urine as fertilizer - Page 3

Crandrew · January 16, 2013

My girl-friends just pop squats like the rest of us

We take some butt wipes, that are biodegradable, and you are good to go.

glad we had this convo.

January 16, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crandrew

My girl-friends just pop squats like the rest of us

We take some butt wipes, that are biodegradable, and you are good to go.

glad we had this convo.

The ladies in our group are very sophisticated. They would never consider using anything called "butt wipe". It is probably best if it has a French name like "Butte Wippee"

Ted

Crandrew · January 16, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedln

The ladies in our group are very sophisticated. They would never consider using anything called "butt wipe". It is probably best if it has a French name like "Butte Wippee"

Ted

Haha. Ted, they do indeed sound very sophisticated.

livinonfaith · January 16, 2013

Just for the record, I used a male relatives's urine. It wasn't a lot of trouble for them and I'm pretty sure it was a lot easier than it would have been for me!

I also wore gloves when mixing and applying!

habitat_gardener · January 17, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedln

The ladies in our group are very sophisticated. They would never consider using anything called "butt wipe". It is probably best if it has a French name like "Butte Wippee"...

Camping supply stores sell a sort of funnel. I've also seen threads on women peeing outdoors on permaculture forums.

svalli · January 17, 2013

Two years ago there was a TV documentary series made here, which touched the subject. Name of translated to English would be ‘★★★★ty thing’ and it was about how human waste can be dangerous when handled wrong and good when composted properly. They claimed that water toilets were really bad and polluting inventions, since in many places the sewage has been released to water ways without any cleaning. People liked them since what was out of sight was out of mind.
There has been a real boom here with the ecological composting toilets. We built an outhouse with one to our summer cottage, but some people have those in their houses too. Our model works in two stages, when one receptacle is filled it is moved to compost and a empty one is pushed in its place. The use in our summer cottage is so little that it may take us years to fill one container so when it is time to empty it, it will be well composted. I am still not planning to use it for edibles, but for other garden plants.

Last summer I found that DH had fertilized my flowers with urine. He had worked in the garage and said that he peed into a bucket and diluted it with water before pouring it under dwarf apple trees in my flower bed. I had wondered why the flowers around the trees had so green leaves and strong growth. The small trees grew few big apples, which were really good. I felt first a bit iffy about eating them, but thought that it is not any different than grains from field fertilized with pig manure.

January 17, 2013

The island of Singapore had an insufficient supply of fresh water available to meet current and future needs. They had a saltwater bay extending into the island. They constructed a large dam across the bay stopping the entry of saltwater into the bay while allowing small streams to continue feeding fresh water into the bay changing the bay to fresh water from saltwater.

They then constructed a sewage treatment system which separates liquids and solids. The water is filtered and treated with chemicals and filtered again. It is then directed back into the freshwater bay. The water is constantly recycled. The solids are then treated by a variety of methods and eventually composted and used as fertilizer. The constant reuse of both the water and solids does cause a concentration of some minerals and heavy metals to form so the supplies must also be diluted with real fresh water from the streams. The fertilizer has to be rotated from one farm to the next farm for a number of years to prevent concentration. Given enough time, the heavy metals oxidize and the minerals are broken down by bacteria.

The entire process is very clean and very efficient and solves their freshwater and fertilizer needs for many years into the future.

Ted

peppero · January 18, 2013

interesting and informative post ted, thanks for sharing.

jon

CapnChkn · January 20, 2013

I can tell you to definitely NOT use it if it's been sitting around. I did try it, full strength, and killed my plants! Peeing directly around the base I've never had any problems. My guess is if it sits for any length it builds up bacteria and infects the roots. Like I say, it's my guess.

As for composting cat litter, I make piles of 2 or more cubic yards in size. I monitor the heaps for temperature, and try to maintain a temperature of 160F for several days, to kill possible pathogens and weed seeds. The heap is then moved COMPLETELY by forking all the matter, outside to the inside, in a cage so I know all the material has been "cooked." I keep this up for as long as the pile gets hot, 1 to 2 months.

The problem with using pet feces is the heating factor. Most home gardeners don't stir often enough, or build big enough piles to heat enough to kill pathogens. I don't use feces in any of my piles...

The cage is 3 feet tall. Made from 1x2 cage wire. When I get the heap packed around the outside perimeter, I move the cage up.

Chapinz8 · January 24, 2013

You all are ignoring the main question which is do tomatoes really like to be fertilized 2 or 3 times each night?

Redbaron · January 24, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chapinz8

You all are ignoring the main question which is do tomatoes really like to be fertilized 2 or 3 times each night?

No

Solanum315 · January 25, 2013

In my experience, tomatoes have no real need for this much nitrogen. They do, in fact, turn blueish. Big plants, small yield. Maybe do it once or twice or even three times if your soil is lean but anything more than that is pointless. Also, aphids loooove a plant that has been force fed nitrogen. I would, however, put it in my compost pile all day long...

January 25, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solanum315

In my experience, tomatoes have no real need for this much nitrogen. They do, in fact, turn blueish. Big plants, small yield. Maybe do it once or twice or even three times if your soil is lean but anything more than that is pointless. Also, aphids loooove a plant that has been force fed nitrogen. I would, however, put it in my compost pile all day long...

