending on the composition of the compost.
BIOCHAR can capture, hold and exchange ions, particualar organic groups, into its 3D carbonstructure. Those organic groups, like humic acids, can carry and hold minerals etc..
Also the stucture and quality of the biochar can vary depending on the sort of organic material it was 'pyrolised' and how this pyrolysis was done (tempertures, time, oxygen contact etc...)
BIOCHAR works like a dynamic storage and HUMIC ACIDS are one of transportgroups that come and go with minerals.
My main point is that you should not buy 'Humic Acids' but find out which compost combination gives the best result for your situation... the same for biochar... it can work but...
OK, did I make it even more complicated ?
Sorry 😀😀😀
Humic acid and bio char is just a carbon source that work over a period of time, creating microbiological processes that make nutrients in available form to plants. Your ‘charged bio char means fertilizer added so it doesn’t retain it, so…
Liquid Dirt video plz
I bet most your benefit is coming from aration from the biochar here. does not look like proper potting soil so drainage is probably your weak point here. is there drainage holes?
Hallo
*The more Oxygen used to make Bio-Char the more POT-ASH is made. Potash is HIGHLY alkaline as Pot-Ash and Animal Fat is how the pioneers made Soap 150 years ago!! The Humic acid may simply be Neutralizing the Pot-Ash within the Poorly made Bio-Char. The Bio-Char machine I built uses 5800 Watts of electric power at 240VAC for 2 hours and it's totally air tight so the pH of my Bio-Char is right at Ph 7.2 (More like activated Carbon) - When I made Bio-Char the old way buy burning wood in an open flame and then smothering the glowing amber's the pH was 10.9 when mixed with water which burns the roots of most plants. I'd try mixing your bio-Char with sulfur or sulfuric acid or just make the Bio-char in a 99% anaerobic atmosphere (no air!!!) to keep the pH of the Char as neutral as posible.*
Looks like it did not work
I'm pretty sure the test is flawed from the start. Why not use a clone of a plant instead of planting genetically variable radishes? Tomato would be a great option.
A better test would have been adding ferts to the control. Obviously the plants/grass are going to fall short without ferts. That way you would know exactly how much the amendments are really working. This test is flawed for that reason
That was intentional he stated it toward the very end