the manure from horse stalls is likely to have straw or sawdust bedding included, which will absorb the urine, so the stall bedding is usually higher in N than straight manure picked up from the field, but also higher in carbon from the bedding

the Chinese are famous for using "night soil" in their farm fields - some folks over at the soil/compost forum are keen on using "recycled beer" in the compost for a nitrogen boost

Bill

i use my urine on a daily basis i do mix mine with water but basically that is so i can get the benefits of some of it on more plants at each time i use it.

len

mail len

lens garden page

one note of caution - is that urine can pass medecines or supplements that one might be consuming such as hormones, blood thinners, vitamins etc. generally the concentration is going to be so low its not a concern and the science is just underway on the decomposition and persistence of medecines wasted as such.

the diseases from human fecal waste on crops is from poor sanitation - limited access to potable water and using contaminated water for irrigation, cleaning hands and food before it is eaten.

Even if you are careful about eating and drinking, there is contamination from having your food served on a wet plate, or cooks and servers just having wet hands, etc. Some people forgot to use boiled water when brushing their teeth, and so on. It is attributed to the widespread use of 'night soil' in Chinese fields and the poor sanitation and water distribution systems all over the country. Could be from something else, but the diseases are definitely there.

Basically much of the water in China is polluted with human waste. WHen I was in Shanghai in '89 they were proudly putting sewer lines into half the city for the first time ever. We asked what they did before. Picked it up in carts and took it out to fields for fertilizer is what we were told, along with restaurant scraps, etc.

Marcia

Nightsoil is another problem--one that is handled by hot composting.

Swanz

(And hence, doesn't buy salt licks for animals?)

Wayne in the Adks.

len

mail len

lens garden page

Beans and peas, listed as sensitive, are nitrogen fixers anyway, so I hadn't been using diluted urine on them, but now I avoid using it often on the other plants listed as Sensitive. I apply it to the soil, not the edible part of the plant, or as in the case of root crops, stop using it long before harvest. They don't need the nitrogen boost anyway, which is what urine is especially good for.

Also apparently ammonium cyonate turns to ammonia which is a cleaning product. I am geussing the 2% urea in the mixture is more so converted by adding in extra water then the natural urine content.

Different animals most likely have slightly different urine compositions as well.

I havn't used it again. The smell is a potential issue. I plan on doing more research between implementing it on any plants again. If I did I may try a 1:20 or 1:50 or more dilution. I may see about composting but stagnation is a concern.

Note I have also read that it kills benificial soil bacteria creating dependance on nitrogen treatment, and severely weakens the plants. I am geussing that light spraying may be ok, but the health factor, or I wonder insect attraction could be an issue.

Like I said I will do more research before trying it again. I'm hoping the plant that took bad to it will survive, and I felt quite upset about what happened to the plant.

Be Careful.

I don't use it around my plants, as the cats seem to think it is an invitation to a giant litter box - even when it is diluted.

Just my 2¢.

Kathy

I wonder about taking antibiotic medication will have any effect on the soilweb... I'd think this would have major effect. I don't know about other medications.

Eat anything and don't drink enough water- it will be more concentrated. I haven't measured the N content of urine, but straight urea is 45% N. I have a serious doubt that urine is 1/3 urea by mass such that it would yield 15% N.

I'm on Liptior (10 mg/day). I use my urine on compost, the lawn- heck I pee all over the place. Plants are healthier than heck. Maybe my worms have lower cholesterol now :)

10 mg- assume that half gets metabolized- leaves 5 mg. Most is excreted in the first pee of the morning, as it's taken at night (80% of cholesterol production occurs at night). First pee is roughly a pint, or a half liter (makes the math easier). That results in 5 mg/500 ml, or 0.01mg/mL. That's 10 ppm. Not much. You probably have more to worry about if you use horse manure in compost- pretty hard to know what they're on unless you ask lots of questions.

Is everybody still utilizing their "wastes"? Or have half of us perished from human waste-borne diseases?

I've noticed that when mixing liquid gold to use on the plants the smell of my own urine seem more potent to me than that produced by my other half. Anyway, definitely dilute at least 10 parts water to one part pee for plants in the ground and weaker (like 20 parts water to one part urine) for container plants. I notice the odor while applying it but not the next day.

As with any other fertilizer you want to minimize leaching and runoff into water supplies. I've found that even keeping some urine separate for fertilizer, I still have plenty in the compost to keep that hot.

For those concerned about the smell, it goes away within minutes once exposed to air and soil bacteria.

I've been careful about not applying urine to the soil around salt-sensitive plants like spinach and strawberries although I'm not sure why. I don't understand the difference between fertilizer salts and sodium and what is in pee and how much. Otherwise I think of it as a very mild nitrogen source, have been scattering it undiluted on the lawn and the soil around many things without any burning effect. I wouldn't apply it to a dry summer lawn 'neat' though - common sense applies.

Yes the odor of urine stored sealed in a bottle can get quite extreem. Adding some vinegar can help some.

There probably isn't that much difference between salt build up from urine or from fertilizer. If it starts to build up, it needs to be flushed away. Plants in containers are going to be more at risk so their food should be more diluted.

