Biochar. Best method for producing charcoal for biochar.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2021
- How to turn yard waste and kitchen scraps into high quality charcoal.
Complete step by step real time presentation of how to produce the highest quality charcoal with the least effort.
To have effective healthy biochar you must start with the highest quality charcoal.
This simple method produces the best charcoal with the least waste and the least pollution. Great method to sequester carbon that would otherwise enter the atmosphere.
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Totally enjoyed sitting around your fire. Could almost smell the smoke, and feel my eyes burning when the breeze changed direction. I learned some of the finer points of creating biochar. Thank you.
Well that is very kind, makes my day actually, thank-you very much. You are welcome at my fire anytime. Have a great weekend! Peace
Defo a way forward. Totally understand the concept and charging is a must.
Setelah jadi arang gimana aplikasinya jonson?
Praise God you showed them how to recover it , that’s what the viewers needed to see!!!
thank you. i've been doing biochar for 10 years now and agree with you on the pit method vs retort. I also add a steel cone shaped hopper on top of 3' deep hole and burn up to 6' lenghs by 2" diameter, burns clean, hot, easy to feed, good yield. Appreciate your post.
Thank-you Miguel! Your hopper idea intrigues me, I'd like to see that. Biochar has turned my alkaline silt soil into something amazing. Hope you have a great day!
@@jibberjabber8870 that is easier to understand, thanks my friend!
Can you describe the purpose of the cone shaped hopper on top? Are you saying you dig a 3 foot hole and put an inverted cone on top? Not sure I'm picturing this right... sounds intriguing though!
Perhaps this allows using much longer pieces vertically dropped into cone, so less wood processing
I don't remember the last time I spent an hour watching a video, so mesmerized lol
Will definitely try this method instead of trying to source cans and barrels all year long with little success, thanks so much for sharing this !
Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
This method really is too easy, you will enjoy making char. No rusty barrels, lol. Seriously, this method is 1000's of years old and works. Sometimes simple is the best solution.
Hope you are having a great day! Good luck with the biochar my friend!
I love that this video was real time with mistakes and all. We get to see the entire process, troubleshooting and all, like we are right there with you. Thank you!
And don't worry about repeating yourself. I enjoyed the talking and repeating helps me to remember. 😀
Wow, thank-you my friend, this comment really made my day! Some things I think need to be highlighted so I repeated myself, I appreciate your kind words. Thanks for spending the time with me, you are welcome to share my fire any time. Have a great rest of the week!
Thanks for showing us all, not just good highlights. Sorry only that my old ears couldn’t quite make out everything you said. A bit indistinct here and there. I’m in the UK and maybe it’s just an accent thing. Anyway, I coped ok and now I know how to make good charcoal. Thank you!
Fascinating to ponder who first thought of this. I suppose if you are digging with a flint or stick you would naturally make it this shape, they lucked in there. Once they had bladed shovels and made a straight sided pit they’d discover it didn’t work as well! I wonder whether archaeologist have found conical pits in early settlements?
Anyway, thanks again. My only problem is smoke bothering my neighbours. And having to convince anyone that in total this method is sequestering more carbon than letting this stuff rot naturally.
This is the best video for this method in my opinion. Great job, thank you.
Thank-you my friend. I'm not awesome at videos so I appreciate that very much. Biochar is very important to how I garden/grow, just want to share what I know works so well. Have a great day!
Awesome video thank you so much. I’ve been making biochar for five years and have learned so much of the scientific reactions that happen from just this one video. No more bio char videos necessary. This is the only one you need to watch. Yes it’s long but you get to visualize each step thank you again.
Thank-you for the too kind comment, makes my day! I also have video of charging the charcoal and incorporating it into the soil. You are always welcome back! Thank-you my friend, hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
Great video!! Thank for sharing this knowledge in long form!
Thank-you my friend, I appreciate that, cheers!
Best video. Very informative . Thanks!
Thank-you my friend, very kind. Have a great day!
Enjoyed this and learnt a huge amount. No fancy stuff but very much effective without too much fuss. Thank you.
Even easier than it looks from my clumsy effort to speed it up, lol. Thank-you my friend!
Thank you for this long video, which is very fun to watch.
Thank-you for the kind comment, have a great day my friend.
After searching high and low, all throughout TH-cam, this is the best video tutorial and method clearly illustrating and explaining, step by step, how to creat charcoal in the most minimalist fashion. No need to spend any money, or go on a scavenger hunt trying to source tools and equipment (metal drums and other pieces of steel) to make charcoal. This is exactly the method (ancient tech) I was searching for. Talking throughout the video, sharing your thoughts, experiences, explanations, and instructions are highly regarded on my part.
I can't thank you enough for equipping me with this knowledge and ancient technology. Thank you Sir.
I am humbled by your amazing and too kind comments. Thank-you my friend! Biochar is at the center of an 'integrated garden management' system I employ. For me to garden I had to find alternatives to the expensive and unsustainable practices most common in gardening. You will find Biochar very useful, this method makes high quality charcoal. I recently purchased some commercial product and I can confidently say it is not even close in quality compared to what can be made in your back yard. Good luck, would love to hear your results if you make and use your own.
Again, thank-you for the awesome comments, really made a difference in my day! Hope you have a great day my friend!
You said what I wanted to say better than I would have said it.
Really enjoyed this video, mistake and all.
Very educating. Thank you!
Thank-you, I wanted to show it in real time, not everyone has the patience to watch. I'm also not good at editing so I appreciate The kind comments very much. Thank-you my friend!
This was such a relaxing video to watch. It was almost as good as sitting by my own fire.
