Uses Of Charcoal In Gardening

Charcoal has many uses in the garden but not everyone knows. To have a fast-growing vegetable garden, charcoal is a great choice for any gardener. If you want to know the multitude of benefits it has on offer, keep reading!

Spongy, light, good water permeability, not sticky or stagnant, these are the features of charcoal that will help your vegetable garden grow well. So when adding charcoal to the garden soil is one of the simplest ways to increase its pH levels, improving air circulation with its ability to retain nutrients and water. That is the reason why in the post today, we want to share 9 amazing uses of charcoal for your garden that you should save and apply. Let's have a closer look at the uses of charcoal in the garden with us right now!

#1 As a Soil Conditioner

Charcoal acts as an excellent soil conditioner, thanks to its high potassium content and low cost, it's a suitable replacement of lime in soil additive mixes. What's more, you can also use it for bedding organic insecticides or weedicides as well, as it helps to sweeten mulch and bring it at the optimal pH.

#2 Neutralizes Plant Poisons

Charcoal can be added to the build-up for complete surface adsorption when has the poison of the walnut trees. Or you can spread it as a slurry or gently work it into the soil. This is one of the best uses of charcoal in the garden!

#3 Container Filler

The next time you pick up some rocks for filling the bottom of your pots, consider using natural hardwood charcoal instead. Charcoal is a better option because it's lighter than gravel and rocks. Hence, its inclusion makes the pots lighter and, consequently, easier to move around.

#4 As a Soil Additive

When adding charcoal potting soil, charcoal soaks up the nauseating odors of compost and manure, while leaving the nutritional integrity of the mixture intact. You can even add a few charcoal pellets to your potting mix, in case the smell becomes too much to bear.

#5 Herbicide Neutralization

Herbicides, often have a long hang time in the soil. This causes an unfavorable growth environment for your future crops. You can add some hardwood charcoal to the soil just before planting. This will serve a two-fold purpose, diluting the herbicides and precluding the potential growth problems for optimum development of plants.

#6 Pesticide Cleanup and Removal

The absorption qualities of activated charcoal, coupled with its non-toxic nature, makes it ideal for neutralizing the harmful effect of pesticides. Scientifically speaking, a mixture of one pound of charcoal mixed in one gallon water, is enough to treat and clean up pesticide build-up in about 100-150 square feet of soil.

#7 Charcoal Mulch

Mulching with black charcoal creates a protective covering over the soil surface while preventing moisture from escaping the soil. This helps to preclude the growth of weed in the process.

#8 Anti-Fungal Protection

Adding charcoal to the soil is an effective strategy to manage and reduce fungal infections in plants. As charcoal is one of the most potent ways to kill the mycotoxins that mold creates, using it in your garden is surely going to keep fungal infection at bay.

#9 Organic Insect Killer

Tribolium Castenum and the flour beetles are the worst nightmares of every grocery store owner. Using well-bleached and desiccated charcoal dust can do a neat job of killing these pesky insects, that too without leaving behind any toxic residues.