If you can get over the ewwww factor, pee-cycling your own urine into the garden makes good sense. Fresh urine is high in nitrogen, moderate in phosphorus and low in potassium and can act as an excellent high-nitrogen liquid fertilizer or as a compost accelerator.
Components of Urine
The exact breakdown of urine varies depending on the diet of the pee-maker. The more protein a person consumes, the more nitrogen will be excreted into the urine. Typical Western Diet pee has an NPK ratio of about 11-1-2. In comparison, blood meal is 12-2-1 and cottonseed meal is 7-2-2.
Urine also contains salt – sometimes quite a lot of it if you are hopped up on a diet of canned soup and french fries. Because of both the salt and high nitrogen levels, urine should generally be diluted 10:1 before use on garden crops. Greater dilution – 20:1 or more – is appropriate for more tender plants, seedlings and potted plants which are more susceptible to salt build up.
Keep in mind that areas with a lot of rain (Seattle!) tend to leach salts out of the soil, so salt build up is something gardeners in arid climates should be more concerned about.
Fresh pee can have a pH anywhere from 5 to 9 depending on a person’s diet, but it tends to move toward neutral as it ages and breaks down when applied outside. I would not personally worry too much about the variable pH of urine for garden use.
Safety Issues
In a healthy person, urine is sterile. In someone with decent hygiene and wiping technique, it should more-or-less stay that way as it leaves the body. Cross contamination with fecal matter (health risk!) can be a concern, so perfect your front-to-back TP technique if you are going to pee-cycle.
If you are on medication, don’t fertilize with your pee. If you have a UTI or other infection or – well, let’s just say anything funky going on in or around your pee-hole – your urine is not fit for garden use.
Grossness Issues
Assuming the safety issues are satisfactorily addressed, then the grossness issue is cultural programing and you should think about if it’s programming you want to keep in your brain. Most gardeners, after all, are pleased as punch to get ahold of a big load of cow poop for their garden, and that fertilizer has a far greater chance of spreading harmful pathogens than pee.
Here’s a few other things to think about:
“Urine accounts for only 1% of the total volume of wastewater, but it contains up to 80% of all the nutrients.”
–Science Daily
A typical toilet flusher wastes “up to 22 liters of drinkable water every day, one three- to six-liter flush at a time. What follows…is the long and costly process of sanitizing the water that was clean before you answered nature’s call. Using so much water per flush unnecessarily increases the volume of our waste and the cost of its transportation and treatment, ecologists say….The process also leaves a huge carbon footprint.”
–Time Magazine
Basically, the environmental and financial cost to piss in a bunch of drinking-quality water and then process it back into drinking water is huge. Separating urine from solid waste – through direct pee-cycling or urine-separating toilets – could go a long way to offset this cost by reducing the burden on wastewater treatment programs.
If the tree-hugger eco stuff doesn’t move you to action, consider the cost of a bag of blood meal. Now consider the cost of your pee. You will never find a more easy-to-acquire, cheaper source of fast acting nitrogen.
Basic courtesy is to not apply urine to those parts of the plant that will be consumed (i.e., as a foliar feed for spinach). Even so, if pee-cycled fertilizer on food crops just grosses you out, consider using this resource on fruit trees, perennials, and ornamental plantings, including your nitrogen-lovin’ lawn, instead.
5 Ways To Use Pee In The Garden
Okay, I’ve convinced you! You are ready to drop trou’ and add your liquid gold deposit to your garden. But how do you pee in the garden in the most effective way (and without getting arrested for indecent exposure in the process!)?
1. Compost Accelerator
Is your compost pile cold? A little long on carbon and low on nitrogen? Pee, poured or – ahem – directly deposited – on the pile can start to speed things up and add moisture. If you are nervous about using urine directly on your plants, incorporating urine into a compost pile is the way to go.
2. Dilution is The Solution
Dilute fresh urine at a 4:1 ratio and apply to the root-zone of corn every two weeks or as needed. (Some people say corn, being a grass, can handle fertilization with straight urine. Proceed with caution.)
Dilute fresh urine at a 10:1 ratio and apply to the root-zone of fruiting plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, or to leafy crops like cabbage, broccoli, spinach and lettuce every two weeks or as needed.
Dilute fresh urine at a 20:1 ratio and water in to the root zone of seedlings and new transplants.
