Do let us know how it works for you.

A dairy operation near me, Fair Oaks, uses their waste in a bio generator to make gas to burn the moisture out of it. The process leaves a dry product. I've been unable to get any of it though. I'd be careful as cow manure has a lot of salts and can burn if too much is used.
Were I to gert any, I think I'd mix it with alfalfa and cotton seed meal.

Lucky You - certainly make use of it - Biochar has been a crucial ingredient in some of the most fertile soils on Earth. I will dig out some stuff and get back to you. Green with envy here!

Good question to check on Karl, also I want to check on pH effects of biochar as I've seen some info that it raises pH like wood ash. I've attached a link to the farm that produces the biochar, since they are market their compost & biochar to landscape & garden people, I hoping they have some good answers to these questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: biochar info

I just bought some biochar from BuyActivatedCharcoal house. It did not come with any instructions. I would like to try it on my newbies. I would like feedback on this product too.

Just wondering if the people who used bio char noticed any difference in their rose gardens.... This is the only thread about it.... it seems not to be mentioned much.... just wondering if this actually made your gardens better.... I am in very sandy soil.... though I add tons of leaf litter and worm castings, I have NO idea where it goes.... after a year (or less) it appears to have vanished, though I know it hasn't blown or washed away... I think it sinks and sand rises to the top.... seems counter intuitive but I can't explain where it goes... wondering if bio char could permenately change my sand to good soil..... when I started my rose beds, I dug down 4 feet deep and put in nothing but manure and let compost.... now it is sand again.

I used biochar for my bamboo in a pot. It grew like gangbusters that first year, but has declined since I am unable to replace the soil or even fertilize it easily. But now the roses are tall enough to block the ugly parking lot light behind my back yard.

If you use biochar make sure you also give potassium in almost equal ratio to balance out the nitrogen.Bamboo needs a lot of nitrogen to thrive. Dont think roses need that much and it might even inhibit blooms. I personally prefer not to put anything organic that is really high in nitrogen and slow release because you cannot time the right nutrients with the bud formation. I would rather use short release fish emulsion to give nitrogen selectively during the growing and leafing out stage.

I don't think that anything organic will permanently fix your sandy soil. I think you would have to bring in some clay or and put it down over your sand. I read clay resists breaking down by constant acid rain. I do think you need to be careful about the pH or the ratio if you choose to mix sand and clay because I do recall Strawchicago saying on the organic rose forum that mixing sand and clay in her alkaline soil caused a concrete like formation.

I’ve got the same problem. (Was just chatting with Jin about this too.) Our sand is basically an inorganic sieve. I’ve tried Biochar in a few raised beds with good results. My most satisfactory soil improvements have been with free cardboard from furniture stores topped with free tree mulch. It seems to attract the earthworms who keep moving and adding to the OM. I’ve got several beds where the mulch has turned to rich black soil full of worms, and has stayed that way for several years now.

I do think Biochar works, as long as you make sure there’s something to feed to microorganisms. I just needed something more economical on a whole-yard scale here. :-)

I have also read that the soil biology needs to be very clean for the microorganisms to multiply & store resources in the Biochar.

So that means no high NPK ferts, no -cides of any kind, no water with chlorine, etc. or you kill the little guys. :-)

My water is heavily chlorinated too so I am trying to use rain water instead now.

Perma, so do you need to add new organic matter each year? Or do you leave thr fallen leaves in your beds?

I try to add new OM twice a year. I’ll top fallen leaves with straw, and do a fish & molasses blend to feed the micro organisms. I’m really working on feeding worms to get them to do more of the work for me. I’m planting my new stuff in the ground, but in cardboard boxes because they love the cardboard so much. :-)