Organic Urea

Discussion in 'Organic Gardening' started by Vancouver Island, Sep 14, 2009.

  1. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    This is an interesting study worth reading. There are also some links in the references.

    Stored Human Urine Supplemented with Wood Ash as Fertilizer in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Cultivation and Its Impacts on Fruit Yield and Quality - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (ACS Publications)

    See this link for the publication:
    http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/jf9018917?cookieSet=1

    This study compares three fertilizer methods in great detail. Wood ash and urine are used in this soil science study. The results also compare the quality/quantity/taste of the fruit and the chemistry of the soil at the end of the growing season. We need lots more professional studies like this one! The original link came from the "Science and Development Net" at http://www.scidev.net/en/news/tomatoes-thrive-on-urine-diet.html
     
  2. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Last edited: Sep 25, 2009
  3. greenboy

    greenboy Active Member

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    Sounds interesting. But Iam keeping my beer drinker neighbor away from the tomatoes believe me.
     
  4. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    I would keep the beer drinker out too! He might eat the tomatoes...

    What is important here though is that many imported organic products may already include human waste products. Whether or not these products have been sanitized is anybody's guess.

    And, in a green world, shouldn't we be making better use of our waste with recycling? Why are we be looking to shut down Alberta's tar sands because of pollution? They are producing the oil products that fertilize much of the worlds agricultural lands. They also generate high CO2 levels. Not a good thing. So alternatives need to be found.

    So what do most of us do now? Unfortunately most of our human waste ends up in waterways and oceans. Why aren't we insisting on recycling to reduce the oil requirements for agriculture that currently feed us. Why are we polluting the water we drink?

    Yes, it is tough to get our heads around this idea, but Europeans seem to be working in this direction to reduce their dependence on oil. Hope you think about it.... and others too... It can and should be done.
     
  5. wolf

    wolf Active Member

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    What is the difference between man-made urea and human urea? Just buy some 46-0-0 and do it.

    I fully agree that we should make better use of human and animal wastes. In fact I am all for it. I just want to remind you that you should never use wood ash (aka potash) with urea or anything nitrogen-rich in the same time.
     
  6. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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  7. Dee2

    Dee2 Member

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    I used urine for my patio garden in Vancouver growing herbs, tomatoes, a variety of leafy greens, garlic, chives, with great success. I fertilized them with 1/2 and 1/2 urine and water every week or two. Also works well for my houseplants. A friend of mine swears by it for his back yard blueberry bushes, raspberries, rhubarb, other fruit trees, and his lawn.
     
  8. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    Dee2 you sound progressive. You may be interested in biochar as well. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar for more information. The biochar retains nutrients and feeds microrganisms that feed the roots of plants. Use wood charcoal from the fireplace (not the ash -- only the chunks). Soak the charcoal with a little molasses and compost and add enough water to cover the charcoal. Soak it for a day or two and then mix it in with your soil. It really works, and retains more moisture in the soil. The other link at wikipedia is "terra preta" soils. Great information for organic gardeners. Have fun!
     
  9. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    In my opinion Dee sounds peculiar. Greatful she does not care for anything I grow. Human urea belongs in one place----the toilet. - Millet (1,208-)
     
  10. Trevor Erikson

    Trevor Erikson Member

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    People use urea for gardening all the time. You can buy sheep urea for your lawn at a gardening store or you can use your own for free.

    I have heard of human urine being listed as a reliable nutrient source in gardening textbooks from the early 19 hundreds.

    I have personally used this a lot and it works wonders. I was taught by several different homesteaders, who have used it for decades, to water it down ten to one (particularly if you are a meat eater with more acidic urine). The heavy feeders like tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, basil, etc, all love it!

    I know of people that store their urine all winter in big oil barrels and then feed their fruit trees with it come spring.

    BTW the homesteaders I know growing most of their own food and using urine to assist with that, are some of the healthiest people I know :-)
     
  11. wolf

    wolf Active Member

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    Yes. I am aware that human waste, or urine and "night soil" are used as fertilizers. I believe this is a good practice as long as they are properly handled - especially the fece.

    That gives a whole new meaning to "Non olet!"
     
  12. Trevor Erikson

    Trevor Erikson Member

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    Urine and human feces are very different. Obviously both are excellent fertilizers, the difference being that feces contains a lot more bacteria that can be hazardous if not properly broken down first. Urine on the other hand can be used "fresh from the tap", so to speak, as long as it is watered down :-)
     
  13. wolf

    wolf Active Member

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    Yes, night soil should be fermented or composted thoroughly and should not be used on leaf vegetables that are supposed to be consumed raw. Otherwise it is an excellent fertilizer. Urine mainly contains nitrogen. It should only be used on leaf vegetables or early stages of other vegetables.
     
  14. runningtrails

    runningtrails Active Member

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    I used it in my small corn field this year. Watered down 10 to 1 before pouring directly on the plants. I needed a cheap and easy source of nitrogen feed for the corn this year and it certainly is that. I do have chickens but needed all of that for the other vegetable garden.
     
