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Kaleva

(38,164 posts)
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 01:02 PM Aug 2012

Has anyone tried recycling their urine for plant use?

Was reading about it today and while for many there may be an "ick" factor, apparently a number do swear by it.

Below are links to a couple of articles and a youtube video:

How to Garden with Urine

Urine: the ultimate 'organic' fertiliser?

Youtube

&feature=fvwrel Organic fertilizer - URINE AS PLANT FOOD TO MAKE PLANTS BLOOM FREE FERTILIZER!!!
]

This is something I think I'll try. I live here by myself so me walking around with jugs of urine isn't going to offend anyone else.
19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Has anyone tried recycling their urine for plant use? (Original Post) Kaleva Aug 2012 OP
Yep, there is an ick factor there. Curmudgeoness Aug 2012 #1
Um, well, yeah, um, ICK! Denninmi Aug 2012 #2
No,but I did make mr beac pee into bottles for a few days in beac Aug 2012 #3
Well. used it today for the first time Kaleva Aug 2012 #4
Seems to be working so far. Kaleva Aug 2012 #5
When you buy manure, it is ammonia in urine that provides the nitrogen Kolesar Aug 2012 #6
I piss on my compost piles in the Fall htuttle Sep 2012 #7
That's what I plan to do this fall and over the winter. Kaleva Sep 2012 #8
Been using it on my compost pile for some time now Kaleva Oct 2012 #9
Urine heats up the compost. malokvale77 Nov 2012 #10
I read that the it's the nitrogen in the urine that does it. Kaleva Nov 2012 #11
Correct... malokvale77 Nov 2012 #12
I've seen what it can do (dogs) Shagbark Hickory Nov 2012 #13
It is good stuff diluted. roody Dec 2012 #14
Urea is an ingredient in most fertilisers. kurtzapril4 Dec 2012 #15
yup - and researched it also ConcernedCanuk Mar 2013 #16
Would not try this method while taking pharmaceuticals. Dont call me Shirley Apr 2015 #17
Yes. Diluted, and into compost. But it is primarily a source of cheap nitrogen, jtuck004 Apr 2015 #18
We have used it in the past... sendero Apr 2015 #19

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
1. Yep, there is an ick factor there.
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 04:00 PM
Aug 2012

I have not tried it, and probably won't here in the city, but it would be an excellent fertilizer. I remember my mother talking about her childhood and an old black woman who lived beside them in squatter shacks in the 30's who had a wonderful garden. She had a chamber pot that she emptied into the garden every morning.

I think it is a good idea for anyone who doesn't have a problem with it.

Denninmi

(6,581 posts)
2. Um, well, yeah, um, ICK!
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 04:02 PM
Aug 2012

Sorry, nope. There are a lot of ways to get N into a garden. This isn't going to be one of them for me, thanks.

Bad enough last time I was in the hospital they made me collect it all so they could watch my fluid intake/output balance. That about made me throw up.

Nope, not gonna happen.

beac

(9,992 posts)
3. No,but I did make mr beac pee into bottles for a few days in
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 05:44 PM
Aug 2012

an attempt to repel ground hogs. The result was sprinkled at the edges of the house not in the garden, so no results to report on that. I can tell you it did NOT deter the whistle pigs one little bit.

Kaleva

(38,164 posts)
4. Well. used it today for the first time
Mon Aug 27, 2012, 09:52 AM
Aug 2012

Last edited Wed Aug 29, 2012, 06:06 PM - Edit history (1)

For my house plants, I mixed 24 parts fresh water to 1 part urine. 3 cups of water and I ball parked the 1/8 cup measurement for the urine. If my ex ever found out I had used my measuring cups to measure out piss, I'd never hear the end of it. For the zucchini plants outside, I used about 1 gallon urine added to 4 gallons of grey water. (Edit: I had the original quantity for the zucchini plants wrong as I first poured a full gallon container of urine into a 5 gallon pail and then topped it off with water. So that would make it 4 parts water to 1 part urine).

Kaleva

(38,164 posts)
5. Seems to be working so far.
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 02:21 PM
Aug 2012

I produce about a gallon of urine a day and I use it everyday.

I really screwed up last week when I used laundry water that had regular detergent in it to water plants outside with. That really knocked the zucchini plants I have for a loop and I thought I killed them all. But a few days ago I watered them again with a mixture of 1 gallon of urine mixed with 4 gallons of water and some of the plants are perking back up with very dark green leaves.

I watered my indoor plants with a mix of 24 parts water and 1 part urine and I haven't noticed any difference with them yet.

