Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95

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Journal of Environmental Management

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Research article

Chemical characterization of biochar and assessment of the nutrient

dynamics by means of preliminary plant growth tests
Munoo Prasad a, c, *, Nikos Tzortzakis b, Nicola McDaniel c
a
Compost/AD Research & Advisory (IE, CY), Naas, Ireland
b
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
c
Bord na Mona Research Centre, Main Street, Newbridge, Ireland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Biochar can be produced from several organic sources with varying nutrients and metal concentrations.
Received 11 January 2017 Four commercial grade biochars were evaluated as peat substitute. Biochars were characterised for plant
Received in revised form nutrients and for biological stability. The results showed that there were negligible quantities of N and P
10 March 2017
and generally high levels of K and high biological stability. When these materials were mixed with peat
Accepted 7 April 2017
Available online 12 April 2017
at 10, 25 and 50% and nutrients were added to bring them to the same level of nutrients as in fertilized
peat, it was found that biochar mixtures considerably reduced the levels of calcium chloride/DTPA (CAT)
extractable N (including nitrate), P, and electrical conductivitye greater extent with higher rates of
Keywords:
Biochar
biochar addition except for K. The pH and K levels were increased with biochar addition. The drop in EC
Seed germination has important implications regarding the use of other materials used to dilute peat, for example, com-
Tomato posted green waste, the rate of dilution is limited due to high EC and biochar addition gives the potential
CAT extractable nutrient for higher peat dilution of these materials. Nitrate and phosphorus are very vulnerable to leaching of
Biological stability these nutrients in the environment in peat substrates and the binding of these by biochar has implication
Nutrient dynamics for leaching and nutrient application strategy. Root development using Cress test and tomato plant
height and biomass using containers, were in some cases better than peat indicating that biochar could
be used to dilute peat e.g. for seedling production where root development and rapid growth are very
important. Application of biochars resulted in a marked reduction of N (and P) in the plant. There were
significant correlation between CAT extractable N and P and corresponding plant concentration, indi-
cating the standard growing media test, CAT, would be suitable for assessing the nutrient status of peat
biochar mixes.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Biochar is the product of pyrolysis whereby organic material
either of plant or animal origin are treated to >250
C (usually
450e600
C) in a no or low oxygen environment (Solaiman et al.,
2012). The quality (in particular surface chemical characteristics
and pore size) of the biochar produced depend on production fac-
tors [such as temperature, feedstock and residence time (Gaskin
et al., 2008)]. Biochar products have progressively been receiving
increasing attention and uses as biomass. This is due to several
factors, such as it is one of the very few technologies that can
* Corresponding author. Compost/AD Research & Advisory (IE, CY), Naas, Ireland.
E-mail addresses: munooprasad@yahoo.com, Munoo.Prasad@cut.ac.cy
(M. Prasad), nikolaos.tzortzakis@cut.ac.cy (N. Tzortzakis), Nicola.McDaniel@bnm.ie
(N. McDaniel).
actively remove carbon (C) from the atmosphere, and it is suitable
for a range of environmental, agricultural and horticultural appli-
cations (Dumroese et al., 2011; Shackley et al., 2016). Thus, biochar
has attracted widespread interest as a growth medium amendment
that enhances cation exchange capacity (CEC), nutrient and water
retention, and that neutralizes acidity (Karami et al., 2011; Sun
et al., 2012). Biochar has potential to sequester carbon in soils
and simultaneously improve soil quality and plant growth, there-
fore it is an option for climate change mitigation via C sequestration
and promotion of resource efficiency (Windeatt et al., 2014;
Brassard et al., 2016). Biochar is energy self-sufficient and/or en-
ergy positive for getting syngas and biofuel (Irfan et al., 2016).
Moreover, biochar has been successfully produced from among
other things by municipal waste e.g. garden and park waste, agri-
cultural wastes e.g. straw, food waste, digestate, and even sewage
sludge (Shackley et al., 2016). Additionally, biochar can significantly

