urea is the nitrogen containing ingredient in fertilizer, or IS the nitrogen itself, I don't know...but nitrogen is one of the 3 major plant nutients, and the one that promotes healthy growth of leaves stems etc

I know it is a waste product from the body, what is left after we convert amonia (nitrogenous waste) to then be excreted by the kidneys in urine and also some thru the pores in sweat. However, I believe there are other ways to produce it that don't directly involve animals - or at least none that are alive today (something to do with coal/gasoline?) and that most of it that is produced is used for fertilizer.. though it shows up in some other strange places... like plastic, body lotions and hair products, and in cigarettes for flavor (yum!) and I forget where else...

Ok I looked it up, and I think I got it right for the most part - today it is made from amonia and carbon dioxide, and is also used in glue, to make pretzels brown on the outside, and for cosmetics, cloud seeding and tooth whitening.

Most importantly, and what you probably really wanted to know, is that it will promote lush foliage and stem growth on your plants, sorry for all the other info, I couldn't resist....

Great answer Jen! You are really up on this stuff. I knew it had something to do with urine...but that is about it. Ha.
Now...I don't think I will look favorably on eating pretzels in the future. Yuk!
Marcy

Yeah, I am just a rolodex of useless information...We covered all this in my anatomy class this summer in the section on the kidneys/urinary system, which for me was probably the most interesting part of the course, how the filters of the body work.... The bit on pretzels and cloud seeding comes from Wikipedia, which is a great place to look up summarized info on any subject.

I've never really liked pretzels anyway!

WOW,
Thankyou so much,ines,All that information was very helpful and interesting.At least now I can use the fertilizer I have.It is called "Rapid Remedies" Multi purpose Growth Booster and contains fish emulsion.and it also contains.

Nitrogen (N) as urea 16.5
Nitrogen (N) as organic 1.3
TOTAL NITROGEN (N) 17.8

Phosphorus (P) as water soluble 4.2
Phosphorus (P) as organic 0.4
TOTAL PHOSPHORUS (p) 4.6

Potassium (k) as hydroxide 11.9
Potassium (K) as organic 0.3
TOTAL POTASSIUM (k) 12.2

So if this all sounds safe enough to you,I will use it in my next watering...Thanks again for you help...Karen....

Ok. I don't grow hoyas (yet), but I grow african violets, and in that world, we're generally advised to avoid fertilizers with urea because over time, urea actually burns their roots, and causes them to be unable to take up nutrients properly because of the damage - which leads then to salts building up over time, etc.

I don't know if african violets are just particularly susceptible to this damage, and hoyas could take it better, but there you go. Or maybe violet growers have to be more careful because of the "constant feed" cycle of fertilization that they tend to be on. I don't know. This could be why the "urea free" being a good thing caught you off guard.

Here's a reference to an AV site about it... But as I said, it's a bit of a different world.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Optimara // AV root burn article

Hi bubbledragon,
Thankyou for your advice but now I am TOTALY confused what to do,one good thing is I watered all my Hoyas yesterday so I have about 5 days to find out if I should or should'nt use what I mentioned above, so anymore advice from HOYA growers would be much appreciated..regards Karen.....

Karen, hoyas are tough, the fertilizer you have should be fine, I have used fish emulsion in the past with no negative results and no problems. I have a few AV's and they have shallow and delicate root systems, so different rules may apply...in fact, I have seen negative results with different fertilizers over the years on AV's.. if I am using a fertilizer for one thing, I would rather use it for everything for the sake of simplicity, and the one type of plant that I found to be sensitive in general was the African Violets..

I really don't know alot about fertilizers from the chemical standpoint, so someone else may have better advice about them. One thing I do know is that plants get plenty of nutrients just from the potting soil, so I don't think feeding them is all that necessary - as long as your plants are in good soil and occasionally top dressed to add fresh soil, they are probably getting alot of what they need. For that reason, I use a small, diluted amount of fertilizer with each watering...but only because with hoyas, I use a growing mix that is mostly perlite and orchid bark and not alot of potting soil, so because of the lack of actual soil, I think they need the extra nutrients.
If my mix contained a good amount of soil, I would probably only fertilize a couple times a year.

BTW, for the most part my plants grew fine AND bloomed when I didn't fertilize at all.....so is it all a waste of time? Maybe! Sometimes I do these things just to have another excuse to fuss over my plants, you know? Any plant "chore" is fun for me!

I'd agree with ines, since a google search for "urea root burn" pretty much ONLY turned up results pertaining to AV's. Those hoyas seem like pretty strong plants, and I'd say to go ahead with the fertilizer you'd previously selected if maybe a bit diluted, as it seemed like a pretty well balanced once and everything. I really just wanted to give you the reasoning why "urea free" might have been presented as a selling point.

I also agree with the growing/blooming with nothing at all. I've heard the rates on fertilizers can safely be cut in half (and often should.) It's something of a - we tell you to use more so we can sell more to you more often type of thing. Like with shampoo - lather rinse repeat. So you don't need as much as they always tell you, I guess.

:o)
Back to lurk and learn mode.

Hi,
ines and bubbledragon,
Thankyou very much,you both have gone to a lot of trouble and into so much detail. I now understand what it is all about and what to do,I will go ahead and use it at half strength and see how they go.I have never grown AVs as I know they are very delicate plants to grow,my mum used to grow them when I was a little girl but that was soooo long ago I don't remember anything she did.Anyhow you both have put in a lot of time and effort into helping me and I really do appreciate it.THANKS.

ines..I am the same,I look for any excuse to be out in the hothouse and fuss over my Hoyas.I find spending time out there is such a pleasure,and I find it even more relaxing than meditating....Thanks again for all your help.Regards Karen.....

Urea needs to be broken down by the microorganisms in the soil before it can be used by plants. If your plants are in pots and you flush them out often when you water them, you might be flushing out most of the urea before it is converted to the usable form of nitrogen. But if you don't water so heavily, most of the urea may stay in the soil and get converted. I think urea is used as an ingredient in a lot of fertilizers because it is relatively inexpensive.

Hi,
Thankyou hawaii50 for your info,it was very interesting.
Thanks again Karen. :) :) :)