activating charcoal, and do we really need it ?

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by 2cent420, Dec 8, 2023.

  1. i ordered activated charcoal, which they sit in worm-cast for 2 days, they ran out so i got a bag of bio-char dry inactivated after googling i found it stating a lot that 2 days isn't enough and 2 weeks to 6 month being most common, 6 month requiring you to pee on it daily haha,

    most methods at 2 weeks seem to say to soak it in nutrients, most favored is fish hydrolysate and other things like kelp and a 50% mix of worm cast,
    so i did that bucket, filled it, RO water Fish , some weak biobizz nutes, fermented beet aloe and em1, my kelp beneficial like great white , and i mixed it when i remembered and left it , main goal to hydrate the coal, after 3 days it was still dry in the middles, so i left it some more, and topped it up with water , by 2 weeks it was bubbling on its own , any slight movement and it released bubbles allover, the coal was wet through,

    someone suggested its prob anaerobic and i must drain it and try to repopulate it, so i drained it and bagged it in fabric bags , to see him post he didn't know if that anaerobic would be good or bad and he was guessing,
    other people keep telling me you don't need bio char in the mix and it can mess with the ph ?

    the char reads 7.4 ph on a slurry test pure from the bucket, i don't wanna mess my ph in my soil mix up its all sat ready to go in pots, do i mix in the char recommended ? leave it as i don't know whats going on ? don't do it as we dont really need it ?
     
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  2. TSTC (to stoned to comment but will catch you up)
     
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  3. Hahah I like it
     
  4. I’ve rained it to hella now, my pots arrive in the morning and Googling still has me on a merry go round wether I add it or not
     
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  5. Put it in there it will be fine.
    Here is my opinion on activating bio char. In the highly amended well built soils that we use, I don’t think it matters much if it’s pre activated or not. When your soil is cooking the excess nutrients and microbes from ”Your exact soil” will move in and occupy the pores of the bio char. I actually think this is preferable to a more generic activation.
    In poor soil, this is where activated bio char will shine. Delivering a generic population of microbes and nutrients will be helpful in revitalizing poor soil. That’s where soaking in kelp water first may help, and is a common practice. But is it really better than just watering in kelp after the soil is built or worked?
    The best of both worlds may to combine tasks when building soil. Mix your biochar with your castings or compost, wait however long then make your mix. But really, if you just made the mix and let it cycle for a bit, your doing the same thing, it’s just things are now in “their places” of residence and setting up shop there.
    Just my $.02 and it doesn’t necessarily jive with the main stream vibe on activating biochar.
    Cheers
    Os
     
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  6. Thanks os, so I won’t cause deficency to the plants draining to a yellow mixing it in no? And I won’t mess up the ph adding it and my microbes won’t be pissed off
    More benefit adding eh

    my plants are in 2l pots atm using small sips , there topped and on there 5th node so there established plants ,

    howsoon after mixing into the soil am I safe to plant up in pots ? Do I need to wait a week or so or am I clear to pot right up

    (as said my char said in a nute mix 2wk and now Been strained 3days )
     
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  7. You shouldnt have to wait for anything besides your mix to cycle the way you would without bio char.
    Cheers
    Os
     
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  8. I add mine to my compost bin. It goes to the worm bin after that; from there it goes into the garden. Mine comes from my smoker. After a cook, I'll clean out the fire box and put the ash and unburned hardwood into the compost.
     
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  9. Don't need it.
     
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  10. Putting it in compost and then the worm bin, I feel that’s really the right strategy for anyone that can pull it off. At one point I even “charged” my perlite by adding it to my worm bins. It doubled as a bulking agent in the worm bin just like bio char would. Same for rock dust, it should go in during compost or vermicompost stage.
    In the compost pile, anything that helps prevent material ‘matting down’ together is a big win making better compost faster. Kill two birds with one stone. I like your style.
    My whole routine for everything gardening revolves around doing things for more than one reason. It’s stuff like that, that makes everyone think us old guys are so smart.
    Cheers
    Os
     
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