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.04.020
0301-4797/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
90 M. Prasad et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95
enhance soil capacities to absorb and immobilize heavy metals
such as Cd, with considerable environmental protection (Zhao
et al., 2016).
Peatlands are valuable habitats and may provide environmental
services such as biodiversity, regulation of the local water quality
and local hydrology conditions including flood protection. They are
also considered important C sinks, but as soon as a peatland is
drained, aerated, limed and fertilized or when its peat is extracted,
its organic matter decomposes quickly and turns into a source of
greenhouse gases. Peat is the principal material for growing media
in Europe and peat production in Europe is more than 40 million
m3. Almost all the peat is produced in northern Europe and is
transported long distances e.g. Cyprus leaving an additional large
carbon footprint. Peat is a standard by which other growing media
is compared. Biochar probably has the potential for reducing peat
usage/replacement and affecting positive plant yield. Although a
mean yield increase of 10% has been reported, averaging different
crops, soils and climates (Jeffery et al., 2011) it is also well known
that 00 all biochars are not created equal00 (Amonette et al., 2009) and
as a consequence the effects on crops are both biochar specific and
site specific (Mukherjee and Lal, 2014). In order to better under-
stand this complexity, more studies are required before introducing
the biochars strategy among the common agricultural practices
(Lorenz and Lal, 2014), particularly its use as a peat replacement.
Most of the studies relate to biochars application in soil in situ.
There is limited published information on the use of biochars as
peat replacement (Graber et al., 2010; Dumroese et al., 2011; Tian
et al., 2012; Me ndez et al., 2015) and some of the work that has
been carried out has been done on an ad hoc basis. In addition,
Dumroese et al. (2011) used pelletized biochar which in our view
would make biochar totally uneconomical to replace peat, and this
factor need to be considered as well. Sohi et al. (2013) conclude that
biochar can partially replace peat as growing media, but the cost of
production from most feedstocks would make it prohibitive unless
a high gate fee was available. Some of the characteristics that are
important for use as peat replacement are not too high pH, low
electrical conductivity (EC), high surface area, low in heavy metals
and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contents. Measure-
ment of C, H and O2 and their ratios may also be important as an
indicator of stability. There is also lack of information on biochar
characterization either on its own or when mixed with peat using
tests developed specifically for growing media e.g. peat, compost.
Recently European Committee for Standardization (Comite  Euro-
peen de Normalisation- CEN) has developed test methods specif-
ically for growing media. Information on the performance and
changes in nutrient in peat biochar mixes using CEN tests is almost
non-existent.
The objective of the current study was a) to characterize the
biochar materials, b) to evaluate the effect of biochar addition in
peat on extractable nutrient content and on nutrient dynamics over
a short period, c) to evaluate four biochars produced commercially
in Europe as a peat diluent (growing medium) as evidenced by
plant growth e.g. germination and root development and short
term plant growth, d) to evaluate the effects of biochar addition in
peat on plant nutrient content and finally e) evaluate if the CEN
tests for growing media (peat, compost etc.) are suitable for peat/
biochar mixtures. No attempt was made here to look at the physical
effect of biochar on peat.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Biochars material
The current study took place at Bord na Mona, Ireland. Four
commercial grade biochars, two from Switzerland (A and B) and
two from Germany (C and D) were used in these trials. The four
biochars had the following feedstocks: A ¼ woodchips, B ¼ husks
and paper fibre wood screenings from tree branches, C ¼ forest
wood, beech, spruce, ash etc. and D ¼ wood screenings from tree
branches. Three of the biochars were produced using the Pyreg
equipment and one using Schotteredorf process. Temperatures
were between 450 and 600
C. However exact information of their
production details are not known due to commercial sensitivity. A
good quality professional grade H4-H5 on von Post scale peat was
used as a control and as primary material to which the biochar was
added. The four biochar materials were assessed for basic charac-
teristics (Table 1), as for pH (EN 13037, 2002), EC [in water extract at
1:5 (v:v) ratio, EN 13038, 2002] and calcium chloride/DTPA (CAT)
extractable (1:5 v:v), NH4-N, NO3-N, total extractable N (NH4-
NþNO3-N), P, K (EN 13651, 2002) and Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR)
(EN 16087-1, 2011). Particle size fractions (%) of all biochars were
done by using a stack of sieves (Table 1).
2.2. Preparation of growing media
The examined biochars diluted in different ratio into the peat.
Therefore, the four biochars were added at the rates of 10%, 25% and
50% to the peat resulting to 13 mixtures (treatments) including
control treatment of pure peat. Then mixtures were brought to N, P
and K levels to 170 mg N/L as ammonium nitrate, 70 mg P/L as triple
superphosphate and 100 mg K/L as potassium sulphate respectively
of peat biochar mixtures and of limed peat by dolomitic lime (4 g/
L). Account was taken of the CAT extractable N, P and K that came
from the biochars and fertilizer levels were adjusted accordingly. In
most cases there were almost negligible amount of N, some P and
excess of K. Where K was in excess, no K was added into the
mixture.
2.3. Experimental setup
In the first experiment the moistened samples at around 60%
moisture was left for a week and a subsample was taken to analyse
for pH, Electrical conductivity, NH4-N, NO3-N, P and K using the CAT
extraction EN 13651 and Lachat autoanalyzer. Subsamples were
taken again at 6 and 14 weeks in order to study the dynamics of the
above mentioned variables through time. Samples were also ana-
lysed for phytotoxicity using the EN16089 method. In more details,
10 replicates for each examined biochar mixture were evaluated
through Cress Test. A three day germination test with 30 cress seeds
(Lepidium sativum) performed in a square Petri dishes at 28e30
C
in darkness in the lab. Germination rate (in %) and root length (in
mm) were measured in this test.
In the second experiment, growing trials were carried out in a
heated glasshouse in plastic trays and pots. Therefore, in the first
trial, the examined media were filled up in plastic seedling trays
and 10 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) and 10 petunia (Petunia
hybrida L.) seeds were sown in 10 modules (1.5 cm  1.5 cm) (one
seed per module) for each media on 28th August. The petunia trials
took place once for seed emergence while the tomato trials were
conducted twice and seedling were grown for 4 ½ weeks and 5 ½
weeks respectively, and plant height was measured after 1 week
and at the end of each trial.
In the second trial, the same materials were used and treat-
ments were similar as in the first experiment, but substrate were
analysed only at week one for pH, EC, NH4-N, NO3-N, P and K using
the CAT extraction. Growing trials were carried out in a heated
glasshouse and seedlings were grown in pots (10 cm) with 3 rep-
licates for each of the examined media. Seedling fresh and dry
weights were measured after about 5 weeks of growth. Plant
mineral analysis was carried out on the whole tomato plants (three
 M. Prasad et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95 91

