2. Materials and methods
The microcosm experiment described in this paper is part of a tiered
experimental plan (Gruiz et al., 2015) targeting the evaluation of
the studied biochars prior to field application. A number of thirteen biochars
from different organic waste feedstocks have been pre-screened
(Feigl et al., 2015) and three biochars were selected for the laboratory
microcosm experiment. The soil microcosms were monitored by an integrated
methodology including physico-chemical methods, biological
analysis and ecotoxicity testing.
2.1. Soil properties
The studied soil originates from an agricultural field near Nyírlugos,
Eastern Hungary. The soil is characteristically of light, sandy texture andsignificantly reduced electrical conductivity during the first 2 weeks,
whereas the nitrogen, compost and rockstone treated A2 biochar caused
13–160% increase compared to the untreated control. After 7 weeks the
0.1% A1 biochar amended soil showed a 24% increase in EC compared to
the control. However the higher application doses of A1 did not show
significant changes at the end of the experiment. Both the 0.5% A1 and
B1 application combined with compost or fertilizers increased the electrical
conductivity after 7 weeks.