  15. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Human urine has the additional useful quality of deterring deer from the garden, if sprayed on foliage. I have not watered it down, but next spring when my tender Japanese Maple leaves come out, I think I will try that, to prevent any kind of leaf burn. It doesn't seem to harm any other kind of leaf, but I think it may Japanese Maples. I am experimenting with mixing it with a bit of vegetable oil for stay-on-ableness, perhaps with a bit of Murphy's Oil Soap, too; I tried the latter and both forms seemed to deter the deer.

    My describing this process, bottling it and filling sprayers for its use, caused the most dreadful series of critical responses in an earlier series of posts last year or last spring... let's not get into that again. I don't see how it can be any more dangerous to the health than dog urine, which is everywhere for heaven's sake. Good to be more exposed to this and that for immunity's sake, anyway.
     
  16. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    I will be interested in your experiment JanetDoyle. It is a renewable resource and an economical one as runningtrails has found. More of us may find uses for it as the downturn in the economy probably continues. That said, using natural urea is also a very environmentally green thing to do rather than using oil based products for urea. Time we all start working in that direction. Good luck at keeping the deer away! Keep us all posted.
     
  17. runningtrails

    runningtrails Active Member

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    It did not deter the groundhogs. I hope you have better luck with deer!

    Its too bad that you got such a response earlier. Some people have become far to neurotic to ever live close to the Earth.
     
  18. Dee2

    Dee2 Member

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    Carol Steinfeld (2004) wrote the book below outlining experiences using urine as fertilizer. One idea is to eat a low salt diet, healthly for us as well as plants. The pictures on the website in themselves are worth a quick look.

    http://www.liquidgoldbook.com/newstuff.html
     
  19. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    That's interesting. Not everybody's cup of tea, but interesting, especially the collection device!

    Well, good for people for trying different things, that's what makes life fun!
     
  20. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    "Scientists are warning the world could reach peak phosphorous in 30 years, the elements decline accelerated by insatiable global demand for meat and dairy products, and by crop-based biofuels, which suck phosphorous out of the agricultural system in unprecedented volumes, according to one recent newspaper report. Unfortunately, phosphorous cannot be manufactured. Once its gone its gone. Thus, with the best mines depleted and correspondingly higher extraction costs to pull it out of the ground, the pressure is on to try and come up with an alternative source of the mineral."
    http://www.baumpub.com/cep/features_details.php?feature_id=1169&fpage=1
    This is a "heads up" article! Basically it is about mining phosphorus from pee. However, the processing is probably going to cost a lot. Making better use of waste products is long overdue. Fertilizer prices are going up now along with food prices according to recent .gov.ca reports. The cost of water is going up for most homeowners as well. Looking for ways to keep the cost of gardening down is now more important than ever.
     
  21. 2annbrow

    2annbrow Active Member

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    What about dog urine, straight? My dog has favorite he "waters" daily. The honeysuckle doesn't seem harmed, but?
     
  22. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    The Oregon coast probably gets enough rain to keep things well diluted! Honeysuckle I have had in the past tended to be vigorous growers and seemed to be able to tolerate most things. We have some plants near the driveway that are always watered by the dogs. The rhododendrons took a hit and several were killed. We then put a couple of large log flower pots out there to direct their interest -- which worked! We allowed some marjoram plants to grow around the base and they seem to thrive. (and no, we don't use those plants for culinary use). Dog and cat waste can contain parasites from what I understand. Their waste generally ends up in the flower garden.
     
  23. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    I have noticed that dog urine certainly damages grass but then sometimes you see wonderful greener patches where they have been... maybe drinking lots of water helps! Cat pee from my pet blackened off my miniature thyme groundcover in a certain area in our enclosed patio... so now I keep a watch on her out there... she resents being told not to do it in places which seem perfectly natural to her... she ignores litter containers when in the patio, even the most elegant ceramic bonsai-type ones lent for pampered cats...

    Whatever... the deer have now been well-trained away from my garden although there are packs of them in the neighbourhood, by virtue of urine spraying. Now I mainly just use meat meal sprinkled over everything, even foliage, and they avoid my place like the plague...

    My should-be patented deer spray could be called Plague, in the spirit of perfumes named Diesel, Opium, English Leather...
     
  24. Vancouver Island

    Vancouver Island Active Member

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    What is "meat meal"?
     
  25. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Meat Meal is a product sold in Victoria-area nurseries that is, basically, ground-up meat, I suppose, or blood plus meat remains... It comes in white or clear tubs, is powdery, smells sort of sweetish, I would never have guessed it was meat, and the label of mine says "Growers Delight" "A source of nutrients for your garden. Packaged by Cinnabar, Nanaimo, BC 250-753-3611, www.growell.bc.ca"

    Everyone around here uses it, one lot-owner sprinkles huge quantities of it, she must spend a fortune on it, making a little hill of it all around her property... It's about $6 a tub, and gets used up pretty quickly. I think it must be a good fertilizer, too... my heathers have been mysteriously thriving since I started using all my new deer repellents!
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2009

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