Research - Posters Poster - Bio-char As a Replacement For Perlite in Seedling Mix For The Small-Scale Farmer

Can biochar replace perlite in seedling mix?

• Perlite is light weight, sterile, porous, increases drainage, improves aeration, and helps to keep soil unsaturated and un-compacted.
• Bio-Char is light-weight, sterile, porous, and holds water without getting saturated, giving it the potential to function like perlite. Bio-char is even more similar to perlite’s counter part “vermiculite” when part of a soil mix.
• Biochar replacing perlite would address the need for a seedling soil mix for the small scale farmer that is low cost, widely accessible, non-toxic and does not compact or upheave.

Leah Hagen; Sue Klein
HEART Institute: 13895 Hwy 27 Lake Wales FL, 33859