Too kind my friend! Thanks for that, have a great day!
This is the best video on biochar in my opinion and I've looked at lots!
Thank-you, you just made my day! Hope you are having a great day too my friend!
This here vid's making sense, friend. It's like watching a tumbleweed rolling down a dusty trail, gathering up all them bits of knowledge and laying them out plain as day. Ain't no confusion lingering ‘round these parts!
Thank-you my friend! Much obliged.
I appreciate your showing the whole process.
I appreciate your time and comment my friend! Thank-you.
You have enabled us to know many other views through your video. Thanks
Thank-you my friend! We can all learn from each other. Have a great day!
THANKs a lot for showing us how to do this, Very good lesson.
Thank-you my friend!
Well done, very informative
Thank-you my friend!
Thank you for taking the time to make this wonderful video ❣️
Thank-you for taking the time to leave this wonderful comment my friend! Hope you are having a great day!
I'm going to try the pit system as shown.
Thanks for the teaching Sir
Believe I'm in good hands.Thinking David the good did that trench on a video but still a good teacher
That is most kind my friend, thank-you! 'David the Good' is indeed a good teacher. You surprised me by your intuition, yes that was exactly what I referenced. He knows the benefit of using the cone, it is an ancient method. Cool that you caught that. Have a great weekend!
As calm as you usually are I was surprised, now I know that you are human ,we love ya brother
ตต
Best biochar video Ive seen. THIS I can do. Thank you sooo much. Your MISTAKE only made the video more interesting. Thank you so much. I'll be doing it this winter for the first time. Thanks again.
Thank-you my friend! I'm learning to edit and getting more comfortable. You are welcome here any time. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Long vid. Watched every minute!! Thank you.
Thank-you, very kind!
This was exactly what I was looking for
You will be pleased with the results. Thank-you my friend!
You could put the eggshells in a metal can and cook those similar to how you would make charcloth. Just to keep it all together.
That is a great idea, thank-you my friend. This is why I reached out with my videos. Meeting other gardeners and learning/sharing is, I feel, the most important thing I can do for my garden. You got me thinking. Thank-you! Have a great weekend!
Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank-you my friend! Have a great week!
This was so excellent! You provided jyst the info I have been looking for. As a backyard farmer, i want to know how to apply the research showing biochar's great efficacy to my land in a practical, doable way. Thank you gor this vid! New subscriber 😊
Thank-you my friend, makes my day! You are on the right track, biochar really is a game changer in so many ways.
Very good video thanks so much taking time to make this video and also explaining in Detail The process again thank you so much God bless you and yours.
Thank-you for taking the time to comment! Honestly, made my day reading this. Have a blessed day my friend!
Well done, my mother always has told me that "people that don't do things, never makes mistakes" that is a way to say they don't mistake but they don't do anything at all!!! So, keep improving and don't worry bad comments that "do nothing wrong, because they don't do anything" LOL.
Thank-you my friend, you put a smile on my face today! The things I know best are things I got wrong first time(s) trying. Thanks for taking your time, I appreciate that. Hope you are having a great day!
I really enjoyed this video , loved watching the fire as you were adding more items.
That is very kind of you my friend, I enjoy the comment. You are always welcome at my fire. Thank-you, hope you are having a great day!
@@halfmoongardens3345 I live next to a creek and park a sign says do not fish or swim in the water as it has tested and has been contaminated with pfas , the whole area was flooded last year the houses went under. I'm concerned about the pfas having contaminated the garden soil so now I have to rethink veggie gardening. I saw a science study that biochar especially activated is very good at absorbing ofas. So now I am collecting sticks branches to make the biochar. What are your thoughts on this ? Would I use a heavy concentration or just plant in containers? I would appreciate your thoughts .
@@juliefall2892 I have not used biochar for soil contamination, but I have read material where this is tested. Surface contamination like radioactive fallout can be scraped away then the layer beneath can be mixed with biochar to make soil. The problem with water is it drains through the soil. If this was a one time event and it was water and not sediment washing into your yard then the risk should be low. A heavy application should mitigate any risk if it is good quality char. Since Biochemistry is involved biochar would seem the logical solution as the microbial diversity should have the capacity to metabolize most organic compounds. I really can't say what I would do or if it is safe to use your soil. You are right to be thinking of solutions, here is a link you may have already seen but it is really comprehensive as far as showing biochar tested with pfas soil.
Sorry you have this issue. I would love to hear how you decide to go forward and what the results are. Thank-you my friend, good luck!
@@juliefall2892 oops, here is the link www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720375653
Thank you.
Awesome method! Will be using this soon. Got a couple big piles ready to go
Yeah, you will enjoy how easy it is and the resulting char will be very useful. Great to hear my friend, thank-you and have a great day!
@@halfmoongardens3345 love you tutorials and method of teaching! Reminds me of native American style... did you learn this method of teaching and the fire pit from indigenous people?
@@donscottvansandt4139 the cone pit for charcoal is common throughout the world where people still have 'traditional' rural habits. I learned the pit from South American sources, but they are used in Africa/Asia etc. Teaching was part of my job as management for 20 plus years. If I repeat myself this is why, I often trained teenagers, lol. Remember it is not just a pit but must be a cone. Different methods will produce different results. You don't want greasy cooking coals or high ash content you want clean pure carbon crystal for biochar. The shape really makes all the difference.
That is Genius...thank you
Thank-you my friend!
Ini kereen....salam satu profesi dari Indonesia ...
Salam!
