Terra Preta, Biochar, Leonardite and the home gardener

 

The author of this article, Stuart Rodda, is an avid gardener who lives in Eltham.

biocharOk, you may have heard of biochar (courtesy of Malcolm Turnbull) but what are those other two things in the heading of this article? Before I explain, I should mention that most of what follows is pretty new to me and I am looking for further information from any source I can find, including you, the reader. Please email me.

These three terms – terra preta, biochar and Leonardite – all relate to soil. Our soil is what sustains us through the food that grows in it and on it, so it is vital that it remains healthy and productive. For Eltham gardeners, where I live, there is also the vexed question – how do I turn Eltham clay into a rich garden soil?

Terra preta (= ‘black earth’), found in the Amazon basin

The story begins with terra preta (= “black earth”), a rich black soil found in the Amazon basin. Most Amazon soils are yellow and very poor due to the high rainfall and mineral leaching, but a deep fertile black soil was found there which was apparently deliberately made by humans over thousands of years by modifying the original soil (the presence of broken pottery in these soils was the clue which pointed to their man-made origin). It appears that the main modification was the addition of charcoal to the soil (along with waste materials from their habitations). Further reading on Wikipedia and elsewhere will fill in the details, but suffice to say that those native South Americans were pretty smart to invent an agricultural system which could sustain large populations on poor soils. We have a lot to learn from them.

Biochar (a form of charcoal)

Modern thinking about this soil fertility story leads us to the current worldwide interest in biochar. Biochar is a term for a form of charcoal used for soil improvement. The charcoal is usually made by heating woody material in an oxygen-poor environment, then processing it further to prepare it for adding to soil, e.g. by pulverising it and adding some fertiliser and microbes. There are a number of motivations for making biochar:

  1. It is a way of getting carbon removed from the air, and thus combatting climate change brought about by carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels.
  2. It is known that biochar generally improves the physical properties of soil and increases its ability to consistently generate high crop yields.
  3. The effects of biochar on soils are long lasting (thousands of years), so it doesn’t have to be re-applied on an annual basis.

Biochar on its own does not produce dramatic growth effects, but it does reduce the need for added fertiliser and water. Different biochars can have different effects, for example a biochar made from chicken manure will have higher fertiliser effects than one made from common woods. If the data from the Amazon soils is correct, the beneficial effects will last for a long time, maybe centuries, so adding biochar to poor soils (with some fertiliser) has the prospect of converting them to a Terra preta-like soil.

Now where does Leonardite fit in? And what is it anyway?

Leonardite is a type of brown coal-like material. It has many properties in common with humus, that dark coloured end product of breakdown of organic matter, especially woody material. Amazingly, it is found in only a few places in the world, and one of those places is right near us. The Maddingley brown coal deposit at Bacchus Marsh is a Leonardite-type material and it is sold for use in commercial agriculture. Its value as a soil additive is currently under trial in various locations.

Are biochar and Leonardite more or less the same thing, being based on carbon? No; while they have some desirable properties in common, such as holding moisture, they are quite different. For example, Leonardite holds lots of soil minerals and releases them to plants whereas biochar is relatively inert but provides lots of surface area for microbes and root hairs to colonise.

Availability

If you are as excited as me about what these materials can do for our difficult Eltham soils; then I have some bad news for you. None of the materials is easy to obtain at a reasonable cost.

The few sources of biochar (as found on the internet) are quite expensive, especially on a dry weight basis. Pure charcoal can be purchased but the type used for water purification is expensive – upwards of $5/Kg; and pure charcoal made for burning in BBQs can be bought for around $1.50/Kg but would need to be crushed down to a smaller size before use in soil, and ideally would be pre-treated with fertiliser and microbes (e.g. compost or manure) before use. Horticultural charcoal ready for use can be bought at Bunnings for about $1.60/litre, but charcoal is light, so that works out at $4/Kg. A company called Graysons, in Bayswater, sell biochar at $23 for 25 litres (approx. 8-9 Kg), i.e. around $3/Kg. A relatively cheap and common source is the charcoal that is sometimes left unburned when a fire goes out or is doused with water. In my case, I had a burn heap where charcoal had accumulated over years and I have now set that aside for garden use. It has the added advantage of being mixed with ash, a rich source of potassium and other important minerals. Also, Bulleen Art and Garden (BAAG) sell a bulk soil improver (~$80/cubic metre) which is based on composted wood with added biochar, although the amount of biochar is undefined.

