Measurements at 30, 60 and 90 days on eucalyptus establishment, with readings in the first year and the following ones.
What was done
Eucalyptus establishment trial with functional carbon in the planting hole: eleven treatments and four blocks. The treatments combine CARBOterra with the FILABIOSA biological drench and with the NPK fertilisation the company already uses, against a control with no amendment. Everything starts from a soil chromatography baseline, and the measurements are taken at 30, 60 and 90 days, with readings in the first year and the following ones.
What is measured
- Establishment and survival of the seedling.
- Growth in height and diameter at 30, 60 and 90 days.
- Biological activity of the soil by chromatography, before and after each treatment.
What we already know about forestry soil
In the previous eucalyptus desiccation trial, the treatments with CARBOfol plus FILABIOSA multiplied the soil's biological activity index by four at 30 days, from 0.5 to 2.0, measured by chromatography. Only the treatments that included biology recovered the soil; the rest stayed flat. The result was repeated in a second operation, with another application method and on another plot, with the same recovery trend.
And the best result was the one that combined the company's NPK with our biological package, better than either one on its own. That is the hypothesis the CARBOterra trial puts to the test at establishment: booster, not substitute.
Why it matters in forestry
In forestry the real cost is not the product: it is the pass over the plot. Saving a pass saves machinery, labour and fuel, not just the price of the input. And the soil of a six-year rotation has to reach the end of the rotation alive. An amendment that is applied once to the planting hole and stays in the soil for years is the way to raise the floor, not the ceiling.
An honest note
The trial is ongoing. Partial results are available under agreement with the forestry company, and will be published in full when the first-year readings are complete, including the treatments that do not confirm the hypothesis.