There's quite a bit about Azomite on the Organic Rose Forum if I remember correctly. Try doing a search there. It's something that can be put around the bush and it filters down. Again, that's my recall which may be faulty. I never used it.

I’ve read all the “yes, Biochar” and “no, Biochar” stuff out there, but just decided to try it. I do see much stronger, healthier growth where I’ve used it. I bought plain Biochar and charged it with earthworm castings from my wormbin. The roses and strawberries I’ve used it on seemed to want less fertilizer than the plants nearby without it. I agree with what K S said, that it’s a good way to build OM in our sandy, nutrient-leaky soil, along with other types of OM. I was attracted to Biochar for its longevity, since our soil doesn’t hold onto much for long. I’m adding it to all my planting holes as I put in this year’s roses, so we’ll see! :-)

Ah yes - the reason I decided not to get too excited about it at present was that our soil is heavy clay. I have always used wood ash from our wood stove which always contains small chunks of what could be called plant charcoal. And I dug some ash from our big brush burn pile last year and used it because I didn't have enough from the stove. I think I'll just stick to that.

Biochar does seem interesting, but it's so expensive ; at least here, I'd have to buy it on Amazon...

How much energy does it take to create or is it a by-product of some other process?

You can make it yourself by drying and then burning yard waste from your garden. The stuff that is sold is probably mostly scraps from other industries, like this product that uses the byproducts of a lumber mill: https://pacificbiochar.com/how-to-make-biochar-with-only-a-match/

If your greenhouse stock is being grown in a potting mix, don't bother with organics. Grow mixes won't support the microbial life needed to break down organics.

Organics are the bomb-- but only for plants being grown in real LIVE dirt!

I'm confused about what biochar exactly is; I've seen/read on Internet contradictory things. Some say that it's easy to make yourself, whilst others say that you need a special, air-tight container,and that it's a sort of complicated process... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svNg5w7WY0k 

My permaculture group did a workshop on using Biochar, and what I remember was that yes, you can make your own, but you won’t get as much micro-friendly charcoal. The slow, low-oxygen burn is what creates the most beneficial charcoal, because it leaves open cells for bacteria and fungi to colonate in. That’s the gain in putting it in the soil, so you can concentrate these microbial benefits where you are growing. So I guess if you’re making your own, you just apply more to offset any over-cooked charcoal? It sounded like a lot of work to make my own, and without a microscope I wouldn’t know if I had made it correctly, so I just bought it. :-)

I'm with Bart - what is the difference between charcoal and biochar? How to make charcoal is a description of historic charcoal making. The charcoal was used to fuel an 18th century ironworks in southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the same process of partially burning wood by depriving the fire of oxygen. I understand this is the same stuff currently sitting in a bag in my garage waiting for the weather to turn, and my DH to start barbecuing again

I wonder if traditional charcoal would work similarly if it were pulverized. That might be easier for Bart to find in Italy. It might also be worth it to just buy a very small bag of pre-made biochar and test it out in one area to see if it helps before moving forward with more large-scale biochar schemes. ;)

You just want to make sure it’s put charcoal. Some products have chemicals added to increase heat, etc. I think Trader Joe’s sells all-charcoal briquettes. :-)

You just want to make sure it’s pure charcoal. Some products have chemicals added to increase heat, etc. I think Trader Joe’s sells all-charcoal briquettes. :-)

It's easy to find charcoal for grilling here; not the "briquettes",just black,partially-burnt wood. It's not expensive, so I could see buying some just to use as organic matter.