On a small scale, I agree with your method, I think that the other youtubers u referred to at the start mentioned it's all about scale and context, trying to convert large piles of wood to the best quality charcoal as possible... I'm in New Brunswick, Canada have large piles of brush and sawmill slab wood waste been researching the most efficient way to convert a waste problem into the best quality product I can use on my 300 acres property... I enjoyed watching ur cone pit fire. It's a great idea for when I have a backyard campfire like stacking functions, make something valuable, I subscribed to ur channel, I have a small channel, and check it out when you can. Thanks for sharing
The hole can be scaled up, this was a demonstration using a very small hole compared to my 'production' cones. Scaled up from this method are the industrial retort systems. I have no issue converting large piles of organic material quickly into high quality charcoal. Finding enough material, I have 4 acres of forest, is a problem. Thanks for the comment, really got me thinking. I have to address scale and context. What is needed in an urban backyard vs acreage vs homestead? 300 acres would be a dream come true for me, awesome. Try a large cone shaped hole, I think you will be surprised at how much how fast you can convert waste to high quality charcoal. 300 acre carbon capture project should have the gov giving you tax breaks or grants, lol. Thanks for sub and great comments, I am happy to return the support. Hope you have a great day, thank-you again, peace!
Good job
Thank-you my friend!
Thanks for this video. I guessed you have discovered the ancient Terra Pretta soil creations. Probably not a 100 percent ancient way of the Amazonian's way.❤
I'm happy you liked the video, thanks for the comment! I discovered mention of man made landscapes of the Amazon in a book 1491. Very interesting book. I'm a biology major so I recognized the 'science' behind the soils. I've been doing this for almost 20 years, I'm not recreating Terra-Preta but building soil with biochar. Most people claiming they are making terra-preta are just making a mess to be honest, lol.
Have yourself a great day my friend!
Much obliged.
Thank-you my friend!
Subscribed. Always interested in char to biochar.
Thank-you, I'm always interested in making new friends! Welcome.
Thank You
You are most welcome anytime. Thank-you my friend!
Nice fire ceremony
Thanks for the video, it was long, but I enjoyed it!! Couple of questions... what are the dimensions of the hole? In the beginning of the video you showed the brush pile you were going to burn, how much of the brush pile did you actually burn? Lastly, Can you use green wood for charcoal or does it need to be as dry as possible?
Thanks again.
Thanks for watching my friend! This hole is approx 2 foot diameter and maybe 16 or 18 inches deep, not a large hole. The size is not important, but the 'cone' shape is. The brush pile you see at the beginning was all burned except about a dozen large pieces. I burn fresh fallen/cut wood yes. Green wood takes a little more patience as there are more oils/gases to burn off. The cone shape and starting the fire in the bottom building it up creates an extremely hot fire. Pyrolysis is easily achieved even with green wood. Dry wood is faster, that's all, and catches easier of course. I hope this was somewhat helpful. Biochar changed my gardening experience, I swear by it. Have a great weekend and thanks again for watching!
Hey good job works great
Tea get just up the road yer write 😵💫 good job
Thank-you my friend!
Glad I found your video. I was going to use a different method but this seems easier. I’m going to try incorporating bio char into my veganic gardening I’m going to try to find vegan substitute for bones and eggs for calcium tho.
Dandelion root is very high in calcium and other minerals, just a thought. Biochar soils are easily amended with mulch or compost and can outperform manure amended soils. Thanks for taking the time my friend, good luck, have a great day!
Thank you for your steadfast obedience to make sure we get this information . I wanna make biochar as I have lots of material . Cane you make biochar with pine needles
Thanks for the kind words my friend! It is worth the effort to make biochar, and yes pine needles should be fine.
Thanks for the nice & clear information. Interested to know approximately how deep should the( inverted cone) hole be and the diameter on ground level. Thanks!
Thank-you my friend, sorry for the late reply. The size is less important than the shape. This one is about 2 1/2 feet diameter and 1 1/2 deep approx. I have a larger one over 4 foot diameter and about 2 1/2 feet deep. This may give you a ratio, but the shape is what makes it work. Burn from bottom and each layer on top covers the ones below as the fire rises. Only possible in a cone. Hope this helps. Have a great day my friend!
I'm not done watching it yet but I gotta tell you I'm enjoying it lol I love to watch campfire too So I'm watching you play with this fire and listening to you mumble all the way through lol You can't change that now it's already done so if you show me some good biochar at the end I'm going to like And subscribe good job brother be blessed
Yes, that is real unedited, unscripted and poorly executed video, lol. The Biochar and process are important, not clean edits and flashy thumbnails. It was a great learning experience for making video. I just hope people understand cone shape, start fire in bottom and work up. Thanks for the time it took to watch, lol. Have a great day my friend!
Good
Oilers fan. My man.
Yes sir
You did great give it a couple of minutes
Thank you so much for this video, so informative, calm and professional. May I ask if it would be better to put on the fire sea shells, instead of crushing them into the soil?! Thanks again. Love from Italy.
Actually I have read several papers on adding Calcium to Biochar burns. The result is higher Carbon retention. Yes, the shells will not only carbonize but the Calcium will be retained in a more useful form for the plants to access.
Love the comment, thank-you my friend!
I have watched this video 4 times..once while making biochar....I do.use wood chips...got to add slowly as to not suffocate the fire. Wood chips make great biochar...
Thanks Chris! Great to hear you are making Biochar, and that wood chips can work with this method. I thought they would clump together, but if they work that is awesome. Thanks for letting me know, very useful. Have a great day!
I copied your process and added a small change. I dug my pitt the day before my burn, and I used a short piece of pve and a spray nozzle on my water hose and bored it in at about a 30 degree angle, aiming for a couple inches from the bottom of the pit.
