Skip to product information
1 of 4

The Manure Sale

Saltspring Bamboo Biochar (Email to follow for pick-up)

Saltspring Bamboo Biochar (Email to follow for pick-up)

Regular price $15.00 CAD
Regular price Sale price $15.00 CAD
Sale Sold out

Biochar

A stable form of soil carbon with a naturally porous structure which improves aeration, water-holding capacity and nutrient retention of soils and acts as a refuge for beneficial soil microbiology. This is the building block of resilient soils. Sold here in units of 4 litres.

You don’t need a lot! In fact, too much and you will negatively impact your plant’s health. Mix biochar into your soil / potting mix so it makes up 10% of the soil volume. For example, if you have a 10L plant pot, only use 1L of biochar and 9L of potting mix.

Mix the biochar in thoroughly with the rest of your potting mix/soil. Use your fingertips to work out any big clumps and then add the mixed soil and biochar into your pot, flower bed or vegetable patch.

Ours is raw 100% bamboo biochar, so add it into your flower beds or vegetable patch a month before adding your plants and combine with our most excellent manure. This gives time for the microbes to start inhabiting the biochar and the nutrients in the soil to be absorbed.

Biochar works best when added to soil at a rate of 10% by volume. 4 litres of biochar is enough to try out with 40 litres of compost. Biochar will increase plant health and growth between 10-200% depending on soil quality. Our biochar is 100% natural and organic, made from waste wood to ensure it is carbon negative. Biochar will reduce the water and fertiliser you need to give to your plants by 15-40%.

Biochar can also be applied as a top dressing where it acts as an effective mulch. Some of this biochar will eventually be transported throughout your soil by worms.

When you prick out your seedlings into individual pots / trays, giving them a little bit of biochar will help establish a healthy root system. Use the same application rate of 10% as you would for all soil, just go a little lighter on the fertiliser you're using to charge the biochar. Too strong and you will burn the roots of the plant.

There is no need to add biochar to your potting mix when you are sowing seeds. At the early stage of a plant's life, the roots can be damaged by a high concentration of nutrients, so this is why we don't recommend using biochar for very young plants.

View full details