Table 1
Nutritional status of different mixtures consisted of commercial peat-P and different biochar (A-D).

Characteristics Biochar Unfertilized

Peat-FP
A B C D

Source of biomass woodchips husks and paper fibre wood forest wood, beech, wood screenings from
screenings from tree branches spruce, ash tree branches

pH 6.58 9.55 9.51 9.51 3.13

EC (mS/cm) 55 410 368 352 34
NH4-N (mg/L) 0 1 1 1 17
NO3-N (mg/L) 1 1 1 1 3
N (mg/L) 0 2 2 1 22
K (mg/L) 25 671 990 891 8
P (mg/L) 3 8 3 11 0
OUR mmol O2 kg 1 OM hour 1.1 2.6 2.3 4.4 5.5
Particle size fractions (%)
10e20 mm 1.75 0.64 0.00 0.00
5e10 mm 19.36 1.85 16.08 0.49
2e5 mm 26.80 24.42 17.72 6.09
1e2 mm 25.05 12.62 16.55 29.55
<1 mm 27.04 60.47 49.65 63.88

replications/treatment; each replication consisted of a pool of two
plants tissue). Plant tissue samples were dried at 75
C for 4 d,
weighted, and grounded in a Wiley mill to pass through a 40 mesh
screens and 0.2 g of plant tissue were digested with aqua regia acid
(HClþHNO3) for macro- and micronutrients analysis. Determina-
tion of K, P, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and B was done by inductively
coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES; MAFF, UK,
1986). Total N was determined by Dumas method AOAC (1990).
2.4. Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was carried out in fresh weight and dry
weight and on the nutrient content. Extractable N, P and K were
regressed against dry weight and N, P and K in the whole plant in
order to assess the suitability of these tests for biochar. Data were
tested for normality, and then subjected to analysis of variance
(ANOVA). Significant differences between mean values were
determined using Duncan's Multiple Range test following one-way
ANOVA. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, Ill.).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characteristics of biochars media
The biochar samples had in general very high pH (averaged in
8.78) and high levels of EC (averaged in 439 mS/cm) except of the
Biochar A, which revealed pH of 6.58 and EC of 55 mS/cm (Table 1).
EC is an important variable for the use of materials as growing
media, as from one point EC can be nutrient supporting value while
from the other point salinity represents the main limiting factor for
seed emergence and germination as well as plant growth
(Bustamante et al., 2008) and are often the important limiting
factor of materials used for peat dilutions. Similarly K levels were
very high (ranged from 671 to 990 mg/L) for Biochars B, C and D,
while Biochar A revealed K levels of 25 mg/L. The four biochar's
contained P which was ranged from 3 to 11 mg/L whereas peat had
almost zero P content. There was negligible extractable N in peat
and biochars. These results indicate that at least same amounts of N
and P that is added to peat need to be added to all 4 biochars and on
3 cases (Biochar B, C and D) there would be no need to add any K.
The Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR), an indicator of biological stability of
compost and peats, was very low (averaged in 2.6 mmol O2 kg 1
OM hour) in relation to compost and peat respectively. Compost is
considered stable when the OUR value is 13e15 mmol O2 kg 1 OM
hour (Prasad et al., 2010). Thus biochar can be used as a structure
builder of growing media when mixed with unstable constituents
e.g. woodfiber which are prone to slumping in the pot due to
biodegradation.
The effects of different ratio (10-25-50%) of biochar into peat-
based substrates are presented in Fig. 1. The addition of biochar
to fertilized peat increased the pH particularly at the higher rate
and there was a very slight tendency of the biochar treatments to
increase the pH over time except for limed peat and peat-biochar
indicating the need for no lime or smaller quantity of lime on
peat-biochar mixes (Fig. 1a). The high pH of biochar is an advan-
tageous factor when applied to acidic soil or substrates (such as
peat in the present study), with biochar acts as a liming material.
Therefore, biochar can be used instead of calcium oxide, for
example in soils, which can react with 2Hþ to produce H2O and CO2,
mitigating N2O emissions through the activity of N2O reductase
enzymes by microorganisms (Sun et al., 2014). The addition of
biochar greatly reduced the EC of the peat/biochar mixtures. At the
first sampling the decrease in EC was up to 60% at the highest rate
with Biochar A (Fig. 1b). With the other biochars (i.e. B, C, and D)
highest reduction was occurred at the medium rate. This was
particularly noticeable at the later sampling for Biochar B and C. At
highest rate for Biochar C and D there was little or no change in
relation to peat at first sampling. To the authors knowledge this