When it started to get through, I stopped with the water, pulled the short piece of PVC out and replaced it with a fence pole. I popped it through, dressed the hole a little deeper, pulled the pipe back a little and covered it with dirt (so air couldn't get to the fire). I did a practice burn, and flooded the hole (wanted to get a feeling for how fast it would fill) and it worked great.
The next day, I pulled the pipe back, covered the pipe hole (a little), did my burn and when I was ready, flooded the hole incrementally. I got awesome 1/2" - 3/4" pieces throughout (not sure if it was just the tamping or the tamping and finally the quick quench from the bottom). I was able to fill a 55gal pickle about a foot from the top.
I'm a welder so I was tempted to build my own, but seeing how good this worked, I see no point in ever doing it another way. Thanks for the video!
For the longest time I thought I would have to build something too, but the cone works. Great comments, I enjoyed reading about your process, awesome.
The quick quench is important, nice cold water. I like how you approached it, impressive. This method will produce excellent char and your soil will thank-you.
I hope your New Year is starting off right my friend. Thanks for the great comments. Have a great day!
Watched the whole video and learned alot. Wonder if the hole was lined with bricks or concrete if it would make a difference? Would have liked to see what you dug out of the pit
Thank-you my friend, very cool. Concrete or brick might be practical at a certain volume of production, I would not dismiss the idea outright. The cone pit after being fired is not as hard as brick but the soil/clay is baked hard.
Here is a link to a more recent video where I do show what I dug out. Small burn, and edited not real time. th-cam.com/video/yn08AXGTv-M/w-d-xo.html
Thanks again, hope you find this useful. Have a great weekend my friend!
Thank you for such an informative video! I am just north of Liverpool, England, and am becoming fascinated by this whole subject. It is great to see comments from around the world, and to hear from other people about our mutual determination to protect Mother Earth!
I am confused, though, because of the charcoal to biochar process. Is biochar, in effect, charcoal lightly crushed, add this to organic material, and mix up. Allow the charcoal to absorb the nutrients, put aside for a time for micro organisms to be absorbed into the charcoal, mix with regular compost to combine the nutrient rich charcoal, and use in the garden? A long question, I know, but I feel I am missing something! Any advice appreciated!
Thank-you my friend! I too enjoy hearing from around the world, it is inspirational to know there is so much interest in Biochar.
Alright, biochar starts with high quality charcoal. There is an entire spectrum of charcoal quality from soot being poor quality to graphite being the best. You need to create charcoal by pyrolysis(high temperature with no oxygen) so you have pure carbon crystal in long carbon chains. This form of carbon is what will last in the soil for thousands of years.
To 'charge' the biochar you add organic material/waste. This could be your compost, animal manure, or fresh lawn clippings. Adding nutrients should not be the focus, by adding the micro-biology you add the means by which nutrients are metabolized and made available for plants. You want bio-activity. Once mixed with your soil this bio-activity will unlock the nutrient potential of your native soil. All soil everywhere has everything your plants need it, only lacks the micro-organisms to unlock it's potential.
Keep it simple, add some organic waste and keep moist. You can cover it or leave uncovered. Compost tea is very useful to charge with as it also keeps it moist. After a few weeks you can be assured it has been colonized enough to amend soil with.
The best results are by mixing biochar into your soil, fully incorporating it. I have videos on making soil mix and biochar ratios. I recommend taking some of your soil and mixing in a container with biochar until you can see and feel the physical characteristics of the soil change. Every soil is a little different, you may need more or less to make significant changes. The results are amazing. You can see the change as you mix, no mystery involved.
With the talk of carbon footprints, this simple ancient technology turns your garden into a carbon sequestering engine producing fertile top soil in surplus. Biochar reduces to need for large inputs of compost/manure and eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. The price of gardening if you are dependent on commercial products is high getting higher. Biochar is the solution to many agricultural and soil reclamation problems.
You need anything feel free to ask. I know I rambled on, but this can be confusing as it has many moving parts.
Biochar in an English garden, awesome!
Hope you are having a great weekend my friend! Cheers
@@halfmoongardens3345 Good to make a friend, "across the pond!" My interest is in countering a soil borne fungus which is killing trees in my region - it is known as "honey fungus" and by the time the fungus shows itself the tree is already dead. My vnew home is close to the coast, and only has a shallow depth of soil before reaching sand. Summers are very dry, and winter cold very wet and windy. I am devising ways to protect my plants from fungus attack. I have read that biochar is one method to use, and along with deeper soil - possibly containers devised to retain water, which otherwise leaches away, thus reducing watering. In theory the big pots will be sunken, but retain a defense against the fungus. Over time I will work on preventing the fungal spread, and reconstruct a safer growing medium for everything else. It is big challenge, but no problem ever goes away, until you put a stop to it! My compost is really doing well, with great worm activity, and, hopefully, full of goodness!i will let you know how it progresses, and keep looking in to follow your threads. God bless, and stay safe!
@@johnmcdonald9977 very interesting my friend, I had to go look up the honey fungus. Here I deal with 'black rot', the key I think to any one organism getting out of hand is bio-diversity. Thin top soil and sand sounds like the perfect challenge for biochar. I've been planning on getting some sand to see how much biochar I need to make good soil with it. Keep in touch my friend, let me know if you make any videos to share and I'll be the first to subscribe. What you are doing is as I said very interesting. Have a great week my friend, Peace!
Thats a hella lot of smoke there for my asthmatic family, since the beginning of the fire 😬 I wish there was a way to recover it.
