What is BioChar…And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Our Sustainable Wood Biochar?
Knowledge about improving soil health, enhancing plant growth, and sequestering carbon is important. We want everyone to have the most information to make the best-informed decision about their lawn or turf, trees, garden, or fields.
Biochar improves soil health microbially, physically, and chemically. It is a material that is carbon-rich. A heating process known as pyrolysis creates biochar. It is heating organic matter (such as wood, crop residues, manure, or any organic material) in the absence of oxygen.
But not all biochar is the same or for the same end-use. There isn’t biochar; there are biochars – plural. The feedstock, temperature, and time spent in pyrolysis all impact the finished biochar product.
The temperature affects the properties of the finished biochar product. For soil health in agricultural and gardening applications, low- or medium-temperature pyrolysis biochar is the best (temperatures from 500-900 degrees Celcius). At these temperatures, most of the volatile compounds are destroyed. The chemical bonds are broken, and the volatile organic compounds fuel the pyrolysis.
These biochars are ideal for agricultural and soil enhancement uses. They have high porosity (lots of pore spaces) for nutrients and microbes to hang out until plants signal that they need them for optimal growth and fruiting. Learn more about soil microbes here.
Technically, biochar is a type of charcoal. Not all charcoal qualifies as biochar.
The charcoal you use on the grill when you’re camping is not anything you’d want to put in or on your soil. Often, it has additives (oil-based) that help those “briquettes” burn better. The pyrolysis process for charcoal optimizes the end product for burning. And when you burn charcoal, it becomes ash with CO2 and other gases emitted into the atmosphere.
For filtration purposes, charcoal can be “activated” using an energy-intensive chemical or steam process. Activated charcoal is used in medicine, air, and water filtration.
Biochar, on the other hand, is used for soil health and carbon sequestration. When biochar is incorporated into the soil, the inert carbon molecules end up as sequestered carbon for hundreds if not thousands of years. The massive pore structure in biochar serves as a luxury condo for microbes, and it improves soil structure while increasing the rate of nutrient cycling.
Biochar removes carbon from the atmosphere; charcoal adds carbon both during production and burning.
The #1 reason is how much it improves soil health. Biochar acts as a luxury condo for beneficial soil microbiology. Whenever you have a strong population of beneficial microbes in your soil, there’s little real estate for pathogens. That helps your plant health and decreases the pesticides and fungicides you need.
The immense porosity of biochar improves soil structure by breaking up clay and adding organic matter to sandy soil. With better soil structure, you have improved nutrient retention, increased water-holding capacity, and an increased cation exchange capacity.
Biochar sequesters carbon, and your fields and gardens can be carbon sinks. It helps combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from organic matter that otherwise would be decomposing. Biochar is the pyrolysis of organic material in the absence of oxygen.
Biochar acts as a soil conditioner that addresses the limiting factors present in each soil type rather than working through a single mechanism.
The specific mechanisms vary depending on the soil’s existing characteristics. For example, in a clay soil that is always either too wet or too dry, biochar improves drainage by creating air pockets. In a sandy or loam soil, biochar acts like a sponge and soaks up water that otherwise would drain too quickly.
Most biochars are alkaline and can help neutralize acidic soils, which is beneficial for many crops. Even in neutral or slightly alkaline soils, biochar provides buffering capacity that helps stabilize pH over time.
The high porosity of biochar creates binding sites for macro- and micronutrients. This keeps them from leaching away and makes nutrients available to plants when they need them.
Biochar provides several universal benefits that help improve all soil types. It also provides a beneficial microbial habitat. This enhanced microbial activity improves nutrient cycling, disease suppression, and overall soil health across all soil types.
There are several reasons people aren’t using biochar for its benefits as a soil amendment; the primary one is a lack of awareness of those benefits.
There has also been difficulty finding biochar at the retail level because of a lack of infrastructure. That is changing, and you can now find biochar blends in most retail outlets that carry soil amendments. If you don’t find it in your store, ask, and most retailers can order BioChar for you.
This is a very frequently asked question! The answer depends on the type of BioChar and your goal.
The feedstock (organic material) and pyrolysis time determine the characteristics of the biochar. There isn’t a single BIOCHAR but multiple BIOCHARS.
