I use a hand broadcast spreader and spread it on top of my wood chip mulch and then water it in. Typically I try to put fertilizer down before a rain, less work for me.
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@alan being as Urea I would think is kinda a hot dose of nitorgen, I was kicking around the idea of getting a bag from my coop to put around my trees. I know you’d want to dust it out when its just about to rain or you lose some from blow.
However how do you measure how much to use for each tree, depends on caliper size? Keep it about a foot off the trunk if possible?
Honestly, I’m not all that precise. With Urea you are talking bout a very concentrated fertilizer with more chance of causing damage than with something that releases N more slowly. For a very young tree a couple of TBS watered in is sufficient. For something over 2" caliber, maybe a third cup this time of year.
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I do same. Over my straw much surround. I try to aim for about six inches or so past current root zone. Keep building soil outwards to draw out feeder roots.
I have read that available N volatilizes significantly and is lost when placed against raw organic matter. When I put Urea on mulch, I break up the mulch with a fork so some of it rests against the soil and then water. I don’t know how helpful this is, but we all come up with our own gardening recipes. Research only takes us so far, thank God- following recipes from a book is boring. It’s nice to use one’s own brain to modify methods- even if it turns out not always to be the most efficient method.
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It’s ironic that Fritz Haber is responsible for the lives of half the population in the world today. You and I likely wouldn’t be alive if not for him and yet most people have never heard his name. The world was experiencing a nitrogen shortage when he figured out how to extract nitrogen from air . As your all aware the atmosphere is roughly 78% nitrogen. Fritz Haber also had a dark side and killed many using chemical warfare in WWI. Read the articles I’ve known this story many years and it’s a lot to think about. From my perspective nitrogen = food since I grew up in the bread basket we see it every year produce the worlds grains which make the breads that feeds everyone
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I do wonder who will be the next fritz haber and create terraforming in future planet/atmospheric creation or something better. People need to focus less on population control and more on dedicating the resources to the new population . They will be the scientist who will make the next synthetic nitrogen process so to speak. Let’s face it 70%+ of our atmosphere is just that.
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if I read it correctly, Alan’s nitrogen-dosing schedule for the man-made appears to be “after a 6-pack”
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I don’t know if beer piss packs the same N wallop. It may be a tad dilute.
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mmm, beer to dilute it so you don’t have to water it in, Jerky for the N…and so you need to drink more beer.
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Steven at Skillcult collects pee to fertilize his trees. Not sure if he drinks beer or not. I seem to remember not.
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the herbs just off our deck grow pretty well.
I have heard of folks peeing in watering cans, etc. and saving it, watered down, my guess is that’s extremely sound practice even if it isn’t overly appealing.
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My wife hates, my plants love it. It’s all a matter of perspective.
I have to water it in even after diluting it to keep the peace. My wife has a powerful sense of smell.
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We use septic here @Alan so the leach lines also allow all liquid in the system to escape about 10 feet down underground. Its basically a pretty simple system of gravel and very long laterals with a 1000 gallon tank to catch solids. The bacteria help to break it all down. No one is smelling anything 10 feet down. Last time i pumped it out after 5 years and the guy said there was no need to call him next time call in 10 years. That just simply means bacteria are doing their job.
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“For my own trees I still stick to organic fertilizer, but I only have enough urine for so many trees. It works as well as any synthetic N so I recommend that at least men make use of that particular resource if you don’t find it disgusting. If you water it in the smell disappears quickly.”
I was doing that for quite a while. There was a also a discussion on here that prompted a lot of controversy. I’ve learned not to go there, in general, however I have a couple of comments -
I think some trees do well. My sweet corn grew very well. However, I think I killed a few, very nice, 12 foot tall young specimen trees. One ginkgo, one linden, one birch. The only thing they had in common was that source of N. I did dilute 1:10. So there’s that. I wondered about other causes. These trees also had heavy mole populations. Maybe voles used the mole tunnels to chew roots. The other factor is, I take a medication. Maybe that was toxic to the trees. Bottom line, I no longer do that. We also have a septic system. Maybe the grass over that gets fertilized that way. I don’t have trees in the drainage field.
Mostly now for nitrogen I use compost and chicken house cleanings. I also sometimes use some lawn fertilizer. Not weed/feed, just feed only.
This post reminds me, I should get some for my baby trees. I want good growth this year.
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Bear_with_me you have salt in urine. That would be what kills trees.
Unless the species is salt tolerant, better to avoid. There may be N
but there is harmful sodium.
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Absolutely.
Being in a very dry climate, my #1 priority is water conservation/efficiency so not introducing salt is critical.
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Good point and people in that climate should not use things like chemical fertilizer long term as it builds up. Did not see your post earlier.
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Interesting post. I was lookup some neem oil, and ran across the product description for a neem based product claiming to maximize effectiveness of urea. Is this something that sulfur coated urea overcomes based on its design? If I’m reading correctly, it’s saying that a lot of your urine (possibly sulfur coated urea) nitrogen is lost through this process.
Urea is the major source of Nitrogenous fertilizer world wide. However, a large part of the Nitrogen from Urea is lost and does not add to the nutrient value. With the increasing cost of Urea production, it is becoming important to save and judiciously use every part of the urea prill. “Nitrogen from Urea is released in the soil and leached by the activity of nitrifying bacteria Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas. These bacterias turn nitrogen in nitrite and then into nitrate which is highly mobile in nature when present in the soil. By these processes, approximate 50% to 65% of nitrogen provided by urea is lost. A solution to this problem of nitrogen loss from urea is to coat the area with “NEELCOAT NM L”
Advantages of using “Neelcoat NM L” in Urea
- Slows down the process of nitrification of urea.
- Enhances the yield by 48%.
- Decreases urea requirement, hence economical.
- “Neelcoat NML” urea affects the slow release of nitrogen during the critical phases of growth.
- Controls nematodes, termites, pests and insects.
- Excellent soil conditioner and Natural Bio Pesticides.
- Environmental Friendly and Non-Toxic.
- Reduces Urea Consumption.
- Convenient and easy to apply.
- Packing “Neelcoat NML” is packed in tanker load / IBC / Barrels
Do you ever dissolve the urea in water before applying to peach trees?