Originally Posted by Snarkie

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I added a little bit to this bed earlier this year, along with some other odds and ends. I learned the secret of Terra Preta years ago while creating soil for my dawn redwoods, and biochar is a major contributor to it.

Perlite is essentially inert; it's like puffy popcorn sand that allows drainage, but charcoal not only allows that space, it is very absorbent. 1 gram of the stuff has the same surface area of several football fields. 5 gallons of char eventually absorbed 6 gallons of urine. I daresay that 5 gallons of Perlite might absorb less than a half gallon if that; mostly due to surface tension.

Not trying to inject myself into someone else's argument, but this is my experience with biochar. In addition to the 20" leaves on the pumpkins (usually around 6-8"), even the tomato to the left has 6" leaves according to the ruler, and in a few weeks, you'll see the harvest as it begins to ripen. I've never had this many maters or cukes on the vine, and my parsley is close to two feet tall.

BTW, that's a steel ruler that leaf is supporting. Think they grow 'em big in Texas? Texas ain't got nuthin' on North Carolina!