Mmmmm...?

..... bad idea for container culture.

Al

Why Al? It does not smell. It gets taken up before it turns to ammoniac. Its got all the majors in a balanced ratio. The only thing that bothers me is how much of the minors it contains....
I have to say the yuck factor does concern me, but I still want to put it out there and would really appreciate any comments :-)

It could be an old wives tale, but I have read somewhere, that Spanish onions get their flavour, from the workers peeing in the fields all the time.
Daisy

"Why?"

Unless someone can improve on what our goals are when we supplement the availability of plants' nutritional needs, let's accept the following as the ideal:

Ideally, we would work toward ensuring that all the nutrients plants normally secure from the soil are in the soil solution at all times, in the ratio at which the plant actually uses the nutrients, and at a concentration high enough to ensure no deficiencies yet low enough to ensure the plant isn't impeded in its ability to take up water and the nutrients dissolved in water.

In order to achieve this goal, we need to know what our urine contains. and particularly whether or not it contains chemicals we would rather not have finding their way into our bodies. It's probably a safe bet to assume there would be some N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S, but we're not going to know how much of these nutrients are present, which is a disadvantage if we choose to use it. Also, we don't know about its ability to supply the minor elements. Which leads to the point that if we decide to use urine as a fertilizer, in order for our nutritional supplementation to be ideal, using a second fertilizer or a list of nutrients other than urine will be required. IOW, it's probably not a good idea to depend on urine alone as your supplementation program in its entirety, which begs the question, "So what do we do now? What do we use to compliment our nutritional supplementation w/o creating limitations either by way of deficiency or excess (toxicity). We can't know unless we know what we supply in the urine (or fish tank water or pond water ......)

If we use a second fertilizer to supplement the urine, unless we know what's IN the soil AND what we're providing, the potential for the program to be limiting far outweighs the potential for benefits when comparing regimens of urine application vs a complete and balanced soluble synthetic fertilizer.

So, if you're going to supplement with another fertilizer, why not eliminate urine's potential limitations and choose a soluble synthetic that has ALL the essential nutrients in a soluble form, the ratio of which closely matches that at which the plant actually uses the nutrients?

If, in order to simply SAY you use urine as a fertilizer, you must accept the limitations inherent in its use, limitations easily avoided, it doesn't make sense to travel that trail.

Al

Yeah its actually self explanatory. To many variables and unknowns. I had that in the back of my mind but didn't really thought it through properly. I guess I'll only pee in the watering can in emergencies then...
Thank you Al. You are a real gentleman :-)

.... and your kind words are appreciated. Thank you.

Good luck!

Al

Could you guys explain this to my dog? He insists on fertilizing my plants, and even those in containers. Of course he does keep the birds and squirrels away from my fruit. He even saved a few of my blackberries (long story).
But has over fertilized a few. So with some in ground plantings I do have to take into account what my dog is doing. I wish he would just use the trees, which he does, he does tend to rotate which is good.

Many advocate the use of urine on orchard trees. I would consider it but it is illegal in my area to urinate in this manner. If I was in a rural setting, yes I would use it.
I won't collect it in cans, just a preference of mine.
One has little to worry about with excess nitrogen. Plants use a lot, so calculations with large plants are not that important. Blueberries love it too.

Is there a better use for urine? Flushing fertilizer down the drain wastes water as well as a resource. It may not be the best fertilizer but perhaps if applied properly it is the best use for urine.

I guess it could be used for a LOT of things - depending on how enamored of its use a person might be.

I think a huge % of those that use it, use it for no reason other than so they can SAY they use it. Even a jobless squatter living in an abandoned building and growing a calliweed crop in the back yard is going to find a way to get fertilizer for his herb.

Al

I think a huge % of those that use it, use it for no reason other than so they can SAY they use it.

And I believe a larger percentage choose not to say they use it.

It's free and it works and it benefits the environment. Every little bit helps. It's good to know even jobless squatters can do their bit :)

If you have a compost pile, add your urine to it.
Dilute the urine with water, then pour all throughout your compost.
That's the best use that I've seen.

Josh