Biochar Super Compost (SF60) - Look and Feel

How should your SF60 (Biochar Super Compost) look and feel?

Recap: What is SF60?

SF60 is a mix of colloidal humus, biochar, oxide minerals and organic matter (compost).

It is made by taking green waste, mixing it with biochar and the mineral oxides, and then composting it under controlled conditions for 12 weeks. Here at SoilFixer, we do large-scale production with our partner Crapper & Sons at their registered PAS100 composting site. The process is highly controlled with lots of temperature measurements and controls. Once completed, the material is screened and stored pending receipt of the independent test results. (Please note: although we refer to and follow the PAS100 composting process and controls, SF60 is not a PAS100 compost - we supply SF60 - SoilFixer's Biochar Super Compost.

My SF60 looks like topsoil...

Rest assured it is not topsoil and no topsoil is added or used during the process. What you are seeing is a dark sticky colloidal humus. The nature of colloidal humus is a sticky substance - it aggregates (sticks) around the biochar and compost pieces to create lumps that do indeed look like soil. (To compare this with high-quality loam (topsoil): it will have a good amount of colloidal humus, this sticks the clay and sand particles into small lumps and gives good tilth. The colloidal humus is dark brown verging on black.  

BC is biochar;  c.humus is colloidal humus; Nut's is plant nutrients; POM is particulate organic matter.

My SF60 feels very sticky and wet...

This is exactly what your soil needs. 

We note in the SF60 product literature that over-drying SF60 is detrimental. SF60 contains soil microbes, colloidal humus and water.  If the product is completely dried, the microbes die and the colloidal humus loses the colloidal (ability to stick).

I planted my plants, seeds, and tomatoes in the bag of SF60 and the results were poor...

We are sorry to hear this. We try very hard to ensure all customers see the product literature and understand how to use SF60.  SF60 is a soil improver - it is not a standalone growing media (see blog on growing media).

The nature of SF60 is a sticky material that holds many times its own weight in water. As it expands, the water blocks air gaps. This is brilliant when used to improve soils - you get near to the perfect balance of tilth and aeration. However, in pure SF60, the roots are unable to 'breathe' (no respiration due to lack of oxygen). Many plant roots will find it very hard to grow in a bag of SF60.

When SF60 is added to soil at 5-20% ratio, you will see a huge improvement in plant growth and health.

My SF60 has dry hard lumps in...

This is very rare. When the is stored prior to bagging, occasionally the top of the heap can have a thin crust of dry SF60. In the UK weather, we rarely get a hard crust. If you sprinkle water on the hard limps they will absorb water quickly and be per the rest of the bag.

If the lumps do not absorb water - please contact us.

My SF60 has bits of woody twigs in...

Small twigs will be few and far between. The nature of sieving compost and SF60 is that long, thin diameter sticks occasionally fall through the sieve holes. They will not affect the soil or SF60 performance.

My SF60 has worms, my SF60 has no worms...

SF60 will have an occasional worm in, but often it has no worms in. You will find once mixed with soil, the worms in your soil will increase.

My SF60 has small bits of plastic...

Yes, most bags will have one or two pieces of small plastic.

We make SF60 at one of the best PAS100-registered compost sites in the UK. They take huge pride in making good clean compost. The site has various bits of equipment to remove plastics, stones, and other non-wanted items. However, just one plastic bag or a piece of the plastic tie will be shredded into many pieces. These often get encased in SF60 and pass through the sieves. The levels of plastics form part of the PAS100 standard and all levels are below the standards set. 

We recognise that for some customers even one bit of plastic will be an issue. We offer a money-back guarantee. If you want to avoid all plastic, then we would recommend you switch from buying SF60 to making your own Biochar Super Compost by adding our Compost Humification Agent to your own compost heap.

My SF60 has some stones in it...

These will be small, below 15mm. All current green waste composting has a low level of stones and grit as the waste comes in with small amounts of soil attached to roots etc. The composting site works to PAS100 standard and the stones will be few and far between.  

Buy SF60 Biochar Super Compost (Soil Improver)