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I use urine throughout the growing season with positive (or at least, no noticeable negative) effects.

I understand that some consider it more a "liquid fertilizer" that feeds the plant directly as opposed to improving the soil ..which will, in turn, feed the plant (as though it would be most efficiently used in hydroponics). I'm not sure how accurate this is but I always wonder about it more as the growing season comes to a close.
If one "fertilizes" an area when nothing is growing there, will it still be beneficial to the Spring planting?

What percentage of the nitrogen will get fixed?
If the nitrogen will be lost to off-gassing will other minerals, micro-nutrients be retained?

Some of this (nitrogen off-gassing) seems supported by the fact that in certain countries that are hip to wisely utilizing this valuable resource, some bottle and store it during non-growing season (even though I also recall reading that it is best used fresh).

Regardless, I'm not saying that it doesn't still have winter uses like helping bring into balance a compost pile too carbon rich after the additional Autumn leaves but, in short, (assuming it's a given that urine fertilizes the plant) does urine benefit the soil?

Comments (70)

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    I think the idea is that char will sequester some of the minerals in the urine, much more long term than applying the urine to compost.

  • glib
    9 years ago

    Elisa, that would be organic fertilizer/rodent repellent, fully justifying the $29.99. Even in my early, naive, misinformed gardening years I was wise enough not to buy coyote urine.

    In regard to charcoal, perhaps there is a way through a third compound which breaks down urea, and nitrogen then binds to charcoal. I would have to look at the chemistry, but I only took a class in college and I am quite slow. It is a good project for Xmas vacations.

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    Yes, and deer repellant.
    Coyote urine -- an upsetting subject for me, because I know no one is running around after coyotes trying to catch urine. I figure the animals are in cages with catheters inserted for their whole lives. I try not to buy ANYTHING with animal urine in it.--just as bad as veal in my book.

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    I use large empty containers from clothes detergent. It has a wide opening to accommodate without having to aim so carefully. :)

    Odor of aged urine is incredible. I wonder if others see crystallized residue in the bottom. Is this what kidney stones are made of?

    Are these salts (?) good for the garden or should they be used elsewhere?

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    Elisa, you don't suppose there are some intrepid coyote piss-catchers roaming the high plains?

    I would think that the solids at the bottom of an aged bottle-o-brew are salts, but since my chemistry background is even much less than Glib's that is pure guesswork.

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    Word of caution: When a container gets too full as to cause the tip of your tool to get wet with old urine, you can give yourself an infection.

    In this case,
    Urine Trouble...

  • toxcrusadr
    9 years ago

    I...

    Can't even.

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    TMI?
    (-:

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    "you don't suppose there are some intrepid coyote piss-catchers roaming the high plains?"

    What a great image -- very historical western
    "Yessir, I tried panning for gold, I tried running cattle, heck I even tried carrying the mail on the pony express, but me and my gal, now we're coyote piss-catchers, and hooo-ee we gonna buy us a little house of our own soon!"

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    I reckon we should write a screenplay and submit it to netflix as an originalâ¦

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    Couldn't resist seeing what this was about. I imagine this type of fertilizer also keeps deer and rabbits away.

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    It's pee discussions that get me through the cold winter months.

    "TMI?
    (-:"

    No, UTI

  • davids10 z7a nv.
    9 years ago

    great thread-when i'm not dumping it on the main heap i use a half wine barrel filled with roughly chopped leaves. the barrel is in the sun and covered with an old weber bbq lid. urine and alternate freezing and thawing produce beautiful compost by spring.

  • toxcrusadr
    9 years ago

    Jurassic Park III

    Kid: "Don't knock that jar over, it's the only thing that scares the Velociraptors away."

    Dr Grant: "What is it?"

    Kid: "T-Rex pee."

    Grant (incredulous): "How did you..."

    Kid (shaking head): "You don't wanna know."