The situation with Leonardite is a bit more hopeful. It can be purchased in bulk at Maddingley (Bacchus Marsh) for about $45/tonne (i.e. about 5 cents per Kg), but only in bulk, not the smaller amounts most home gardeners would use. Thus, home gardeners who are keen enough would need to take a trailer there and get loaded up. At least you would have plenty! Just be warned that both biochar and Leonardite are fairly dirty so be prepared with old clothes, gloves etc.

Before I finish, I should mention zeolite. Biochar and humus are both long lived forms of carbon which provide water holding and mineral holding functions in soil. Zeolite is a mineral which does the same, and is available in crushed form for mixing with soil, so could be considered as another way of improving the fertility of soils long term. However, it is probably not as useful at promoting soil life (microbes etc.) and good soil structure as are charcoal and humus. Zeolite is available at BAAG for $18 for a 25Kg bag.

Happy gardening!

Further reading

  5 Responses to “Terra Preta, Biochar, Leonardite and the home gardener”

  1. Stuart, good article and information. I have a dry tropics garden with approx. 1-3cm of top soil over decomposed granie, ex-railwsy layer, more deco then gravel! So any help is good help. You may also be interested in the ‘news’ article on the ‘Myco Gold’ website.

    Thanks again.

  2. Hi, I am interested in knowing more about enriching my garden soil, We live in Bentleigh East, where our soil was heavily used in market gardening (70 odd years ago). Hence we get almost sandy powdery dirt, where we have to work hard to get any summer annuals grow, water almost runs over without getting absorbed (almost like a wax surface). Even if I include a lot of compost, it may work a while, but goes back to the original problem. I think it needs something like coal. What do you think? I’m considering adding Leonardite, as per your article. Please advise:
    1. Is it advisable to incorporate Leonardite in our soil?
    2, If so, then could you please advise where to get this?

    Looking forward for your reply. Thanks a lot for your article.

    Renuka

    • Hi Renuka,

      Thanks for your question.

      I am not a professional horticulturist but the following may help:

      1. Water repellency is a common problem and there are products designed to overcome it – these are usually a type of detergent or soap, and naturally you would want a biodegradable one if you want to use one. They are not particularly friendly to soil life such as worms, but then dry soil isn’t either.

      2. If you soil is very sandy (it seems that way from what you say) then adding organic matter will definitely improve it, both from a fertility point of view and to increase water holding. You can add all kinds of organic matter – whatever you can get your hands on, such as manures, autumn leaves, grass clippings, home compost, mushroom compost etc.

      3. For long term improvement of sandy soil, a long lasting organic additive such as charcoal or lignite (brown coal = Leonardite) would be terrific but as I mentioned in my article, charcoal is current fairly expensive and brown coal is not that easy to get (despite the fact that we live near an immense amount of it). You can get lignite from Maddingley Brown Coal at Bacchus Marsh, but only by taking your own trailer and buying in bulk (e.g. a trailer-load which could be half a tonne or more).

      A simpler solution for you might be to bring in a ready-made rich garden soil from a local soil supplier, and you could build up raised beds by placing the imported soil on top of the existing soil or by digging it in to mix it with your existing soil. To increase the clay content, buying a “mountain soil” might be the best option as you probably don’t need a soil which contains sandy loam (a lot of the premixed garden soils do). Alternatively, bring in a bulk soil improver such as the one from Bulleen Art and Garden (yes, it is a fair way from Bentleigh). If your water drains away too fast and you are using too much water for your liking, then “wicking beds” may be the way to go. This method keeps most of the water right under the plants in a plastic-lined trough (out of sight) without “drowning” the roots, by enabling the water to move up to the roots through capillary action, i.e. the roots just take what they need.

      I hope this has given you a few ideas.

      Cheers,

      Stuart Rodda

      • Hi Stuart,

        Just started farming, career changing situation. Where about in Bacchus Marsh that I can buy lignite? Thank you very much, most appreciated.

        Regards
        John

        • Hi John,

          As Stuart said in reply to Renuka, you can (or, at least, used to be able to get lignite from Maddingley Brown Coal at Bacchus Marsh, but only by taking your own trailer and buying in bulk (e.g. a trailer-load which could be half a tonne or more).

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