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D.I.Y. The cheapest excellent plant food NOT on the market.

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With so many plant foods available which one should we use? Chemical or organic?
Then there’s the price. Is paying more better or are we paying for the brand name?

What if we can make our own? Or better still why not make our own organic plant fertilizer?

The answer is we do! Every day!
And what do we do with it? We throw it away! Every day!

This is not a joke . . . I’m talking about urine.
Most of us may have a deeply ingrained belief that urine is a noxious substance that must be disposed of, but this is a myth that needs busting.

Human urine is one of the fastest-acting, most excellent sources of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and trace elements for plants and it’s free.

Fresh human urine is sterile and so free from bacteria. It’s only when it is older than 24 hours that the urea turns into ammonia, which is what causes the ‘wee’ smell.

Dilute one part urine to 10-15 parts water for application on plants in the growth stage. Dilute in 30-50 parts water for use on pot plants, which are much more sensitive to fertilisers of any kind. Urine is always best applied directly to a plant’s root system.

Antibiotics, vitamin supplements and other medications will end up in your urine, but in such minute quantities as to be negligible, especially when diluted in water.

Urine is 95 per cent water, 2.5 per cent of which is urea, and a further 2.5 per cent of which is a mixture of minerals, salts, hormones and enzymes. It is a blood byproduct but despite containing some bodily waste is non-toxic.

In 1975, Dr A. H. Free published his book Urinalysis in Clinical Laboratory Practice, presenting a few of the critical nutrients found in urine, including urea nitrogen, urea, creatinin nitrogen, creatinin, uric acid nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, amino nitrogen, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, inorganic sulphate and inorganic phosphate.

Patrick Makhosi, a soil scientist with Uganda’s Kawanda Agricultural Research Organisation, confirms the efficacy of human urine as a fertiliser. He says that applying urine to growing vegetables once every week for at least two months will more than double the yield.

So, if you want a ready source of plant food that is perfectly balanced for your garden, that is absolutely free, available all year round, consider using your own urine.

There is also the added pleasure of feeling that you are a more integrated part of the cycle of growth in your garden; in the loop, not exempted from it. Happy gardening – and remember these golden rules…

Keep it separate
Separate urine from other bodily waste to keep it sterile. Pee in a bottle or bucket.

Use it fresh
The smell of ammonia also indicates a drop in nutritional content. Use old wee directly on your compost heap only.

Always dilute
Urine is too strong to be used neat on plants. Dilute at least 10:1 and up to 50:1 for use on tender plants and seedlings.

This information is an abridged version of freelance journalist Dorienne Robinson’s article published 22nd September 2010 text>>

Peace n Love StJ

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Comments

 

How much does the adult bladder hold ? Suggest 1 pint in a clean bucket, filled from the water butt is 8:1 so its too
strong.

10 Mar, 2016

 

approx 400ml , I believe Diane.

Male urine, of course, will also keep the foxes away...so they say!
it is also a good activator of garden compost heaps.

10 Mar, 2016

 

Had a patient with a urinary retention problem. About 1 liter emptied out of him once the catheter was inserted. Whew! What a relief it was for him.

10 Mar, 2016

 

Fascinating subject, just another commodity that we throw away these days that our ancestors didn't.
I knew it used to used in the tanning industry but there are more historic uses of it here

http://www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/urine-surprise-6-historic-uses-pee.html

I agree with you Paulspatch about the foxes and know of one keeper of show chickens that only uses this to protect his pens, and it works. I just can't convince my Son & OH to pee in a bucket!

11 Mar, 2016

 

Ha ha....make them go out and guard the chicken pen for a few nights, Honeysuckle.....they may have a change of heart!

11 Mar, 2016

 

I dont do milimetres Paul. I am voting OUT because I want imperial measurements back. My son says the children are learning metric in all the schools. They wont understand
the measurements we learned in a few years. He also
said heavy machinery with a lifetime of 40 years is coming in with Imperial measurements stamped into the metal
at the side.
What a muddle !
I ignore cookery recipes on T/V because they always talk
in foreign measurements, so their ratings will be down if
everyone does it.
Vote for Boris !

12 Mar, 2016

 

We learned metric when I was at school Diane and I left 41 years ago.

13 Mar, 2016

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