The barrel retorts with high chimney don't seem to make any smoke, I really like that. And the wooden fuel probably leaves usable ashes (can you recover the ashes after watering the pit? Though I appreciate the thermal shock). But oh the trouble to get and assemble the barrels, and they will probably be painted, and I understand they deteriorate with the use... I'm definitely going to try this pit!
Done correctly there is very little ash. The point is to avoid making ash. You want high quality charcoal not ashes.
As for smoke, the fire starts quickly and if you use dry material there is very little smoke. Most of what you see as smoke is water vapor. The geometry of the cone functions to recirculate burning gases and produces less emissions than a conventional fire. Retort systems can reduce emissions and recover usable compounds like wood vinegar which is lost with the pit method. The drawback of retort is the fact that all retort systems burn 2x to 6x the material or use fossil fuels to produce charcoal. The pit allows the fuel stock to become the end product instead of just burning away to fuel the process.
With Biochar you have to be ready to 'think outside the box'.
Goodluck and remember if you have questions or concerns I'm happy to help anyone improve their soils or use Biochar. I enjoyed your comments, thank-you for taking the time. Hope you are having a great day my friend!
There you go
How dry should the wood be? Completely dry ? Whats Up with fresh cutted branches?
Dry wood works best. Once the fire is started, the shape of the hole helps the fire to achieve higher temperatures and it is possible to use not so dry feedstock. The fresh cut stuff I didn't want going to seed and usually stuff like that will burn. I rushed through this fire and didn't let it get going as well as I should have before adding fresh cut branches. Did not make for good video, lol. Thanks for watching, hope you found something useful, have a great day!
By now I made probably hundreds of wheelbarrows of biochar (made 3 today, ~1 hour of burning, no smoke, trench, awesome results) and the trench method that SkillCult talked about - is by far the best, most productive, cheapest method for anyone burning longer stuff, like tree branches, corn stover. Especially if you need to solve compaction and therefore need to apply it 2-3 feet deep (into your heavy clay soil) you need a huge amount of biochar and really pay attention to being effective, can't afford spending a few hours of burning only to end up with a little biochar because you have a cone not a trench (and wasting another few hours cutting tree branches into small pieces to accommodate the cone pit. Both the cone pit and the trench methods create equally good biochar, the key is air/oxygen, not the shape of the hole - it's important to understand this. You can have a cone pit and create sheety biochar. Or you can make the pit in form of a star and it can produce biochar that will last for 1000 years. The people from the Amazon (terra preta) burned it like regular people and it's already 700 years old and older and no signs of disappearing - are you not satisfied with such results?
Initially I started with the cone pit method (a few years ago), then tried other methods, but once I found out about the trench method I switched to it and never looked back - the biochar is much faster and easier to produce and it's not any worse. It's only worse if one makes silly mistakes when burning it, that comes from lack of experience.
Thank-you for taking the time to comment. I respectfully disagree about trenches. First, the cone in the video I clearly state is for demonstration not production. Cone production pits can fit whole trees short of a Redwood, lol. Geometry is important to the chemical reaction of the burn. Form equals function and trenches are the incorrect form for the function of producing high quality charcoal. By high quality I refer to the length of carbon bonded into crystal and it's purity.
This is biology, bio-chemistry, chemistry, physics and geometry. There are plenty of repeatable experiments run on fire. Anecdotal nonsense is just ash in the wind.
It is great to hear you make and use char. If you are satisfied with your methods that is all that matters.
I hope you having a Merry Christmas. Blessings to you and your family. Peace!
@@halfmoongardens3345 No dude, you're totally wrong about trenches, I see that by your reply "This is biology, bio-chemistry, chemistry, physics and geometry. There are plenty of repeatable experiments run on fire. Anecdotal nonsense is just ash in the wind." - this is exactly what you'd say when you have nothing to back it up. There's nothing special about them and I saw no difference. I bet you could never tell the difference if you put your bias away and look at things honestly. It's about oxygen, and you can make biochar even without digging out a pit - it's just you'd lose far more of it to ashes, but the charcoal would still be great for biochar.
What matters most is the source of biochar, if you made it from many different types of things (like me) you probably know what I'm talking about.
There exists indeed special charcoal that is hardened in different ways - but that has nothing to do with cone pit vs trench, that's just silly. And has nothing to do with gardening, it's mostly about medicare or other use cases where extra pores and no ashes is really important.
I’m a little late to the game, however, I loved your video. You’ve put me in a “Zen state.” I don’t sleep well in my later years, but your video has made me so relaxed. I almost forgot the world has gone to hell. Thank you. ❤️ Being a fire bug, my game is strong. Tomorrow I forge the biochar!!!! 😂
Thank-you! I get to start my day with your wonderful comment, awesome. Happy to hear you'll be firing up the forge. I love gardening, an oasis in a crazy world. You are always welcome at my fire, thanks again my friend. Hope you have yourself a great day!
@@halfmoongardens3345 Awwww!!!! You got my message! How nice of you to respond. I just woke up and am super excited to dig my pit and make my fire. Thank you for showing the alternative to a crazy steel drum and whatever kind of chimney piping that is. Who the hell has all that!!!!???? 😂😂 I can hear my compost/garden singing for joy already. Thanks again, my friend. ❤️
@@dianak726 I didn't like the rusty barrel stuff either, I'm trying to grow organic not make a mess, lol. The cone method is tried and true. I'd enjoy hearing how everything goes, good luck. Thank-you my friend, have yourself a great day!
