Homemade Biochar Reactor (Charcoal Retort)

In this video, we make a charcoal retort for use in brush fires. We used a 150 gallon tank for the chamber and used scrap steel to make the legs and hinge. Leave a comment below if you have any questions. We are interested to build up a community of people who want to improve builds like this.

I would like to add… what’s the difference between a fiddle and a violin? It’s all about how you play it. Is it charcoal or is it Biochar? It’s how you use it. Charcoal is used for heating, biochar is used in the soil. What’s happening here is all the micro channels in the wood, previously used to transport nutrients up the tree, are being left intact and cleaned of any blockages (volatile compounds are driven off). This allows for HUGE surface area for microbes to live on. A fortress for them to grow in. Think of it like a sponge holding lots of water, except it’s holding lots of microbiology. It is worth noting, before you apply this to a soil, it’s best to “soak” the sponge, or fill it full of nutrients and microbiology beforehand. This way, it will give off nutrients and be a suitable environment for microbes and fungi. If you do not add nutrients beforehand, it will act as a “dry” sponge to absorb surrounding “wet”nutrients, resulting in decreased fertility in the surrounding soil. One way to do this is to use a “compost tea” (watch other videos on it) and throw your biochar in it for a week or so. This is so it’s pre-charged with microbes and nutrients.

This technique of adding carbon to the soil is ancient and often associated with “terra preta”, which is a man made soil, originating in the jungles of South America, known for its high fertility. The soil in their area, surprisingly, lacked fertility for growing food crops, so tribes would add nutrients and carbon to soil to make it fertile.

I strongly encourage you to add biochar to your garden or pots, in order to increase the resilience of your microbiology and provide increased yields. Crush your biochar pieces to the size of corn kernels or smaller. Be careful if it turns to dust, as you DO NOT want charcoal in your lungs. Be smart about it. Shoot for 2-5% soil carbon by weight. The great part about this, is that it lasts a VERY long time in the soil, over a thousand years. So you can rest easy, knowing your efforts will outlive you.

Although this charcoal we made could be used as biochar, we won’t be, until I was positive none of the contaminants in the barrel were left after burning. Remember, plants absorb what’s in the soil, if you have contaminants in the soil (such as lead) it will be in that potato you grew and subsequently ate. Make sure you use clean containers when making biochar, or confirm that they have been throughly cleaned out.

If you enjoyed this read, leave a like and comment saying so, I will do this for future videos. Seeing support will tell me I’m on the right track.

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