reduction of EC as a result of biochar addition has not been reported
before in literature. This result has very important implications as
materials normally used for peat dilution have often high EC e.g.
composted green waste. Such materials could be used at higher rate
if biochar was also added as high EC is very often the limiting factor
regarding the addition of these materials. Similarly NH4-N was
reduced at the first sampling and there was a general reduction of
NH4-N at later sampling (data not presented). This effect was most
pronounced with peat at the last sampling and this was probably
due to nitrification as NO3-N increases in the last sampling (Fig. 1c).
At higher rates of biochar application there was a marked reduction
in NO3-N in the first and second sampling (up to 95%). It seems that
it is not only the biological immobilization of N as the OUR results
indicate a very biologically stable material. This trend is also re-
flected in reduction of total extractable N (NH4-N, NO3-N) with
greater effects were marked at higher biochar ratio (i.e. 50% v/v)
(Fig. 1d). Altland and Locke (2013) also found in a leaching
92 M. Prasad et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95
Fig. 1. Effect of different mixtures consisted of commercial peat-P and different biochar (AeD) on substrate pH, EC and nutrient content.
experiment that the addition of biochar to peat lead to a reduction
of nitrate in comparison to 100% peat and this might be effective in
moderating the fluctuation on nitrate in a growing media when
nitrate in liquid form is added. Kammann et al. (2016) also reported
decrease in nitrate when biochar is added during composting
process of organic municipal waste while Prendagast-Miller et al.
(2014) reported nitrate capture in soil. There was a marked ten-
dency of extractable P to be reduced with biochar addition espe-
cially at higher rates and at first (up to 85%) and second sampling
(Fig. 1e). This P tendency was not found for Biochar B, C and D at
mixtures of 50% with peat. In contrast to these results, Altland and
Locke (2013) found release of P from biochar made from rice huks.
The explanation for this could be due to difference in feedstocks. To
our knowledge this is the first time it has been reported that the
addition of biochar in growing media leads to a reduction of P and
further study is required to explain the mechanism which under-
going. Available P increased in biochars amended mineral soil plots,
which is associated to the positively charged sites in biochars that
increase soil capacity to retain and exchange phosphate ions (De
Luca et al., 2009). The mechanism suggested was that biochar can
reduce the activity of cations that interact with phosphate (e.g.,
Al3þ, Fe3þ and Ca2þ), by adsorbing them on its surface and, there-
fore, delaying phosphate adsorption and/or precipitation in the soil
(De Luca et al., 2009; Xu et al., 2013). The explanation for this
apparent anomaly is that Al3þ and Fe3þ occur at very low levels in
peat. As expected K levels increased with increasing rate of biochar
addition with the exception of Biochar A which had low levels of
extractable K (Fig. 1f). Sampling date had less effect on K levels
except at high rate of biochars.
The different mixtures consisted of professional peat-P and
different Biochar (A-D) on phytotoxicity was also examined using
the CEN test EN16086-2, 2011. This phytotoxicity cress test showed
100% germination in all treatments (results not presented), indi-
cating that the examined biochars could be considered as phyto-
nutrients or phytostimulants (Nieto et al., 2016). The increasing
levels of biochar negatively affected the root length which was
impeded (Fig. 2). However, in many cases the addition of biochar at
10 and 25% improved the root length and this was most noticeable
at Biochar A and C at 25% and B at 10%. Thus the addition of small
amounts of biochar in growing media could be useful for special-
ized seedling growing, acting as stimulant to root length. This may
have increased interest as growth promoter during seedling prop-
agation under nursery condition, but further study is needed before
final conclusions and commercialization can occur Roberson et al.
(2012) also reported better forest seedling growth where biochar
was mixed into forest soils.
 M. Prasad et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95
Fig. 2. Effect of different mixtures consisted of commercial peat-P and different bio-
char (AeD) on cress root length. Values represent mean (±SE) of measurements made
on ten seedlings per treatment. Values followed by the same small letter are not
significantly different, P  0.05.
3.2. Peat-based glasshouse bioassay
Under heated glasshouse condition, both tomato and petunia
