Its a soil amendment and is does matter what source it made from. there's many sources that are out there .Many are made from waste. Watch out for paints, oils, rubber and plastics. But made from clean organic matter works well. Ceder, juniper , pine needles does have some acidity? Carbon is just Carbon cleaner the source the cleaner the Char. I have been putting in one (1) cup per gallon of soil.
That's good to know. I suppose it depends on what its made from. Here its usually made of hardwood, and is usually about 8 to 8.5 on the PH scale before integration. It certainly isnt ideal to broadacre spread because of its dry alkalinity.
Its a soil amendment and is does matter what source it made from. there's many sources that are out there .Many are made from waste. Watch out for paints, oils, rubber and plastics. But made from clean organic matter works well. Ceder, juniper , pine needles does have some acidity? Carbon is just Carbon cleaner the source the cleaner the Char. I have been putting in one (1) cup per gallon of soil.
In my experience, it CAN be alkaline depending how its made.
The alkalinity can be remedied by rinsing or integrating with compost/biologics.
But thats just my experience
That's good to know. I suppose it depends on what its made from. Here its usually made of hardwood, and is usually about 8 to 8.5 on the PH scale before integration. It certainly isnt ideal to broadacre spread because of its dry alkalinity.
I always rinse mine, but for non-agricultural reasons.
I use the lye water for stripping/tanning hides.
The near 7.0 pH char is just a very valuable by-product for me :)
Damn sure stabilizes soil and holds nutrients.
I tend to use scrap softwoods
So you actually wash the lyes out of the char and leave almost neutral carbon? That’s an interesting point.
I rinse it when I need lye water for hide processing. At that point i add it directly on the garden.
If i don't need lye water, I add it to the composting process for 3 to 6 months.
The biologics in the compost process tend to moderate the alcalinity for me.