31546 Garden Re-Leaf#2ECB0C

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The search is on for The Greatest Christmas teams
What do we know about The Garden Centre Group's new CEO?
Report names 26 top centres ripe for takeover
Half-term holidays give a boost for garden product sales too
Eddie and Kathy will be an Edible Gardening draw
20,000 advance tickets sold for Ruxley Grotto
Christmas product sales performing better than last year!
It’s a real mixed bag from growing media
Biochar scores in professional trials
Solus POS aims to boost GYO interest
Music, maestros, please say TGCG centres
Andy Bestwick plays with the pro's in Florida PGA Tour event
Centres ramp up the festivities
Grow your Christmas pet care sales
UK launch for 'pay by smartphone' device
Westland bird facility earns another A rating
GTN Bestsellers Chart Update
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31546 Garden Re-Leaf#2ECB0C

 


Biochar scores in professional trials

Biochar – a form of charcoal used as a soil improver – has produced impressive results in the the UK’s first commercial biochar trials with professional growers and gardeners.

The trioals suggest that biochar helps to boost root growth, reduces the need to water, improves germination rates and results in stronger, healthier plants which are more resilient to disease and changing weather conditions.

The independent trials were commissioned by Bristol-based Carbon Gold, who produce a range of Soil Association approved, peat-free, biochar growing products. The products are stocked by a number of garden centres.

Trials with 19 professional users found that Carbon Gold composts - and personal compost mixes enriched with GroChar Soil Improver (made up of 90% biochar) performed as well as, and in some cases better, than peat.

Craig Sams, founder of Carbon Gold and co-founder of Green & Blacks chocolate, will be launching the results at the Soil Association Soil Symposium next Thursday (15 November) to an audience of soil experts, farmers and growers.

The results come at a time when Defra is deliberating the report from their Sustainable Growing Media Task Force and deciding how best to reduce peat in both professional horticulture and amateur gardening. Biochar is one of the amendments to growing media being considered as an alternative to peat.

Biochar trialist Martin Kyte, field trials manager at Rijk Zwaan, said: “I initially started trialling Carbon Gold’s GroChar Composts against a peat-based compost, but the results were so good I stopped the peat trials and progressed solely with propagating in GroChar.”

Jez Taylor, Market Gardener at Daylesford Organic Farm said switching from their usual compost to Carbon Gold had cut water usage by a third, as  the GroChar compost was less prone to drying out.

Information: www.carbongold.com

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