seed germination were increased with the presence of biochar into
different ratio with more pronounced effects on lower biochar
levels (Fig. 1S). The biochar influence on seed germination has
previously reported in wheat (Solaiman et al., 2012).
In the first trial, tomato seedlings were examined regarding the
plant growth and mineral content. Thus, plant height was
measured at two dates showed a slight depression of height at the
Biochar 50%-based substrates at each measurements and this was
generally more pronounced at later dates (Fig. 3a). However, at a
later date there was a better plant growth based on seedling height
at Biochar A, C and D at 10% and at 25% with Biochar C at 25%.
In the second trial, employing exactly the same treatments and
biochar materials were used as in the first trial. Peat and peat-
biochar samples were taken for analysis after one week. The re-
sults showed highly significant correlation with the previous CAT
result of early sampling in the first experiment. For instance the
trends were similar as regards EC and NO3-N and total N (NH4-
N þ NO3-N) and P reduction and increase of pH and K. The corre-
lation coefficient R2 between the first sampling from the first
experiment and the sampling from the second experiment were
0.91for EC; 0.75 for NO3-N; 0.76 for total N; 0.96 for P and 0.93 for
pH, respectively (all significant at P < 0.001).
Fig. 3. Effect of different mixtures consisted of commercial peat-P and different biochar (AeD) on tomato plant height (cm) (a; Trial 1) and fresh and dry weight (g) (b; Trial 2).
Values represent mean (±SE) of measurements made on ten plants per treatment. Values in lines or columns followed by the same small or capital letter are not significantly
different, P  0.05.
93
There was no significant difference in the tomato fresh weight
between the peat control and the biochar treatments in Trial 2.
There was a trend, however towards a reduction of fresh weight
with increasing rate of biochar application except for Biochar D
where there was an increase in fresh weight from 10% to 25%
mixtures (Fig. 3b). Biochar B at 10% gave the best growth regarding
biomass averaged in 35.8 g of fresh weight. Similarly, the dry
weight showed no significant differences except for Biochar D at
10% where it outperformed peat. The same trend of reduced dry
weight with increasing rate of biochar was also evident. Longer
term growing trial is now required using peat/biochar mixes to
confirm some of these positive results. The upper limit of biochar
addition to peat in growing media was tested by Tian et al. (2012),
who used pure peat substrate, pure biochar and a 1:1 mixture of
peat/biochar. The highest biomass yield of the ornamental plant
Calathea was found with the peat/biochar mixture which was 22%
higher compared to peat alone.
The impact of additions (1e5% by weight) of a nutrient-poor,
wood-derived biochar on pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and to-
mato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) plant development and pro-
ductivity in a coconut fiber:tuff growing mix under optimal
fertigation conditions was examined by Graber et al. (2010). In that
study, pepper plant development in the biochar-treated pots was
significantly enhanced as compared with the unamended controls
(Graber et al., 2010). In our study, increased tomato biomass could
be noted at the low percentages i.e. 10% of the biochars additions,
but due to shorter experimental period of plant growth, significant
benefits could not be obtained, whereas in longer period that
probably could be evidence. Me ndez et al. (2015) also found that
lettuce grew better in peat-biochar mixture than 100% peat but it
appears that the peat they used was of inferior quality as evidenced
by high ash content and very low air space.
Considering the analysis of whole (stems and leaves) tomato
plant growing in different media, there was a general decrease in
the N content with increasing rates of biochar with the exception
being Biochar B and Biochar C at 25% (Table 2). Increasing rates of
biochar also reduced P availability as evidenced by a reduction in
the P content of the whole plant. In contrast, the K and Ca levels in
tomato plant increased with increasing levels of biochar application
and this was even with Biochar A which had relatively low available
K, as presented in Table 1. Increased K levels due to biochars
application is of great importance as it affects positive fruit quality
parameters, such as soluble solids in watermelon (Villocino and
Quevedo, 2015), while tomato plants considered as a high K-
demanding crop (Sofiadou and Tzortzakis, 2012). Magnesium
content was reduced as a result of biochar application but this may
94 M. Prasad et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95