For my lawn where the grass is thin and brownish, I'm using a 50/50 mix of urine and greywater from my shower and I have noticed that the patches of lawn where I have applied the urine are becoming greener.

Kolesar

(31,182 posts)
6. When you buy manure, it is ammonia in urine that provides the nitrogen
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 02:45 PM
Aug 2012

Urine for big savings if you do it at home.

htuttle

(23,738 posts)
7. I piss on my compost piles in the Fall
Sun Sep 2, 2012, 04:00 PM
Sep 2012

Well, I collect it indoors first, since I live in the city.

It seems to be especially helpful in composting 'dry/brown' compost over the winter, like dead leaves, small twigs, newspaper, etc. I 'applied it' to the leaf and straw sheet compost beds I laid in last fall, and had a lot of new soil this spring and summer. I assume that it helped get things going.

Apparently, you shouldn't apply it directly to growing plants, as it might burn them. Although the health concerns aren't that great, since urine is fairly clean, bacteriologically speaking, if the urine-donor is taking certain type of pharmaceuticals, traces of them might end up in the top soil (and eventually your food).

At least that's what I read. I only know that it rots my leaf piles faster.

Kaleva

(38,164 posts)
8. That's what I plan to do this fall and over the winter.
Mon Sep 3, 2012, 08:29 AM
Sep 2012

I'm going to have alot of brown stuff as there are many maple trees on the block I live in and I constructed a compost bin last week and already have it started with mulched leaves, cut up cardboard and paper and green scraps from the kitchen.

With the leaves that will be coming, I'll chop them up fine with my mulching mower and work some of it into my garden beds that I'm preparing for next years. The rest will go into the compost bin. Even with the leaves chopped up, I expect my 4' wide by 3' deep and 3' high compost bin to be full and thus won't have enough 'greens' to make it work properly so I'll be adding my urine throughout the fall and winter.

Kaleva

(38,164 posts)
9. Been using it on my compost pile for some time now
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 01:23 PM
Oct 2012

Most everyday I've been dumping my urine on the compost pile and turning the pile over about once a week. I turned it over this morning and there's very little smell and the pile is decomposing quite well. i could really feel the heat emitting from the pile as I turned it over.

Kaleva

(38,164 posts)
11. I read that the it's the nitrogen in the urine that does it.
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 09:33 PM
Nov 2012

for a compost pile to decompose well, it needs a certain part of "brown" matter and a certain amount of "green" matter and it needs to be kept moist. The urine provides the water to keep the pile damp while the nitrogen provides the "green" matter; both of which the organisms in the compost pile need in order to do their work.

malokvale77

(4,879 posts)
12. Correct...
Sun Nov 4, 2012, 10:14 PM
Nov 2012

The brown matter would be something like: fall leaves, twigs, etc. (carbon). The green matter would be something like: grass clippings, vegetable trimmings, etc. (nitrogen). Then you need something to heat it up (microbial action). This could be any thing from blood meal to manure to urine ( I've even used "Drain Care&quot . Keep it moist like a wrung out sponge and aerate. Yes, the urine provides moisture, also.

I've composted for most of my life (I'm old) and this has never failed me.

 

ConcernedCanuk

(13,509 posts)
16. yup - and researched it also
Wed Mar 6, 2013, 06:36 PM
Mar 2013

.
.
.

20% seem to be the rule - so 1 cup urine, 4 cups water

of course, one may want to stay below the 20% rule if using it indoors

I believe that my use of my urine helped to create these huge tomatoe plants



Had to open up the roof(glass panes) to let the other 2 feet grow up!

I didn't use the 20% rule in the greenhouse though,

I worked in it daily, and being a beer drinker - ya can figure it out methinks . . .

I spent not one dollar for fertilizer or other nutrients . .

More of this at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x10250


I originally posted this in Fall of 2008

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
18. Yes. Diluted, and into compost. But it is primarily a source of cheap nitrogen,
Fri Apr 17, 2015, 03:38 PM
Apr 2015

and I get those from comfrey, lawn clippings, dandelions, etc. When I do add supplemental, I use hydrolized fish or alpaca manures.

Then again, it's fun just to experiment, and for a crop needing nitrogen, it will work.

sendero

(28,552 posts)
19. We have used it in the past...
Fri Apr 24, 2015, 10:59 AM
Apr 2015

.... to add nitrogen. We called it "peecycle". Basically we applied urine diluted 10 to one with water (to be clear, 10 parts water, one part urine) on to the soil of our vegetable garden. It was very effective, but we only did it one season to try it out.

The urine needs to be pretty fresh (no more than 24 hours old) and applied carefully. There are folks who believe that the urine will deter some pests like rabbits and deer.

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