However, in case of an emergency he is probably small enough to do a spot pee just about anywhere and its not going to be enough to do much harm. If you have some thick mulch, that would be a better place than directly on some plants.

You could always hit the peed spot with the a bucket of water or some water from the hose after he is done...if you are worried.

If you have a compost pile, that is the best place for a direct shot of urine.

no harm at all will be done, dad should stand beside him and do likewise. beats wasting good water to flush it down the loo.

len

If you have an open compost pile, it would be great to have him go there. Just teach not to let 'er rip into the wind!

I also know someone who 'pees the length of the garden' for deer control. In this case it involves walking while doing the deed, because the garden is way longer than that. ;-]

I'd recommend just targeting just one bullseye point. It reduces any lingering smell, as most of the liquid is then absorbed into the soil instead of drying off on the surface.

You might want to join your toddler. The plants will enjoy it.

Gotta train 'em young, I say.

When dh gets home, I'm gonna' tell him to stop going by the tree, and head down to the garden, instead. Too funny!

I think that shows that we are recognizing this valuable nitrogen fertilizer resource.

Just as it should be- 80% of the nitrogen that we excrete is in our pee. Flushing all that nitrogen to the septic system is a giant waste of good water and turns the sewage treatment process into a new energy user rather than a net energy producer. Seriously it is quite energy intensive to remove the nitrogen for the "waste stream". It requires pumping and aerating (think energy consuming pumps) for weeks.

Now the only down side I see to using urine directly in a garden is if your little nitrogen factory consumes excess sodium and potassium salts. And if he is urinating on green leafy matter the excessive salts would harm the green growth giving it the burnt roundup look.

Then again people above have posted testimonials about direct on plant urinations with no apparent harm but urine is not a stable concentration it varies through the day in composition and concentration. You will find that you first morning urinations are your most concentrated nitrogen, salts, proteins ect (a lot of dissolved solids/ High specific gravity). This is why they are recommended for urinalysis testing, urine pregnancy testing ect.

Therefore it has been my practice that the compost gets first morning collections(full strength). The garden and anything else that could use some still non diluted "liquid gold" gets direct to soil/mulch applications avoiding leaves through out the remainder of the day.

As a side note if you can teach him to be a crack shot you can use him as your own round up spray bottle, just point him at the weeds.

On a serious note, what about medications one may be taking or vitamin supplements, could those hurt?

True story. Even funnier than my sudden onset of 'water-lust'... the Airedale puppy who lives with me, paid very close attention to the sudden change in my behavior - after I saw the 'pee on compost' thread. When I started taking the special watering can outside, to 'water' the hot piles... he was right behind me, eager to get his own contribution on the pile right along with mine. More than that, the act itself seemed to have larger meaning to him which I was unaware of; a lightbulb went off in his head. He hiked his leg up there as high as he could, hit it from both directions...then beamed with pride over what he'd just done. At the time, I thought it was very funny. Made me laugh so hard, that I treated him for it... without thinking about the potential consequences.

I now live with an Airedale who may be obsessed with peeing on compost. Furthermore, he expects to get paid for it in dog treats. It's his favorite place to go now... he tries to spread it around the whole pile; hits it on all sides, exactly the same way that I do with my special watering can.

I don't know how it works in the garden, and will never know that from personal experience. All I know for sure...pee on compost can become addicting. I also suspect, the addiction can jump species without warning. If I start using my urine directly in the garden? Even diluted, I'm worried it would further encourage my dog to do the same. All my plants would die, and not willing to risk it. For me, its just safer to keep it all in the hot piles. Just sayin'...

Leslie in CO

Those silly pets.

But I think my neighbors in the morning would be kinda weirded out by my half asleep face just above the fence line and the sound of tinkling coming from below..

If this was a few years ago, I think the earthworms might get some kind of contact from all my "meds"