  • david52 Zone 6
    9 years ago

    The rock in the photo has channels that run, down hill, to a large 500 gallon (2000 liter) container, filled with charcoal left over from smoke signal fires. The grizzled, white-bearded now-retired prospectors come around with burros and collect the stuff.

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    Between Tox and Dave we should be able to get a decent little screenplay done..

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    Oh, this is too much fun.

  • FrancoiseFromAix
    9 years ago

    The best urine to use as a fertilizer is vampire's urine, because it's the urine that has the highest percentage of N.

    Obviously this urine is to be used in a compost pile with much browns. Never use it directly on plants, even when diluted it burns. Or dilute it with a ratio 1 - 100, at least.

    Scientists believe that this high percentage of N is related with what vampires feed on, but further research is necessary to prove this hypothesis.

    As correlation is not causation, scientists around the world are currently gathering samples from both males and females, young and old vampires. However they are faced with an issue that is very difficult to solve : they have yet to find some samples of urine from a vampire who has a balanced diet from different sources of food.

    Up to now, they haven't been able to succeed, hence they have no witness group to compare samples with. Some PhD students fear to have to be sacrificed in the name of science and now go to their labs with garlic.

    But this is an uninteresting anecdote for us composters and gardeners, the only interesting fact being the high percentage of N in vampires' urine.

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    I just read that one can destroy a garden using urine from lawyers.

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    Anyone find it a little unsettling that this thread now appears on the list along with that little camera icon that means there are photos to accompany "Winter Urine"?

    Enjoying all the creativity on here :)

  • glib
    9 years ago

    Elisa, I did click on the thread with some trepidation.

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    .
    Did the thread live up to expectations?
    Instead of a thread, maybe we could call it a stream.

  • nexev - Zone 8b
    9 years ago

    At least the storyline has a good flow to it.

    While not overzealous myself in that I dont mind flushing if situation presents dumping some fresh liquid fertilizer on a dry pile isnt beyond what could happen. Collecting for later use isnt gonna happen though.

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    People making fun of this thread/stream really pisses me offâ¦

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    Maybe more so for some one with an avatar pnbrown.
    OTOH, maybe pee'n brown might be a medical problem....

    This post was edited by Emerogork2 on Sat, Nov 29, 14 at 18:39

  • david52 Zone 6
    9 years ago

    You read it?

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    Maybe we need to bring this back to the original thread which confused me even back then. Is winter urine any different than summer urine and how does seasonal urine affect my gardens?

    TTKMAWAN

  • morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
    9 years ago

    I'd say this thread is just filled with golden streams of goodness. Work a little harder and it will surround us like a golden shower.

    It's weird, but I have this really negative reaction to saving and using urine. Shrug. I guess it's just a squick factor for me.

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    A guy I used to work with would call me p-p-p-p-p-p-p-broooownâ¦.

  • jctsai8b
    9 years ago

    I use winter urine for winter compost.

  • Gary Sutcliff (Ledyard CT Z6)
    9 years ago

    Summer urine works much better for Winter compost.

  • jctsai8b
    9 years ago

    So you stored summer urine somewhere?

  • glib
    9 years ago

    looks like the jokes have slowed down to a trickle...

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    A bit like trickle down economics, do you feel trickled on?

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    This is better entertainment than even the Johnny's catalog :)

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    It's all your'n, Pepeâ¦

  • david52 Zone 6
    9 years ago

    I'm yearning for your love â¦. strum strum

  • pnbrown
    9 years ago

    You're in the club, Dave!

  • toxcrusadr
    9 years ago

    I read this thread three times and I just can't shake it off.

  • glib
    9 years ago

    it's us organic nitrogen fertilizers coming out.

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    Better yet, "On Tap", no?

  • elisa_z5
    9 years ago

    Voice over: And so, the thread/stream of Winter Urine dried up. The puns and the vampires shriveled and blew away with the tumble weed.

    Final scene: The grizzled old prospectors and the kids from Jurassic Park III sit around a camp fire in the desert. The firelight plays on their faces as they talk and laugh about times gone by.