It is best not to over fertilize since the salts are not so good for soil microbes and other soil life (especially earthworms.) That said, urine is still great as a compost activator (or high nitrogen source to help get good hot compost out of lots of browns.) Two or three people peeing in buckets of sawdust or leaves and adding them into a continous compost pile can have compost up to 160 degrees F in only a few weeks.

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www.TheGardenmGuy.org
"New Article & Journal Entry"

I am glad I read this thread since I did not know it did speed things up in the compost pile. My compost is doing well but it could use a little more speedy composting.

Oh, and I think I'll stop adding salt to my food at least until gardening season is over.

BTW, I have been taking a vitamin B supplement and it's making my water very yellow. I think I remember that vitamin B is used as a root growth aid.

I know that human huran has a lot of good nitrogen, but I personally have a thing about eating veggies I pee's on! I know it won't hurt me, but kind of ruins my appetite!! :-)

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www.TheGardenGuy.org ( a FREE Website )
May Article: Sucession Planting, plus ongoing
garden journal and interactive message boards.

I've been using it on young corn 2:1 for a couple months and haven't seen any problem. I've also put it on corn and around toms undiluted on occasion. I think diluting it 2:1 or greater is pretty safe IMO.

someone asked way back about horse stable manure that is the best horse manure same as with cows/cattle from the stalls or yards the manure's contain lots of urine. just with horses you need to check see when the horses are wormed and not use that without composting maybe or not at all.

len

Al

that's your loss the many i share crops with wouldn't support you fear hype issue with the use of something that is basically sterile the only time it may not be is when someone has a urinary tract infection and there is no hope of that transferring from garden to plant.

and when you consider many drink water recycled from sewerage i can't see the objection. like always i ask show us the hard case evidence of someone being treated medically for something that was catagorically now assumed to be caused by this sort of application.

no one has ever gotten sick eating at my table. the yuk factor a myth maker.

len

Len is not using urine as an organic spot-free dishwater additive or disinfectant. . . right Len?

Skirt

i see the yuk!! factor has raised its ugly head when there is no yuk factor to even consider, in the use of a valuable resource like human urine or any urine for that matter. yes we mix it with our dish rinse pre-wash water but we will also mix it with the dish water that has been used to wash the dishes. we wash by hand using a basin that fits inside the sink all part of our water management in our effort to use all water at least twice.

the mixing occurs in buckets, this has been a long held practise for us for over about the past decade, our recycling practises along with the use of green mulches means we get good healthy productive vegetables without any need to bring in manures or fertilisers.

i have said it many times we water only the root zone no overhead watering ever well only when mother nature delivers it. we create usually 2 buckets each day and each bucket will water up to 6 plants, currently that means each plant is getting watered nearly twice a week, we don't have a lot of garden space app' 16sq/mts, but the practise will work in all sized growing areas jsut means those may have to use some other water as well in the watering regime, as this is our fertiliser water, the other water that gets used on our gardens is laundry water.

don't use irrigation systems either our way we have more control over how much water each plant gets through its growth period, so there is no chance of any wastage or any plant missing out.

len

len

Ok, so what’s a GoGirl?

Simply put, GoGirl is the way to stand up to crowded, disgusting, distant or non-existent bathrooms. It’s a female urination device (sometimes called a FUD) that allows you to pee while standing up. It’s neat. It’s discreet. It’s hygienic. (more)

Not only idd I get a HUGE laugh at so many personalities, views, and such, I learned quite a bit...Sheesh!

Mike

Sterile - free from living organisms or microorganisms.

Even if it is, I am sorry that so much time is spent on this subject in a forum that has so much to offer.

Sammy

not sure what you mean sammy? this is a valid topic and lots of good advice has been offered the sad thing is some will always have that "yuk" factor driving their thinking and the rest of us can do nought about that, but tell of our experiece to help other sustainable gardeners.

there are no pathogens in urine, the only time urine has anything like that in it is when someone has a urinery tract infection, then these things don't survive outside the body.

we use ours here(as fresh as) and have done for over a decade with no ill effects and we share a lot of produce, the urine only gets used to water the root zones just like when we water, no water is wasted over the top of the foliage which can cause mildew issues.

urine has nitrogen in it plus other elements that are extreted, these are all good in the soil environement where the plants draw their nutrients from, the plants do not drink big gulps of urine or water in that fashion it is all broken down my various microbes and bacteria so it can be absorbed by the plants.

so all i can suggest maybe is that if certain topics disgust a person then may be that/those person(s) should use their freedom not to visit that thread or have any imput?? i only read threads that petain to my interests i don't read every post on every day.

and over the years all research points to urine being sterile, even drinking it has been suggested.

we are in drought so all fluid gets used to water gardens that is part of good management.

len

I really don't want to re-read the posts, but where are the experts that condone this practice?

Sammy

But let's just say it's safer to drink urine than breathe the air inside your house. Concerns about it containing some deadly disease would be extremely rare to the point where you'd just waste time worrying about it

In taste tests, the urine-fertilized tomatoes tasted different from those fertilized with urine and ash, but tasters didn't have a preference -- "all tomato samples were evaluated as being equally good by the tasters," the study says. The results are reported in the latest Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry."