JenniferOK, so are you over the shock now??? In the not so distant past, we didn't have the luxury of having a small room in the house where we could flush away our number ones and twos. But did you ever wonder how we managed before the water closet? Not that I want to get into the history of it, but let's just say that before the times of our current throw-away society, people thought of multiple uses for just about everything.
Well maybe you didn't know that human urine is the fastest acting, most excellent source of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium and some trace elements. Not only that, but we all have a constant, year round supply of it – and it's free! There's not a lot of effort involved in creating this wonderful organic liquid fertilizer.
Some men I know are more than happy to oblige a tree, bush or lawn (out of view, of course).
Did you know that many toilets use between 50 and 100 litres of water a day to flush around 1.5 litres of pee? And the high levels of nutrients in our effluent systems leads to the growth of algae, which ultimately causes the death of plants and animals throughout our waterways.
What are the advantages of using urine as an organic liquid fertilizer?
- If you're not flushing this valuable liquid down the loo, you are reducing your water consumption – good for the environment and your pocket
- You'll be reducing the amount of sewerage runoff
- There'll be less nutrients in our waterways
- Urine as a liquid fertilizer is available in an ideal chemical form for plants to use
- Gardening costs are less as your liquid fertilizer is free
- It is readily available all year round and there are no transportation costs
Just so that you know, fresh human urine is sterile (unless there is a urinary tract infection – this urine should not be used) and so free from bacteria.
I recommend that you dilute urine to 10-15 parts water to 1 part urine for application on plants in the growth stage. Dilute to 30-50 parts water to 1 part urine for use on pot plants as they are much more sensitive to fertilizers of any kind.
Trees, shrubs and lawn should cope well without dilution. Withhold the use of urine liquid fertilizer on all food plants at least two weeks before harvesting. Apply under fruiting plants, not directly on foliage.
Don't use urine older than 24hours on your plants as the urea turns into ammonia and will burn your plants. If it's not fresh, add it to your compost heap. Adding undiluted human urine to your compost heap will help heat it up quickly as it is an excellent activator and will add to the final nutrient value.
As far as antibiotics, vitamin supplements and other medications go, yes they will end up in your urine, but in such minute quantities that I believe to be negligible – especially when it is diluted.
So put this excellent source of free liquid fertilizer to good use in your garden, rather than add to the burden that we as humans cause to our environment.