[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Composting toilets URINE SEPARATION

[YankeePerm at aol.com]

The is no problem with urine applied over a large area.   If you ferment the 
urine first, the nitrogen is in the form of ammonium ions and these cling to 
soil particles until taken up.   There are also significant amounts of 
phosphorous and potassium in urine, and many minerals, especially calcium with plates 
out on the sides of containers if you leave the fermentation process long 
enough.   Shake the jug and you get these white flakes when you pour the contents. 
  We never have enough urine to maximize the benefit to our gardens and tree 
crops.   Bamboo, which would take up urine as quickly as we apply it, gets 
very little here as we can't spare it.

By the way, someone mentiioned citrus, though I didn't understand the post.   
However, citrus is one genus that is difficult to overfertilize as the plants 
will take up large amounts of fertlizer when available.   Citrus is also 
unusual in that it stores nutrients mainly in the leaves, not the cambium or 
roots.   

Other garden plants that especially benefit from urine are celery (very salt 
tolerant), letuce, onions, peppers (Capsicum spp), and of course maize.   We 
find that fig trees, loquats, and mulberries are heavy feeders with rapid 
nutrient uptake, and will sometimes get a shot of golden elixer here if we can 
spare it (and the time of year is right.)   Plants that require fairly dilute 
concentrations 10-20:1 include tomatoes, legumes (kind of a waste if you 
inoculated them properly), and some other nightshades.   Most greens are responsive, 
including especially the brassicas.

The key concept is not to concentrate a resource in one place, but spread out 
its application so that it does not overwhelm the capacity of the environment 
to absorb it.   Also, with tree crops in particular, avoid fertilizing them 
close to the time when freezing temperatures or other forms of dormancy are 
expected.   

When living in winter climates, I found that we could apply urine through 
snow onto deep mulch, which serves as a substrate for the organisms that bind and 
utilize the fertilizer.   (This is basically the same principle that cattail 
roots serve in sewage treatment marshes.)   The snow melts and diluts the 
urine, and it is easy to see where   you have applied the urine. The mulch holds 
most of the nutrient until spring when bacterial and fungal action promoted 
from warmer temperatures promote release of the fertilizer to enable decay of the 
mulch.   Plants sown into the mulch then benefit as the fertilizer is made 
available.   I've grown fine crops of maize on 'soil' that was in reality highly 
leached coal cinders, but covered with deep mulch treated this way over 
winter.   I've got photos but they're not scanned.

DH



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