I had forgotten about the aphids, but your right. They love the tender green new growth.

Ted

Garf · January 28, 2013

Sunday, I came home after being at the park all day. I took a 1.8 liter bottle and pee'd in it. I only got around 3oz. Then I filled it with water and the result was still bright yellow. I took the bottle and inverted it in one of my large containers. Lets see if the plant survives.

Garf · January 28, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

Camping supply stores sell a sort of funnel. I've also seen threads on women peeing outdoors on permaculture forums.

I found one on Utube. I will post the link here.

Got it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZhHD1w9P8E

January 17, 2013	#36
svalli Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63° Posts: 838	Two years ago there was a TV documentary series made here, which touched the subject. Name of translated to English would be ‘★★★★ty thing’ and it was about how human waste can be dangerous when handled wrong and good when composted properly. They claimed that water toilets were really bad and polluting inventions, since in many places the sewage has been released to water ways without any cleaning. People liked them since what was out of sight was out of mind. There has been a real boom here with the ecological composting toilets. We built an outhouse with one to our summer cottage, but some people have those in their houses too. Our model works in two stages, when one receptacle is filled it is moved to compost and a empty one is pushed in its place. The use in our summer cottage is so little that it may take us years to fill one container so when it is time to empty it, it will be well composted. I am still not planning to use it for edibles, but for other garden plants. Last summer I found that DH had fertilized my flowers with urine. He had worked in the garage and said that he peed into a bucket and diluted it with water before pouring it under dwarf apple trees in my flower bed. I had wondered why the flowers around the trees had so green leaves and strong growth. The small trees grew few big apples, which were really good. I felt first a bit iffy about eating them, but thought that it is not any different than grains from field fertilized with pig manure. __________________ "I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson

January 17, 2013	#37
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	The island of Singapore had an insufficient supply of fresh water available to meet current and future needs. They had a saltwater bay extending into the island. They constructed a large dam across the bay stopping the entry of saltwater into the bay while allowing small streams to continue feeding fresh water into the bay changing the bay to fresh water from saltwater. They then constructed a sewage treatment system which separates liquids and solids. The water is filtered and treated with chemicals and filtered again. It is then directed back into the freshwater bay. The water is constantly recycled. The solids are then treated by a variety of methods and eventually composted and used as fertilizer. The constant reuse of both the water and solids does cause a concentration of some minerals and heavy metals to form so the supplies must also be diluted with real fresh water from the streams. The fertilizer has to be rotated from one farm to the next farm for a number of years to prevent concentration. Given enough time, the heavy metals oxidize and the minerals are broken down by bacteria. The entire process is very clean and very efficient and solves their freshwater and fertilizer needs for many years into the future. Ted Last edited by tedln; January 17, 2013 at 11:14 AM.

January 20, 2013	#39
CapnChkn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Huntsville AL Posts: 91	I can tell you to definitely NOT use it if it's been sitting around. I did try it, full strength, and killed my plants! Peeing directly around the base I've never had any problems. My guess is if it sits for any length it builds up bacteria and infects the roots. Like I say, it's my guess. As for composting cat litter, I make piles of 2 or more cubic yards in size. I monitor the heaps for temperature, and try to maintain a temperature of 160F for several days, to kill possible pathogens and weed seeds. The heap is then moved COMPLETELY by forking all the matter, outside to the inside, in a cage so I know all the material has been "cooked." I keep this up for as long as the pile gets hot, 1 to 2 months. The problem with using pet feces is the heating factor. Most home gardeners don't stir often enough, or build big enough piles to heat enough to kill pathogens. I don't use feces in any of my piles... The cage is 3 feet tall. Made from 1x2 cage wire. When I get the heap packed around the outside perimeter, I move the cage up. Last edited by CapnChkn; January 20, 2013 at 07:16 AM. Reason: Clarity

January 25, 2013	#42
Solanum315 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: New York Posts: 244	In my experience, tomatoes have no real need for this much nitrogen. They do, in fact, turn blueish. Big plants, small yield. Maybe do it once or twice or even three times if your soil is lean but anything more than that is pointless. Also, aphids loooove a plant that has been force fed nitrogen. I would, however, put it in my compost pile all day long... __________________ Scott http://worldtomatoes.blogspot.com/

January 16, 2013	#31
Crandrew Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: asdf Posts: 1,202	My girl-friends just pop squats like the rest of us We take some butt wipes, that are biodegradable, and you are good to go. glad we had this convo.

January 16, 2013	#34
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Just for the record, I used a male relatives's urine. It wasn't a lot of trouble for them and I'm pretty sure it was a lot easier than it would have been for me! I also wore gloves when mixing and applying!

January 18, 2013	#38
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	interesting and informative post ted, thanks for sharing. jon

January 24, 2013	#40
Chapinz8 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chapin, SC Posts: 143	You all are ignoring the main question which is do tomatoes really like to be fertilized 2 or 3 times each night?

January 28, 2013	#44
Garf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Miami, FL. Posts: 442	Sunday, I came home after being at the park all day. I took a 1.8 liter bottle and pee'd in it. I only got around 3oz. Then I filled it with water and the result was still bright yellow. I took the bottle and inverted it in one of my large containers. Lets see if the plant survives.