3. The Straw Bale Sprinkle
When Straw Bales are used for gardening, they must be “conditioned” or partially broken down / composted before use. This is accomplished with the addition of a very high nitrogen fertilizer. Guess which free, Bud Lite-hued high-nitrogen fertilizer I’d recommend?
4. Deep Mulch Direct Application
If you thickly mulch your woody perennials, cane fruit and fruit trees with a high-carbon material like leaves or woodchips, you can apply your urine straight onto the mulch, which will absorb and moderate the straight shot of nitrogen in your pee.
5. That Asparagus Smell!
If asparagus makes your pee smell funny, take revenge and pee on your asparagus! Nutrient hungry, deep rooted, perennial and salt-tolerant, asparagus might be the ideal crop to fertilize with pee. If you grow your asparagus under a thick layer of carbonaceous mulch, like straw or wood chips, use the Direct Mulch Direct Application technique, otherwise dilute 2:1 if your asparagus is in the sandy soil it prefers, or 4:1 in heavier soil. Apply throughout the growing season, along with a good source of potassium, like bone meal, in the early spring.
Pee-cycling Sexism
So Adam and Eve are standing in the Garden of Eden right after the Creation and God is handing out the last of the talents, qualities and features he has for each of them. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a slip of paper.
“Ability to Pee Standing Up,” booms God. “Okay, who wants this one?”
“Oh, pick me!” yells Adam, “Pick me! Peeing while standing up sounds like such a very male thing to do, God. I really think that one has to go to me. Sorry Eve, but I really think I need this one.”
God looks at Eve, who just shrugs. “Sure, if it’s that important to him, give Adam the peeing thing. I don’t really care.”
God hands Adam the slip of paper and says, “Forevermore, Adam, by your choice shall men be endowed with the ability to pee whilst standing.”
Adam grins and God reaches to the very bottom of his bag. “Just one more, and I guess since Adam got Peeing While Standing Up, this last one goes to you, eh, Eve? Let’s see…”
God unfolds his final slip of paper. “Okay, here you go Eve: Multiple Orgasms is all yours.”
{ba-dum-bum}
It is a fact of life that men are better equipped to pee all over things. If you are a male gardener, combine your skills and start marking your veg territory with pride. The Deep Mulch Direct Application method will be simplest if you want to water directly from the hose, so to speak.
Ladies, I highly recommend you use Adam’s gift to all men to your advantage, too. Got a husband? Boyfriend? Better yet, a son or two? Give them carte blanche permission to pee on the compost pile. Direct that natural ability (and, dare I say, inclination) for outdoor pee marksmanship towards something good for your garden.
But don’t let the guys have all the fun. You’ll notice that most of the techniques for applying urine as a fertilizer call for dilution anyway, which means a watering can or container is going to be involved. Most women with regular access to lady-specific medical care have had plenty of practice peeing in cups – put that experience to use, for the good of your garden.
Do you already pee on the compost, or does the very idea of pee-cycling leave you pissed!?
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If you add wood ashes to the compost, or lime, it helps the nitrogen convert to nitrate as opposed to ammonia which can be lost as ammonia gas. This was done in the old days of “nitrate beds” when whole societies would have to donate in order for governments to get the nitrates necessary for making black gunpowder.
What is the source of your information?
The Oregon State University Extension Service says http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/use-caution-wood-ash-your-lawn-and-garden:
“Do not add ash with nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate (21-0-0-24S), urea (46-0-0) or ammonium nitrate (34-0-0). These fertilizers lose their nitrogen as ammonia gas when mixed with high pH materials such as wood ash.”
If you are peeing ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate, seek medical help and/or change brewers. The ref to not putting wood ashes on your lawn involves different chemistry than that of nitrate production as done by introducing calcium compounds (ashes, lime, bone) to a niter bed. For as many historical sources as you want, just Google “niter bed” or check an old edition of Britannica. Gleanings from whitewashed stable walls were particuolarly valuable to the King’s agents who scoured the English countryside in search of niter sources for various war efforts.
Nope, I pee urea, like all mammals.
In case you hadn’t noticed, adding “pee/urea” to your garden or compost is the topic under discussion, and the source I referenced was about problems associated with combining urea (as in urine) and wood ash, leading to loss of nitrogen as ammonia. Nothing to do with ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate, which are inorganic compounds whereas urea is organic.