@@halfmoongardens3345 It went well! I dug the hole right in my garden since planting season hasn’t begun yet. I think I burned too long and stirred too much but I definitely got some nice coals. I’ll amend my process next time. I’ve been saving my urine and have my JMS almost ready for charging. What a fun process! I just love to burn stuff. 😂
@@dianak726 great to hear, I'm happy you enjoyed the process. I'd like to get started myself, but it is still snowing, lol. You can use it in your potting soils for your plant starts now you have made some. Hope you have a great day my friend!
My only recommendation for a better experience is ….dig it a bit deeper and don’t fill the char all the way to the top. That way the water can entirely cover the char and extinguish. 🔥
Thanks for taking the time. Your tips are helpful and more than welcome. Comments like yours make for a better TH-cam experience, thanks my friend!
I´ve heard that you have to pour the water sideways to force the generated steam from the bottom to the top through the hot charcoal to increase the surface of the coal.
That sounds logical. I'm using a sudden temperature shock to fracture and increase surface area. No reason I can't also pour from the sides, or even introduce the water from the bottom. Very interesting. Thank-you my friend for taking the time to share!
Great video, now you’re wit a outhouse on top of it to activate it?
Thank-you! You know if you filled a few feet of char into an outhouse pit it would cut down on the smell, reduce leeching into ground water, and extend the use of the latrine location. I wouldn't use it in my vegetable garden, maybe plant a tree when I move the outhouse, lol. Hope you are having a great day my friend!
It’ll catch up fan it and be patient
Hi bud, I'm out in Nova Scotia trying to improve my soil, has rock clay, been adding peat, compost, getting better last 3 years, Im older guy, like you easier method, question,have you seen improvment in your soil using the char ?
I got tired of adding composts/manure every spring just to have hard packed clay again by fall. I started using biochar 10 or more years ago. Yes, I have seen the soil improve as far as loose, well-draining, full of worms and fertile. I have video of the soil being mixed and you can see the changes as I mix it. My most recent biochar video starts with me showing the soil I make. I say this so you can see for yourself and not just have me say it works.
I still add amendments but it is now just leaf/grass mulch on top of soil. No more shoveling and mixing compost/manure/peat/etc.
Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas my friend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 ok awesome Thank You brother , I'll go watch the other video, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.
i'm gonna try this with a 55 gallon drum
Take a look at other people using drums, they will have tips for this. Good luck, you can do a lot with 50 gallons of char. Have a great day my friend!
Some plants release dangerous volatile oils when they are burned, such as tansy ragwort so don't put them on a fire where you are inhaling the smoke. Just be careful of that. Very fun to watch!
Yes, you are wise to point that out. It is good to know what you are burning, and what plants release toxins. I'd hate to be responsible for someone being blinded or worse. I will make a point of including this warning in upcoming videos. Very helpful comment my friend, thank-you! Hope you have a great day!
Those aren’t weeds, that is yarrow. Holds medicinal attributes. I wish I had that on my property. Thanks for the instruction & reasons why.
Yarrow? I've heard of it, didn't realize this was it. I will have to look twice before removing 'weeds'. Thank-you for bringing that to my attention, I had a relative tell me it was an invasive weed. Hope you have a great day!
No its called tansy
Looked like goldenrod.
What about quenching with goat poop tea to charge the biochar at the same time? Then pile more goat poop on top in rainy season to leach nutrients that would catch in and further charge the biochar?
Yes. The char will speed up the removal of the poop and smell, lol. Adding to compost or manure will speed up the decay process and charge the char for sure. I hear it is great with chickens and their smell.
Have a great day my friend!
This Biochar thing is intriguing. But I'm hesitant to try it unless I can find peer-reviewed field try that shows it will improve my already healthy garden soil.
Somewhere I read that it improves barren soil but then I thought, almost anything added to barren soil is likely to show and improvement.
I'm not interested in anecdotal evidence but I'm keenly interested in objective studies. Can anybody give me a reference?
Hello, great to hear you are interested in Biochar. Asking what benefit it would give you is wise. Any soil will be improved if you consider microbial health and diversity to be an improvement. Essentially it is a permanent organic addition as opposed to annual amendment of composts or manures.
I did not rely on anecdotal accounts in my exploration, good for you to look at the facts. I have videos where I show in real time biochar integration in which you can see with your own eyes the physical changes it can achieve. As far as fertility or 'improvement' to existing fertile soil I'll refer you to PubMed. This is recognized and peer reviewed and an approved reference source for academic study at the University level. Pure Science no anecdotes. This link will bring you to a page with more links to Biochar research or you can simply search their data base for your specific interests. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34577054/
I am a Biology major with Chemistry and History minors. I followed the science and applied my skill set to the garden to make my life and my plants lives easier. Anecdotes don't water a garden, lol.
Awesome question my friend, hope you find PubMed useful. Have a great weekend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 That's good info. But I should clarify. I'm cheap and I'm lazy and while soil health is obviously a good thing, I'm more interested in the bottom line.
Lab soil tests have shown me that I have a healthy, balanced soil and all I've ever done is add home-made compost and composted leaves to my garden. I've talked to local commercial growers and they don't use biochar, despite all the good things I've heard about it.
I've looked (admittedly briefly) at the references you gave me but nothing seems to focus on the benefits of adding biochar to healthy soil. I'm still looking.
Cheers
The ground in my backyard is so hard that digging any kind of hole feels so daunting.
Good news is you don't need a large hole, and the shovel will do most of the work. I dug this in hard packed silt/clay. My hard ground and poor soil is why I make biochar. What you need is to convince a friend it is fun to dig a hole, Tom Sawyer the hole, lol.
