How to use Three Birds™ BioChar
Assess Your Soil
The first step is assessing the condition of your soil. Is the area you want to plant severely depleted of organic matter? If you aren’t looking at a rich, black earthy soil, then you’ll want to make sure you have some kind of compost or mulch combined with your soil amendment. Standard Three Birds™ BioChar needs to be inoculated with organic matter and water to create a solid framework for the beneficial micro organisms in your soil. Three Birds™ BioChar Planting Mix has already been inoculated with a mixture of worm tea and molasses.
How Much Should You Apply?
The Green Rule of Thumb suggests that healthy soil will have about 10% BioChar in the planting area down below the roots of your vegetation. You can safely reach this optimal mix in stages. See our Three Birds™ BioChar Application Chart.
New plantings and prep for your garden soil
Apply Three Birds™ BioChar in a mix with your existing soil to achieve about 10% by volume. Mix well. Standard Three Birds™ BioChar should be combined with other natural soil mixes or compost. Inoculated Three Birds™ BioChar is already infused with our exclusive worm tea and molasses mixture, so you can plant right away.
Existing trees, shrubs and gardens
You can spread BioChar over the ground and rake it in thoroughly. You can spread a 1 cubic foot bag of BioChar over about 350 square feet of soil. A 1 gallon bag will cover about 55 square feet.
Starting Seeds
BioChar is best known for its ability to draw in and store moisture and nutrients for a long time. When starting out, this process can be detrimental for your seeds if you don’t give the BioChar enough time to ‘fill its tanks’.
It’s always best to insure the BioChar gets plenty of water and is mixed throughly into the soil for a few days before planting.
Don’t worry if you already planted, you’ll just need to give the soil a little more time before seeing results.
Depleted Soil
If your soil is severely depleted of organic material, mix in additional compost if using our standard Three Birds™ BioChar. A 50/50 mix of BioChar and compost is a good overall ratio. Our Three Birds™ Inoculated BioChar comes to you fully activated with our exclusive worm tea mix, which provides significant nutrients and organic material.
Gardens and Flower Beds
We recommend Three Birds™ BioChar with compost (or your favorite potting mix) for the top 4″ of your raised bed garden. Continue with compost and topsoil amendments for the remaining depth of your raised bed. Our 4″ minimum will make sure the seeds you plant will benefit as they sprout and their roots become established.
Vegetable garden:
Your soil is probably in decent condition but it needs a little push towards a healthier balance of carbon, nitrogen, micro-organisms and other supporting nutrients. You will find that 1 cubic foot of Biochar Soil Conditioner in an 8’x4′ bed mixed down to 4-6″ is going to make a big difference.
Lawn Care
You’ll first need to aerate your established lawn and then make sure you spread the mix throughly. After mixing, water generously.
For new lawns, mix Three Birds™ BioChar into the top 3 to 6 inches of soil. Before seeding, let the BioChar sit for about a week, with daily watering. Gently rake and turn the seed into the soil so that it is covered. Follow the seed provider’s instructions for best results after planting.
Trees and Shrubs
For new tree plantings, apply 1 quart of Three Birds™ BioChar to the soil directly around the root zone. If practicable, let the BioChar mix with the soil for about a week before planting the tree.