At American BioChar Company, we offer BioChar blends in liquid and granular forms that can be applied through a spray system or added to horticultural potting soil. They can also be used as a soil amendment directly in the garden or field.
The rate of application is very low. It costs about $20.00 to cover 1/4 acre with our VITAL Blend 5M liquid biochar blend.
Yes, the pure carbon pore structure in biochar acts like a sponge to soak up the nutrient molecules in the fertilizer.
It can be used with organic or synthetic fertilizers. It is wise not to use fungicides with your fertilizer because the pores in biochar also act as housing for beneficial microbes. When you kill off the pathogens, you also kill the beneficials.
Those pores also have a slight electrical charge and attract nutrient ions. Biochar can store those nutrients until your plants need them, reducing leaching and run-off of expensive inputs.
VITAL Blend is a granular blend of activated BioChar and freshwater-sourced Humate. We charge our BioChar with the Humate for a perfect combination; it is foundational, effective by itself, or blended with composts, fertilizers, or other mixtures.
The BioChar is USDA Certified Biobased and the Humate (ACTIV80 AG from Black Earth) is OMRI Listed, and the blend has a pH value of just below 7.0 – perfect for soil nutrient availability. The Biochar increases the soil’s porosity, and the Humate provides nutrients and high-energy food for the soil microbes.
VITAL Blend 5M is the liquid equivalent of the granular formula. It is an organic liquid soil amendment that combines 5 micron-sized, activated BioChar (NAKED Char 5M) with freshwater-sourced liquid Humate (Humalite).
It can be used in any spray equipment and won’t clog. It is a good alternative for foliar applications and new plantings.
We don’t use the word organic lightly; our BioChar and Humate are both OMRI Listed, and our BioChar is also IBI Certified (International Biochar Initiative) and USDA BioPreferred.
The short answer is yes.
As with all soil amendments, the right amount at the right time is important.
Research shows that too much of a biochar blend will decrease yield and stunt growth. All soil amendments, used in excess, will either leach away or be detrimental to plant health.
Biochar blends keep nutrients in the plant root zone and decrease leaching. Our VITAL Blend and VITAL Blend 5M biochar blends are formulated for long-term soil health. The humates provide short-term microbial fuel to jumpstart plant growth.
Contact us for specifics on use rates. Our products are concentrated, so you’ll need less than you may think.
Humate is a naturally occurring substance derived from the long-term decomposition of organic matter—think ancient plant and animal residues that have broken down over thousands of years. It’s rich in humic substances, which include:
- Humic acids: Large molecules that bind nutrients and metals, improving soil fertility and microbial activity.
- Fulvic acids: Smaller, water-soluble molecules that carry trace minerals directly into plant cells.
- Humins: Insoluble components that help build soil structure and long-term carbon stability
Humate acts as a soil conditioner and biological stimulant, offering benefits like:
- Improved nutrient retention: Boosts cation exchange capacity (CEC), helping soil hold onto nutrients.
- Enhanced water-holding capacity: Helps soil retain moisture, especially in sandy or degraded soils.
- Microbial activation: Encourages beneficial microbes and earthworms, which support nutrient cycling.
- Root development: Promotes deeper, stronger root systems for better drought resistance and nutrient uptake
We source our humate from freshwater deposits of Humalite. That’s important to us because many sources of humate are seawater-deposit sourced, and soil salinity issues can occur. We avoid any of those issues with proper sourcing.
The answer to this question depends a great deal on your goals; what you’re interested in finding out. One free test, the Jar Test, gives you a good indication of the amount of clay, silt, and sand in your soil. With that information, you can get an idea of how your soil will behave regarding water retention, nutrient cycling, and compaction risk. All you need for this test is a jar with a tight-fitting lid, soil, water, and a few drops of dish soap. For specifics on how to do this and other tests, go to our soil testing page.
Biochar: A Natural Soil Amendment for Your Landscape
It’s exciting to see the resiliency of new turf and tree planting with the addition of VITAL Blend granular or liquid.
Our organic, OMRI listed and IBI verified products are sourced from Southern Yellow Pine that is a waste product from the sustainable forest industry. The Humate in our blends is freshwater-sourced Humalite. We use single-source suppliers, so you are assured of a consistent nutrient profile in our biochar.