Interesting that you use green wood. Some want it really dry! I’m also concerned about starting local tree roots on fire. Subterranean root fires are a huge problem in fighting forest fires.
The 'cone' shape creates vortices raising the temp. Wood that would not burn well in a campfire or even a stove will succumb to the physics of the 'cone', lol. Yes my friend, underground fires can be devastating. When I lived on the West Coast I witnessed roots catching fire and burning for weeks causing considerable damage. I don't have this concern, but if it is a concern due to location the 'cone' can be backfilled with a layer of clay as a buffer. Just requires more digging and preparation. Have a great day my friend!
You could always fill the hole with water a few times the day before. I did, but not for that reason. With that said, I didn't have a lot of roots to start with so I wasn't worried at the time.
Dam straight
so how old does this wood need to be? can it be fresh-cut branches, branches from last year?
Good to get it going with older dry material but will quickly get hot enough to carbonize fresh cut material. Good question my friend.
Is this just the normal way of making charcoal or was something here done specially to make biochar? I'm from a third world country and I see charcoal pits that look like those (except I think they're shallower) made by people who make them but haven't actually seen the process.
Yes sir, very much the same thing. The people you see, if they are making charcoal, are using the same basic method. The key is the 'cone' shape. Once you start a fire in the bottom and lay material on top it stops air from getting to the bottom layers as you add more on top the bottom turns to charcoal instead of burning away. Yes, old technology. Great question, thanks for the comment my friend! Hope you have a great New Year!
For wood chips gotta sift out the small stuff
I use 1 inch heavy expanded steel grating and let the big stuff slide off into a pile nest to the hole
I'm glad I mentioned woodchips, have been getting great/useful advice, thanks. I appreciate it my friend, peace.
Can i supposed to add manure to soil after applying well charged boichar or biochar is all in all
You have manure then use it, yes. The benefit is the soil with biochar will need significantly less manure than soil without biochar to produce good crop. So you can cover a larger area now with less manure, making your manure more effective over a larger area. Use biochar, manure, compost all together and you will be very happy with the soil you create. Biochar makes a little bit of manure go a long way. I hope this makes sense my friend! I'd love to see you work the soil, makes me happy when people use biochar!
Have a great day my friend! Thank-you for your great comment, an important question!
Awesome video very helpful and informative.....tomorrow I"m gonna dig me a nice Hole..
Thank-you my friend! Good to hear, you will be happy with the results. Have a great day!
It's definitely simple and easy, and fun! But it's not the least pollution... the smoke not being burned is methane gas? An insulated charcoal retort produces less pollution.
The release of gas is mostly water vapor and CO2, the more carbon retained as char the less CO2 released. Methane is the product of natural decomposition and is released by rotting organic matter, by burning the organic matter that methane is never produced nor released. Yes, you are correct, a retort system can potentially capture off gases and burn at more controlled temp to reduce carbon loss. Thanks for your interesting comment my friend. Have a great day!
I have a question. If I want to plant trees, I need to dig a hole.
What if I burn charcoal in the hole, cover it with dirt and plant 6 months later.
Would that be an option?
The hole in the video is for an apple tree, so yes you can. Mix the char with the soil and dig out the hole 2x as big as normal. Have a great day my friend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 thanks for your advice.
@@gerardvriend729 thank-you my friend!
Lot of smoke starting min 22+ish
Can you address that?
When we make biochar here in stove we see smoke as partial fail & waste
Yes, my bad, as I was rushing the fire to make a video it was not the best burn. The cone shape and building a strong fire from the bottom up slowly usually creates a smoke free experience. Between the heat and the vortices created the burn is much more efficient than my example. I also smother the fire and make other poor decisions in the rush to do it quickly. Good news is most of the visual smoke is just water vapor. Thanks for the comment my friend! Have a great day!
I'd probably use the retort method when I don't have time and I can set it and forget it. I'd do this if I had the time to watch it. Maybe do some kind of barbecue. Make it an event where we build a giant pile, in a big hole. Well, the main reason I want to try the retort method is because I want to direct the fire through a chimney floo i direct to boil water to turn a turbine to see how much electricity I can produce. That and practically no smoke.
But in this method, I really love the idea of taking my time, having a drink, something on a stick I can roast in the fire. BBQ time.
I'd love to see this done as a giant festival and it's a BIG hole, that we gradually throw more on. A Fire Festival worthy of the Fire Kingdom.
Edit: OH MY GOD!!! Ask everyone! Have you ever been to a barbecue that Produced charcoal?! You had no charcoal when you started. In the end . . . BOOM! Charcoal! 🪨
I enjoyed your comment. You can set a retort system up like a wood boiler for sure. Great way of thinking to use the energy produced.
An Eco-festival with biochar production sounds predictive, and fun, I could see it happening.
Hope you have a great day my friend!
Caco3 of egg shell converts to CaO which is called calcium oxide. When exposed to water it produces calcium hydroxide (hydrated lime) ca(oh) 2
You can increase the potential for CaO conversion by using pyrolysis to over 90%. www.researchgate.net/publication/276367302_Potential_of_Eggshell_Waste_for_Pyrolysis_Process#:~:text=The%20eggshell%20waste%20which%20has%20potential%20mineral%20such,eggshells%20were%20analyzed%20by%20thermal%20gravimetric%20analyzer%20%28TGA%29.
Genesis Biochar organic soil conditioner could be part of the solution. It is mostly carbon and can last for a thousand years.
Biochar is what I produce and use as part of my Integrated Soil Management. I have no need to purchase anything, thank-you though. Thank-you, have a great day!
