The purpose of charging is to fill the nutrient storage capacity of the biochar. This way it will be able to release nutrients once it is in the soil. If you don’t charge it, the biochar will first take up nutrients from your soil and temporarily depleat it.

Charging Biochar – Co-Composting

Use this if you are composting already. 

1. Whenever you make biochar, soak it with water and add it to your compost pile. The biochar will take up the nutrients of the compost.

2. To get all the biochar properly charged, the pile ratio of biochar to compost should be 1:1 or below. There is no minimum amount of biochar that you need. This is a long term process, you keep making biochar and keep applying the biochar compost mix. This way you are building up a very healthy top soil layer over time!

3. Apply the compost as usual whenever it is ready. You are indirectly applying biochar.

This method is great because it doesn’t take additional work to apply the biochar. Applying biochar becomes part of your usual farming.

You can always mix your nutrients sources: grass cuttings with compost, manure with urine, compost with manure…