Our Biochar comes straight from the kiln so it is free of chemicals and nutrients.
As charcoal is a sort of cooked plant material (English Hardwood in our case), it has a highly porous sponge like structure which provides homes for microbial and fungal life while storing water and nutrients.
It can be mixed in to the soil straight away, though it can initially compete with plants for both water and nutrients. So you might not see any results for a year or so, as the Biochar needs time to absorb nutrients before it can then slowly release them back to the plants.
Once Biochar has been Enriched (Activated, Charged or Fermented), it is full of nutrients and microbial life and so will benefit your plants straight away. Plus Biochar doesn't breakdown in the same way as other organic/carbon material and will benefit the soils structure and fertility for hundreds of years.
There are many ways to enrich Biochar for your garden by mixing with rotting organic materials...
• The easiest solution is to mix it into your compost heap or with manure and leave it for a few months.
• Mix Biochar with grass clippings and cover with cardboard. Keep it dark and moist for a couple months until all of the clippings have composted.
• Mix Biochar 50/50 with worm castings and add a small amount of flour. The flour works as a food for microbes and encourages them to grow rapidly and bind everything together. This process can take only a couple of weeks.
• Sprinkle Biochar in your chicken run. It will help to reduce any odours while at the same time absorbing the nutrients from the chicken waste. When you clean out your chickens, mix with some compost and leave it for a few weeks to ferment a little more before applying to the soil.
We also sell Enriched Biochar that has been fermented for six months with horse manure.
Read our Horticultural Charcoal page or browse our Online Shop.