Effects of pyrolyzation temperature of bamboo biochars on the germination and growth rates of Zea Mays L. and Brassica Rapa

Biochar production
     Biochar made from bamboo was used to produce the biochars applied in this test. Bamboo biochar was generated at different temperatures: 240ºC, 300ºC, 600ºC and 700ºC. All biochars were obtained by pyrolysis with a temperature raising rate of 5oC/min; biochars were sieved using a 4 mm sieve before use for the bioassays. Characterization of the material was made applying various test and analyses.









Biochar characterization
Characterization of the material was made applying various test and analyses.

FTIR

Raw Bamboo

240ºC

300ºC

600ºC 

700ºC


Germination and plant growth in net house
     For this assessment, a net house was adapted and other bamboo based mediums were also prepared and tested.







     Two different crops were evaluated, (glutinous corn and Chinese cabbage) addition of biochar at 100% (pure biochar without soil – test 1) and 50% biochar (50-50 soil-biochar relation – test 2) were evaluated.



Seedbeds where prepared in order to test the four different temperatures of bamboo biochars.



Each treatment had 16 pots.






     The data of germination rate, started to be quantified on the 3rd day followed by measures on the 5th and 7th day of the trial.












     For corn a single seed was placed into the germination pots unlike cabbage, where 2-3 seeds where placed, due to their difference in sizes. Generally, corn seeds start to germinate in 7 days and cabbage seeds will start to germinate after 7 or 10 days.





     Stem size, leaf number, leaf width and leaf length of each one of the emerged plants for corn and cabbage was measured.






Comments

  1. UnknownWed Mar 19, 12:01:00 AM

    This looks great, i would love to see your results, published or otherwise.please contact me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Biochar FactoryThu Mar 20, 10:45:00 PM

      Thanks for your comment Alexandre, I guess we will have to wait a bit for the publication, this article has been accepted and is scheduled to appear in Vol. 29, No.4 (December, 2014) or Vol. 30, No.1 (March, 2015) of the Journal of technology.

      Delete
  2. Elahn IentileTue Jan 12, 03:03:00 PM

    I'm very interested in reading this study. Unfortunately, I can't view or download it from http://jot.ntust.edu.tw

    ReplyDelete

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