Biochar is Good for Salty Soil

Biochar as a sustainable tool for improving the health of salt-affected soils
Soil & Environmental Health
September 2023
Link Here

        Usually these blog posts break down specific experiments on things like compost tea, insect frass, cover crops, or any of the other fun stuff we like to do here at TeaLAB.  This post however, is a summary of summaries.  The "literature review" was done by a group of Eco-conscious scientists out of China who wanted to look at multiple studies on Biochar and identify any overall trends.  Specifically they were looking for information on how Biochar affected sodium afflicted soils, though in their searching they found many other benefits. 

        According to the research, Biochar addition significantly improved soil physico-chemical properties by

1. enhancing aggregate stability (15.0–34.9%)
   
2. porosity (8.9%)
3. water retention capacity (7.8–18.2%)
4. increasing cation exchange capacity (21.1%)
5. soil organic carbon (63.1%)
6. nutrient availability (31.3–39.9%)
7. decreasing bulk density (6.0%)
8. alleviating salt stress (4.1–40.0%)
9. enhancing microbial biomass (7.1–25.8%)
10. facilitating enzyme activity (20.2–68.9%)
11. ultimately increasing plant growth

         
       That's quite a bit of benefit from adding some stable carbon to the soil.  A little biochar in the garden sure gets a lot done.  Thanks to all the scientists that made this enlightening information available.  (if you are reading this wondering "what is Biochar?", reach out with an email to [email protected] for a quick overview)

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