For another source on this (if you’re interested in problems with combining urea and wood ash) have a look at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ which reports on research into use of urine, urine+wood ash, and commercial fertilizer on tomato plants. They found that adding wood ash to urine resulted in a lower yields than using urine alone, which suggests that the wood as was reducing the Nitrogen effect of the urine.
We’re drifting off-topic here: I never said to pee on ashes or another calcium source. We had been discussing compost piles and their loss of nitrogen through off-gassing as ammonia, and as a point of historical interest (or maybe not), mentioned that to avaoid this the old timers who did not have access to Indian saltpeter made their own for ordnance purposes with niter beds — which could be fairly described as a high-protein/nitrogen-waste compost pile, and contained as much animal/human urinme as they could collect. These, like their cousin the compost pile are low pH. To capture the nitrogen as the soluable nitrates they wanted, as opposed to losing it as ammmonia, they introduced a calcium source, such ashes, or if they had it, lime, to the niter beds. This was done for hundreds of years in Europe and even in the American Confederacy during the War Between the States. Look it up if you care to, or not. Further references refuting something we did not advise, however, are not helpful, as we do not favor peeing on alkaline material unless you want to generate ammonia, or on spark plugs unless you want to generate nightsoil.
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It is true I have been using this method for 50 years and have gotten early sweeter crops. Pee at dusk or early morning for better saturation and absorbing of soil and less chance of burn spots. In colder climates (winter crop) yellowing may occur. Down side don’t let the neighbor see you for some states have a heavy fine for peeing in public!
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I have been collecting my urine in a bucket during the day and dumping it on my compost pile in the evening. It seems to be breaking down the compost more quickly I like the idea of not flushing my toilet a zillion times a day, and it makes me happy to use something that’s go good for the planet instead of donating it to the sewage system.
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What if you have Gout,would the high levels of Uric acid hurt?
Urea is a super nitrogen fertilizer: the more you pee into the garden, the better both you and ther garden will feel.
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Thanks. This is just the info I needed. “Pee-cycling” is a wholesome sounding term. I like it
I use aqaponices in my greenhouse and my fish need plenty of ammonia, so every time I get the urge, I ad to the fish water. Why do you think they call it aq-pee-ponices?
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Great post. I think the smell from the container issue, could be dealt with by adding a dash of cooking oil. It’s lighter than water and would make essentially a water-tight seal over the fluid. Could block the smell. Going to try that.
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An old farmer near here who always had a beautiful garden on his old homestead, even after he moved into town (meaning no one was there to keep the deer out of the garden), ALWAYS used his urine to sprinkle around the outskirts of his garden, and he NEVER had a problem with deer. However, he made it clear that female urine should absolutely not be used, as it ATTRACTS DEER.
I’ve been peeing in my compost buckets for years, peeing in my bokashied kitchen scraps , to which I add biochar which I harvest out of my woodstove during winter – and then I pee on the whole thing again. and in spring I mix this into my container soil along with some wood ash , rock dust , mycorrhizal fungi , worm castings , and then I pee on the whole thing all over again ….. then I put a tomato or a pepper in there and let the magic of seeds in healthy soil do the rest……. Then i gotta pee in the rain barrel. pee is just great stuff – tomatoes know
Excellent write-up with lots of valuable information. Thank you.
My only problem: I live in a ground-level flat with the entrance off the driveway at the side, and all the neighbours can see my every move. If I start carrying a white bleach bottle out every morning to water my garden, they are going to figure it all out very quickly. Guess I will have to remember to keep my regulation plastic watering can in the house to allay suspicions.
You said not to use urine if you take prescription meds. Another reference said there is very little chance of any of the pharmaceuticals being absorbed by the plant, and even less in the fruit. Can you quote any actual research on this?
One more thing…areas where people urinate have a strong odor to them. I really don’t want neighbors wrinkling their noses and thinking I am gross or something. So, how do you eliminate the odor from the ewwwww factor?
I would use an abundance of caution if you were on certain meds, not necessarily because of fear of the fruit absorbing those meds, but because of possible impact to soil microbiology, earthworms, etc.
In terms of smell, in urban areas where people pee into doorways and stuff, the urine just stays there, ages and decays down into its components which do stink horribly. When added to a outdoor environment the urine is quickly absorbed by high-carbon woodchips, soil components, etc. There is a brief “fresh urine” smell (far more mild and inoffensive than old pee smell) which rapidly dissipates. I doubt very much your neighbors would ever notice, but if you are concerned, a couple handfuls of woodchips or dirt tossed over the area where you’ve “deposited” should take care of that initial odor.
