Organic potted plants amended with biochar: its effect on growth and Pythium colonization

Abstract

Gravel, V., Dorais, M. and Menard, C. 2013. Organic potted plants amended with biochar: its effect on growth andPythium colonization. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 1217-1227. Even though the benefits from the use of charcoal in agriculture have been known for a long time, little biochar is utilized in agriculture. Therefore, we hypothesized that biochar amendment to an organic potting soil improves plant growth without promoting plant root pathogens such as Pythium ultimum. Growth of sweet pepper, lettuce, basil, geranium and coriander grown in an organic potting soil containing a commercially available biochar (1:1 vol:vol) was compared with an unamended potting soil. Macronutrients (NPK) were supplied through application of an organic liquid fertilizer three times a week via injection irrigation. The effect of biochar amendment on P. ultimum colonization and infection was also evaluated in a sub-sample. No effect of the biochar amendment on growth was observed for sweet pepper and geranium. On a dry weight bas...