Table 2
Macronutrient (g/kg) and micronutrient (mg/kg) leaf tissue analysis of tomato plants grown in different substrates.

N (g/kg) K (g/kg) Ca (g/kg) P (g/kg) Mg (g/kg) S (g/kg) Fe (mg/kg) Mn (mg/kg) Zn (mg/kg) Cu (mg/kg) B (mg/kg)

Fert. Peat 26.1aY 27.7c 9.3d 9.5bc 8.3a 7.4cd 59.4ab 123.0bc 32.0f 4.9bc 23.6d
A-10% 24.2ab 30.7bc 9.2d 9.7abc 6.9b 8.4bc 65.3a 109.5c 47.7e 6.1abc 33.2bc
A-25% 22.1bcd 36.2abc 11.3bcd 8.7cd 5.9c 10.2ab 59.7ab 124.0bc 65.6b 7.3ab 36.8a
A-50% 18.5de 36.3abc 16.6a 6.5fgi 3.5f 11.3a 52.8ab 135.0b 62.5bcd 8.9a 33.6abc
B-10% 22.5abc 26.3c 10.1cd 8.5cde 5.4cd 5.7de 53.5ab 83.1d 51.5cde 6.9abc 34.6ab
B-25% 21.3bcde 43.1a 14.5ab 7.7def 3.6f 4.5e 59.3ab 73.4de 63.9bc 8.4ab 34.1abc
B-50% 21.6bcde 42.3ab 16.8a 5.9i 3.3f 6.3cde 47.6ab 46.1fg 35.5f 3.4cd 31.1c
C-10% 21.8bcd 28.8c 9.1d 10.9a 4.5de 3.8e 48.7ab 227.5a 53.8bcde 6.7abc 37.0a
C-25% 22.1bcd 35.3abc 11.2bcd 9.2c 4.2ef 4.1e 50.2ab 219.0a 49.9de 5.6abc 34.3abc
C-50% 17.9e 38.3abc 10.3cd 6.2gi 3.8ef 7.7cd 44.1ab 124.0bc 18.1g 1.6d 16.6e
D-10% 21.6bcde 29.8c 13.5abc 10.7ab 5.1cd 4.9e 50.3ab 81.4d 112.5a 7.2ab 33.8abc
D-25% 20.1cde 43.1a 16.9a 9.0cd 3.9ef 5.4de 50.9ab 53.3ef 102.3a 5.3abc 21.6d
D-50% 17.9e 36.6abc 16.0a 7.4efg 3.8ef 6.3cde 38.2b 25.2g 55.0bcde 6.7abc 14.6e
Y
In each column, values followed by the same letter do not differ significantly at P ¼ 0.05 according to Duncan's Range Test.

