The application of hydrochars as soil amendments could be an option to ameliorate soil quality by enhancing nutrient and water-holding capacity of sandy soils. But when hydrochar application is directly followed by sowing, it can decrease the soil mineral-N concentration and the germination rate of crops. We currently lack evidence, whether these effects are persistent or transient and thus…
Hydrochars and biochars are products of the carbonization of biomass in different conversion processes. Both are considered suitable soil amendments, though they differ greatly in chemical and physical composition (e.g., aromaticity, inner surface area) due to the different production processes (pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization), thus affecting their degradability in soil. Depending on…
Before hydrochars can be applied as soil amendments in agriculture, information about how hydrochar application affects soil nutrient cycles and plant growth are necessary. In this study, incubation experiments were performed to investigate hydrochar effects on N concentrations (NO 3 , NH 4 ) in soils with different N pools (soil N, fertilizer N). A set of pot trials with three crop specie…