Biochar for golf greens and sod production
E. Nangle T. Morris
The Ohio State University, ATI, CFAES Wooster
Introduction:
Biochar is defined as a high carbon material that is developed through high temperature burning of organic materials that results in a product that is very dense in carbon. Biochar has a slow breakdown rate and offers the opportunity to provide sustainable organic material that can be utilized in a range of situations.
Two areas of interest are incorporation of biochar into golf green rootzones as an alternative to peat moss. Peat moss production has shown a decline and availability will continue to decrease due to regulation and unsustainable management practices. Peat moss provides in the main increased biological activity in a greens rootzone which aids in nutrient retention and degradation of plant based organic matter. The use of biochar offers similar biological capabilities with high amounts of cation exchange capacity (CEC) sites and high concentrations of carbon (C) 60-80%. Further to depending on the process employed and source material used in biochar has the ability to form pore spaces which can be characterized.
Two areas of critical importance for biochar production are the consistency of source material and the process of pyrolysis. The process of pyrolysis is the thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The absence of oxygen prevents combustion and allows for the burning of materials at temperatures ranging for 300°C – 900°C. One of the materials sourced here is from the olive pit of the European Olive Olea europaea. This material has been characterized and insight on porosity and CEC is provided below in table one.
The objective of the ongoing work is to evaluate the material as an alternative to peat moss in greens rootzones as well as a potential additional material for sod farms that could allow for reductions in topsoil use.
Materials and methods
Two trial sites are currently ongoing with work at OSU CFAES Wooster Campus and Medinah Sod Farms in Seville OH.
Material has been incorporated to depths of ~5cm at rates of 10 and 20% at the sod farm based on soil bulk density and then seeded with Tall Fescue Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.
Plots have been either compared with other biochar material or biosolids with nutrient rates added via polymer coated urea and 0-45-0 to match nutrients applied in the biosolids.
Data is being collected for color, germination, surface playability characertistics and soil moisture levels to mention a few parameters.
Results
Process of biochar production
Table 1. Characterization of olive pits and other potential biochar sources (Tubetskaya et al., 2019)
Currently data shows good germination rates with no inhibition across all treatments and no significant differences noted. Weed competition has required further inputs in the sod farm site. On the campus site incorporation of the material will occur using Dryject with expected date of initiation on 8-7-25.
Conclusions:
While in the early stages of evaluation it is perceived that this material offers a range of opportunity as a soil remediation material, a replacement for unsustainable peat moss production practices and also possibly offer cost reductions on sod production farms.