I like to add loads of blood fish and bone to biochar before planting it with organic matter. I think grinding the bones makes for happier microbes than burning the bones.
Fish would be a great resource, I'd eat em and use the rest for fertilizer. I agree the microbes would love some ground up bones. Hope you have a great day my friend!
I add compost tea to the cold charcoals, crush up good with tractor bucket,. Slow releases
Awesome, wish I had a tractor bucket, brilliant idea. Here I am with a sledgehammer and a plastic bucket, lol. Compost tea works great, easy to make and apply, quick charge, yes sir. Thanks for the great comment, have a great day my friend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 Thank you , one lady I saw bought a used small wood chipper , put her charcoals through, seemed nice size too, 3 years back I bought some of the Dutch brand,said was prehistoric charcoal ? Advertising the natural microbial in it ,seemed good, but can't be spending money for things I can make for a faction, but mine can't brag prehistoric, but I'm old ,I made it, close enough
@@daleval2182 that is the key, people have been using this before recorded history. I don't pay for it either, too easy to make, and I'm a dinosaur so maybe mines prehistoric too, lol
Electric leaf Blower would help get the fire going fast. And when you add larger pieces to help get them going faster.
It sure would my friend. I put the fire out by being impatient and fussing too much trying to get it done quick for the video. Real time and unedited ain't pretty. I'll have to do a better video with less distractions, maybe some editing, lol. Thanks for your comment my friend, have a great week!
@@halfmoongardens3345 You Gotture done is the main thing!
It's hard to tell. It the shade like an upside down funnel ? How deep
Yes, shaped like a funnel, cone shaped. This hole is about 1 1/2 foot deep. You can make the hole any size as long as it keeps it's shape. Have a great day!
Can't understand the significance of bones and eggshells though? The way I see it, the process renders everything down to pure carbon, hence all nutrients, calcium etc are burned away and turned into carbon..
No real significance, just showing the variety of inputs. Some calcium is crystalized with the carbon and studies show the presence of calcium increases the carbon retention in industrial retort systems. Calcium as a catalyst. Some minerals are retained with the carbon at higher rates as the carbon purity decreases. Yes, you are correct.
Hope you are having a good Christmas. Thank-you my friend!
Sure wish you had dug out the product so we could see it
Yes, I will be revisiting this now I have a few more editing skills. You are bang on though, essential to see the finished char. I do have a few videos where I'm charging or using the char, but yeah I get what your saying. Thank-you for taking the time, this really helps me to improve. Have a great weekend my friend!
I never understood why when they knew that lead was poison did thy put it paint ? Then paint the walls floor and ceilings and live in it!!!
No, a trench actually works better. Wood is long a slender if you haven't noticed. Dig the trench in the garden, burn the brush down to charcoal, put it out, let it sit for two rains, fill the trench and plant on top of it. Any fertilizer you put on the surface leaches and the charcoal in the ground catches it.
First off, you burn 'up' not 'down' as you are not trying to reduce the feed to ash. You cannot achieve pyrolysis burning from the top in a trench. Secondly the purpose of biochar is not to retain your consumer fertilizers. The micro-organisms are what metabolizes minerals/nutrients already in your soil (all soil) unlocking/creating organic compounds that are made available for your plants. Retaining fertilizer is a very misleading way of describing extremely complicated and integrated biological systems. Your sources are just parroting one another and don't understand the organic chemistry that makes this all work. Sorry you have been mislead.
Yes, you will get some charcoal from any fire but charcoal comes as a whole spectrum of quality from soot to graphite. Biochar only functions to increase fertility when it is in a form that can facilitate this purpose. Producing low quality char can retard your efforts to increase fertility. You want long chains of crystalized Carbon and for this you need pyrolysis and pyrolysis can only be achieved in specific conditions you simply can not control in a trench.
I can help you to produce a superior product and understand it's integration into a garden/farm.
This may be hard to hear but you can always open up PubMed on Google and see for yourself.
Hard love my friend. I'm on here to help not follow the flock. Thank-you for taking the time to comment, I appreciate it. Peace.
How does this compare to a trench technique
In quality of char produced it does not compare. To produce high quality charcoal you need to achieve not just pyrolysis but at a high temp. The geometry of the cone and building a fire from the bottom by layers aids the physics and chemistry to produce a thermal vortex or multiple at once raising temps far above a campfire, brush pile burn, trench, or any method outside industrial retort. To make high quality char outside of an efficient retort method, not the rusty barrel stuff, you need to use geometry, physics and chemistry which can be achieved by digging a cone or making a steel cone above ground. Cone is the key. Trench you will get lots of ash, some poor quality char and some unburned stuff, just a waste of time in my opinion. Great question, I could go on and on about this subject. Hope this explains it. Have a great day my friend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 thank you for responding. GOD BLESS U
hello. What is the function of eggshells?
Good question. You can turn any organic matter into char. The eggshells just become more crystalized carbon, but with some extra crystalized calcium as a bonus. Bones would be the same. Simply another way to dispose of kitchen waste while getting something useful back. Thank-you my friend, hope you have a great weekend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 I understand. Great, thanks and greetings from Argentina.
@@miguelmolassi714 Cheers my friend!
Is the Gatorade for its fire retardant chemicals it possess just in case
Safety first, right?
Leaf blower cut time by an amount to make it worth your time to use one
I do have one handy. Thank-you my friend, have a great day!
I can't see how they fella can claim that he burnt that fire form they top with all that digging.
Not sure what you mean my friend.
Well now I can see we can use pine needles
Yes, just be careful not to pack too tightly small material until the fire is well established and you should be good to go.
Pine acidic. Judge PH changes