While urine is waste, it also contains nutrients that our bodies can’t use. But your garden can! Using urine as fertilizer is free and as organic as it gets! Here’s what you’ll need to know when thinking about using it.
There have actually been multiple studies that have shown that when used in the soil to grow a variety of plants and vegetables human urine can produce added growth. In fact, in many instances, there was even more growth than when chemical fertilizers were applied. (Of course, results may depend on a variety of factors).
The Big Three
You can use human urine as fertilizer for plants because it has some very important nutrients that they need. In fact it contains three of the most vital of all: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Nitrogen is responsible for vegetative growth while phosphorous helps the flowers, fruits, and roots to develop.
Potassium aids plants in taking in other nutrients and at the same time fights off diseases. Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium also happened to be the main nutrients that are used in chemical fertilizers. The ratios of each are displayed on the packaging of fertilizers and are known as the N-P-K ratio. The average person’s urine has an N-P-K ratio of about 11-1-2.5.
How To Use Urine As Fertilizer
You shouldn’t get too excited and give your lawn or vegetable garden a soaking of pee right away. Your urine contains salt and that can suck up moisture from plants. That’s why for example you often see yellow spots on the lawn in areas where dogs like to go.
When using urine as fertilizer dilution is the key. In other words that pee just needs to be watered down first so that it’s not so concentrated. In order to do this, you’ll want to first collect your urine. Peeing in a plastic bottle or jug is usually the most convenient method.
How much you dilute your urine can depend on the type of plants you are using your urine fertilizer for and their needs. You may want to dilute it as little as 1:1 so equal parts urine and water. However a much more common ratio would be around 1:10, so one part urine for ten parts water. Or you may want to go even more diluted with something like 1:15.
When using urine as fertilizer it’s important to make sure that you don’t actually water the leaves or fruits of the plants since this can actually burn them. You want to place your diluted solution directly into the soil surrounding your plants. Digging up a shallow trough, adding the solution, and then covering it back up is another option. Keep in mind the fresher the urine the faster it will break down.
Extra Advantages Of Using Urine As Fertilizer
Many people don’t realize that human urine is sterile so you won’t have to worry about any bacteria or pathogens when using it in the garden. And of course, it’s free which can help you to save your hard-earned cash instead of purchasing fertilizer from the store.
In fact, it’s estimated that the average family of four people produces enough urine on a yearly basis to equal roughly the equivalent of a one hundred and ten pound bag of store-bought fertilizer. By using urine instead of chemical fertilizers you’re also doing a service to the environment and potentially protecting your health from any unwanted and unknown side effects of those chemicals.
Interestingly because it’s chemical-free, low cost and readily available cow urine has been used successfully as a fertilizer as well. Studies in countries such as India have shown that using cow urine as fertilizer can greatly improve soil quality in a cost-effective and natural manner. Although it does have to go through a fermentation process before it can be applied.
Using Urine In Compost
If you have a compost pile or bin you may want to consider using your pee there too or as an alternative. By adding urine compost gets a huge boost when first starting out. And of course, the end result is soil that is very nutrient-rich so you may not need to fertilize later on. Another benefit is that you don’t need to dilute your urine before you add it. You can pour it in or simply pee right on your pile.
There you have it, the basics of using human urine as fertilizer. So be sure to keep this info in mind to help give your garden an all-natural boost!
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