    Camera pans out.
    A single coyote howls in the distance.

    THE END

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    "A single coyote howls in the distance. " as it urinates into a jar to be sold at the gardening center.

  • toxcrusadr
    9 years ago

    "COMING SOON: IN A FROZEN WORLD, ONE MAN PREPARES FOR SPRING AGAINST ALL ODDS. 'PEE 2: THE MELTING'. IN THEATERS DEC. 21."

  • Gary Sutcliff (Ledyard CT Z6)
    9 years ago

    I saw the unreleased script. It starts off "2P:~2P"

  • FrancoiseFromAix
    9 years ago

    However, while other ones around him were being silly, Action Claw, the hero at the origin of the urine movement, was NOT wasting his time !

    He was reading, thinking, gathering interesting information, about winter urine, spring urine, automn urine, summer urine.

    But poor Action Claw was tormented : caught in the claws of a painful dilemma, he could not sleep any longer. He could not eat. He could not communicate with his loved ones. He was the prey of a deep anguish that had gripped him so tightly that he could hardly breath and only drink so as to go on saving fertilizer.

    And at the root of his deep sorrow was the question :

    When to apply his long saved wonderful gallons of priceless liquid ?

    What if he applied it in spring, and on following days heavy rains happened and each and every drop of the precious liquid leached out ... Only thinking about that broke his heart in a million pieces !

    What if he applied it in summer and on following days a heat wave happened, and each and every drop of the precious liquid gassed off in the atmosphere, oh the huge waste of this golden nitrogen ! Only thinking about that gave him suicidal ideas !

    (Cliffhanger : the curtain drops on poor Action Claw crawling and twisting in pain on the ground, surrounded by all sorts of bottles and containers full up to the top)

    (don't worry : happy ending coming soon !)

  • FrancoiseFromAix
    9 years ago

    Life around poor Action Claw was going on :

    Silly posters were posting on forums, laughing, they were so casual, negligent, irresponsible, in a word : happy.

    Postmen delivered letters. Milkmen delivered milk. Pizzamen delivered pizzas. Newspaper young boys delivered newspapers.

    And Action Claws, even underfed and walled in silence and pain was still grabing the newspapers every morning to mulch his garden next spring and prevent the weeds in his beloved plants.

    And suddenly... A miracle ! Under the extraordinary name of Anadella, hidden among stupid and useless ads, here came a goddess who could predict weather 2 years in advance !

    A resurrection ! Action Claw reads again : Yes She Can ! And 2 years in advance when 1 was enough to save him !

    Action Claw is still twisting, but it is not on the ground any longer ! He's dancing, he's jumping, he's shouting his relief, he's hugging his loved ones, he's just so happy !

    (To be in accordance with the forum rules, the phone number has been masked, however those needing it can ask through personal email)

    (I would have liked to pretend the image upside down was to reinforce the suspense but to be honest it's just because I suck in computer)

  • FrancoiseFromAix
    9 years ago

    However Elisa was still desperate.

    She had opened the thread in the hope of great photos.

    Now she was brooding, disappointed, stuck in the middle of winter, with shorter days, coldness, frozen soil and compost, no activity of bacteria whatsoever, except, perhaps, in her throat or her nose. Well, great, nice compostable paper hankerchieves if she needs to blow her nose.

    Oh to be warm and cosy, sitting in a deep soft armchair, watching nice photos in such an informative thread about organic fertilization !

    Art rescued her. Art, in the form of an old statue, as an encouragement to the newly created urine movement, as a symbol that had been waiting for this movement !

    There he was, the Manneken Pis, for every organic fertilizing gardeners, and especially for Eliza ;-)

  • FrancoiseFromAix
    9 years ago

    And as Christmas was coming soon, the symbol had the grace to be as ridicule as every one round this thread...

  • emerogork
    9 years ago

    Folks, it is too soon for all this cabin fever. But, fear not, the winter solstice is only a few weeks away. Days will start getting longer. Spring is right around the corner... (At least it is for those above the line....)