Are you looking for cheap, organic and local fertilizers for your garden? No need to look too far away. According to an article published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(21) September 2007, human urine may be just what you are looking for. Here is the abstract:
“Human urine was used as a fertilizer in cabbage cultivation and compared with industrial fertilizer and nonfertilizer treatments. Urine achieved equal fertilizer value to industrial fertilizer when both were used at a dose of 180 kg N/ha. Growth, biomass, and levels of chloride were slightly higher in urine-fertilized cabbage than with industrial-fertilized cabbage but clearly differed from nonfertilized. Insect damage was lower in urine-fertilized than in industrial-fertilized plots but more extensive than in nonfertilized plots. Microbiological quality of urine-fertilized cabbage and sauerkraut made from the cabbage was similar to that in the other fertilized cabbages. Furthermore, the level of glucosinolates and the taste of sauerkrauts were similar in cabbages from all three fertilization treatments. Our results show that human urine could be used as a fertilizer for cabbage and does not pose any significant hygienic threats or leave any distinctive flavor in food products.”
The authors report that “Urine-fertilized cabbage plants achieved their maximum growth earlier than other cabbages; that is, the cultivation time may be shorter in urine-fertilized cabbages. If the cultivation times were to be shorter, then the land use could be more effective” (Pradhan et al 2007, 8661) and that “The use of urine fertilizer could reduce the demand for industrial fertilizer to some extent, which would reduce the environmental pollution released during fertilizer manufacture and transportation.” (Pradhan et al 2007, 8662)
The study was done in Finland where, the authors write: “The use of urine fertilizer is not very common, but it is increasing in some areas of Finland.” (Pradhan et al 2007, 8657)
Warning: you must dilute urine. There seems to be different views as to how much to dilute. Julie Williams recommends that you dilute urine to 10-15 parts water to 1 part urine for application on plants in the growth stage and that you dilute to 30-50 parts water to 1 part urine for use on pot plants.
References
Pradhan S. K.; Nerg A. ; Sjöblom A. ; Holopainen J. K.; Heinonen-Tanski H. (2007) Use of Human Urine Fertilizer in Cultivation of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)––Impacts on Chemical, Microbial, and Flavor Quality, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(21); pp. 8657-8663. DOI: 10.1021/jf0717891
No comments:
Post a Comment