have been simply being due to the dilution of dolomitic limestone
in the peat as a result of biochar application. Oppose to N content,
results showed that S plant content increased as biochar rates
increased with exception Biochar B at 25%. Regarding micro-
nutrients, Mn content into plants followed the same trends as Mg
did, with decreases in biochar ebased treatments. The content of
Cu, Zn and B was fluctuated among different treatments. No major
differences were found on Fe content among plants grown in dif-
ference biochar types and mixtures. On basis of this study it is not
possible to speculate the cause of these trends.
There were significant correlation between substrate CAT
extractable total N (NH4-N þ NO3-N) and total plant N (P ¼ 0.001).
Despite marked decreases in CAT extractable nitrogen levels as a
result of the addition of biochar, this is only reflected partly in a
decrease of total N content of the plant. Significant correlations
were also found between substrate extractable P and total plant P
(P ¼ 0.001) (see Fig. 4). There was also a significant correlation
between extractable K and plant K but the relationship was not so
good (R2 ¼ 0.48, P ¼ 0.001). These results indicate that CAT
extractable N and P found to be suitable for peat and compost can
also be used on peat biochar mixes. However more work needs to
be done to explain why the CAT extractable N overestimates plant N
availability.
These early findings of the current work have many positive
implications for use of biochar in conjunction with peat. First the
addition of biochar up to 25% with no negative effect means that
peat usage could be reduced by 25% without any adverse effect on
growth of seedlings. These findings are in agreement with findings
of some other authors e.g. Graber et al. (2010) and Tian et al. (2012)
as mentioned earlier. But more significantly, some of the biochar
treatments outperformed 100% professional grade peat for seed-
lings. In addition the capture of nitrate and phosphorus has
implication of leaching of these nutrients from peat substrates into
the environment. In contrast to soil, peat substrates are very sus-
ceptible to leaching of P (Owen et al., 2008) and the fact that P is
held by the biochars and presumably on basis of this work, is still
plant available has positive implications for the environment but
also for farmers reducing fertilizers costs. This is in agreement with
previous studies related to P release and availability when biochar
was used in the soil (Manolikaki et al., 2016). The reduction of EC as
a result of biochar application to peat has implication of use of
materials that have high EC as a peat diluent. The limiting factor on
their use e.g. composts, is high EC and biochar addition can reduce
the EC. For instance in unpublished work, we have found that EC of
spent mushroom compost and composted green waste, common
materials to dilute peat can be reduced by 42% and 30% respec-
tively, if biochar is added at 25%.
4. Conclusion
Under the examined biochars, negligible amounts of N and P are
present in Biochar and large amounts of K was present in 3 bio-
chars, namely B, C and D. Biochars are very biologically stable as
evidenced by oxygen uptake in relation to peat and compost. There
is a big decrease in EC and extractable total N including NO3-N, and
P as result of biochar application but an increase in pH and K. Better
rooting in cress and in some cases tomato plant growth was found
at low rates of biochar application to peat. CAT extractable N and P
was found to be suitable in predicting N and P content in plant
while there was a consistent reduction of N and P in the plant as a
result of biochar application. Despite the 4 biochars coming from
different sources and feedstock, they behaved broadly in a similar
fashion.
It is possible to prepare adequate growing media materials by

Fig. 4. Regression analysis of CAT extractable N and P of different mixtures consisted of commercial peat-P and different biochar (AeD) with the relevant plant N and P content.
 M. Prasad et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 216 (2018) 89e95
mixing some biochar samples with peat (H4-H5). These results have
implications regarding the strategy of nutrient application in peat
biochar mixes. The results of the present study have a high envi-
ronmental relevance as it may involve the replacement of a non-
renewable resource (peat) by biochar made from organic waste
and potentially reduce nitrate and phosphates in the environment.
Acknowledgement
Thanks to Austin Lanham of Innovation Group and Dearbhail Ni
Chulain, Horticulture Bord na Mona for helping greatly with the
project.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.04.020.
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