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Ladies can pee in a bucket at night like an old fashioned chamber pot.
I think I messed up my soil ph with too much saw dust or ashes in my compost heap. So I have been diluting pee in a watering can and using it around the roots of some plants. I do believe it is helping, the cabbages and squash look greener suddenly.
i wish these comments ran newest first instead of last. most frustrating.
all meds can’t be bad for the garden. some might actually be good. how can we tell which ones?
did i send this already?
Kids eat a lot of nutella. Keep 3 empty nutella jars in powder room by back door, and carry the filled one straight out to a large jug on the porch and then back in for repeat use. Use tp (I’m female) but only flush every 3-5 gos. Almost have more than I know what to do with- but maybe my tomato plant not blooming much is because it’s in the front yard and I rarely peefertilize that side of the house!
I would not worry much about medication except probably antibiotics. If you are not on added hormones you are probably making your own in the same amount if not elderly, and sadly the water you get from the tap may have some in it already. Most other medications break down.
Straight Pee saved hundreds of hours… My wife and I created a tiger lily lined, long driveway, counting on propagation and expansion. We would use a front loader (tractor) to scoop up an area of bulbs to split and expand with. The problem over the past 3-years is that our lilies have caused deer (along with lyme disease which I caught) to populate the area. They love lilies! Deer are not so cooperative, greedy in fact. They were wiping out the entire “crop” before they could pollinate. So much for Adam and Eve! For venison enthusiasts, I’d recomend this crop but caging some blossoms for reproductive expansion. After using baby motion activated sound toys of “land-mine-trip-lines, Spinning ugly aluminum pie pans and Ivory soap (all which had a little effect), I remembered a skit from the movie, “Doc Holliday” where pee was being applied to save the deer from being shot. This is a 100% solution! I mean both straight pee solution and the solution to the deer coming around. My simple application, in detail: My family of 3 can produce more than a gallon of pee per day. I began using a 1 gallon sprayer from Home Depot for less than $10. It works great! Later, I purchased a 1/2 gallon sprayer from WalMart that does not have a fragile compressing handle pump that needs to lock down, for less than $8.00. This is far more convenient, will not break so easily (We use these pumps for everything imaginable) and more capacity than necessary. Deer will begin taking buds so using the spray pattern on “long shot” vs fine spray, I can walk rapidly, hitting every bud and then blossom. This application is good for a long time but I definitely reapply after any rain. Not experimenting or taking a risk to spray only the ground or surrounding trees only, I have had 100% success with broadcasting onto only the edible buds and blossoms.
Hello. Great article. I’m a gal pee-cycler myself.
There’s a little mistake on this page. “along with a good source of potassium, like bone meal,” — should be phosphate, of course. Very good for asparagus root development.
All best,
Joanna
see my article, if you wish, on Odorless Fertilizer from Household Urine https://uvachemistry.com/2014/12/21/odorless-fertilizer-from-household-urine/
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I did a google search on this subject today because I was wondering why urine seems to kill grass where dogs “go”. Also people’s. So it is not just the burn form excess nitrogen, it could also be the salt? My experience is that the grass dies if not watered before or after. So thanks for the tips. The mulch pile needs to be moved again anyway and will be the new “target”. Can’t stop the dogs though.
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Great article! I compost my cats’ pee (use wood pellets for litter), but haven’t applied it to the garden yet, so have been researching. Thanks for your frank explanations!
Susan- if you are worried about cat pee causing disease (it’s the poop that’s of concern) put the used cat litter around trees or non food crops. Or compost it though that might not kill all the bad stuff if not hot enough.But I figure, my cats and my neighbors’ cats are using my garden as a latrine already- there are some bad bacteria in my dirt no matter what I do, so I wash all my vegetables especially root or closer to the ground.
I wish I had a good use for all our dogs’ poop. Whenever I plan/transplant a new bush/tree I put all that’s in the yard (< 1/10 the back fill of the hole!) in the holes as a starter fertilizer, and when clearing up the yard might put it around my rose bushes or fruit trees. Certainly my cold slow heap it up compost system would not take dog poop to safe compost.