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Post by pattyp on Feb 15, 2009 17:12:59 GMT -5
I have 3 cats that use a clumping pine litter, so I am blessed with an abundance of cat urine  , which I have been adding to my compost pile. My pile smells of compost and is of a somewhat decent size, about 3 feet tall and 3.5 feet wide. I consistently add kitchen scraps, junk mail, newspaper, cardboard, yard waste (leaves and dead plants), and broken clay pots, turn it, and water it. But as I add more urine to the compost everyday, I am starting to wonder if there is such a thing as too much. Thanks in advance for your input. |
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Post by canadamike on Feb 15, 2009 19:42:26 GMT -5
It all depends on how much of anything else is put in there too..I don't think it will be a problem. Most of us of a certain gender tend to pee in the compost pile, and I think it is fair to say we do pee more than the cats....
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 18, 2009 19:31:23 GMT -5
OK, so I'm in total shock here. What exactly are the benefits of urine in the compost pile?
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Post by grungy on Mar 18, 2009 20:58:02 GMT -5
Urine - urea (nitrogen), minerals, acidifying the compost - common people help me add to the list.
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Post by PatrickW on Mar 19, 2009 8:49:59 GMT -5
Urine is good for 'starting' a compost pile, and if your compost is short on nitrogen it will help it go faster. Otherwise, I think it will just wash away. Urine is high in soluble nitrogen, like chemical fertilizers, and if you put too much in any one spot can pollute ground water and other things.
Some people (not me, thank you very much) mix it 10:1 with water and use it in the garden as a fertilizer, most commonly as a foliar feed sprayed on the leaves.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 19, 2009 14:54:11 GMT -5
Wow, on the leaves huh? Geez, that sure don't sound very appetizing. I know telling my boys they can pee on the compost is something I won't have to tell them twice though.
So, there can be to much? Is there a way to test content?
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Post by PatrickW on Mar 19, 2009 16:42:43 GMT -5
Hi Jo, I understand if you use fresh pee on plants, it doesn't smell. It only smells after it gets old.
If the boys only pee on stuff right after you add it to the pile and before it decomposes, I doubt you can really have too much, because it will either get composted or wash away. It might not be very nice if they pee on compost right before you use it, and this might be too much nitrogen for the plants.
This is my opinion anyway...
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 20, 2009 6:21:59 GMT -5
Well, our compost bin, made out of used pallets, has 2 compartments. One side for the "cooking" compost and one side for "finished" compost. I imagine it's best for them to go in the cooking compost. Right?
I know I shouldn't be so squeamish. Besides, I wash everything before we eat it. Even the herbs I grow on the porch.
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Post by PatrickW on Mar 20, 2009 7:03:34 GMT -5
Yep, the cooking side it is.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 21, 2009 7:50:11 GMT -5
Urea = Nitrogen? Would that help with the "dead zone" of our land? Could I just have the guys pee occasionally around trees that are not near the plots that were not planted with nitro fixers last year?
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Post by paquebot on Mar 21, 2009 17:13:45 GMT -5
Human urine is about 2% salt. Not certain what percentage cat urine would have. Keep urinating in one spot long enough and the plantlife dies from accumulated salts. That's the only bad part about using straight urine for fertilizer.
Martin
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 22, 2009 8:02:21 GMT -5
Oh yea, salt! So it sounds like composting the stuff is more useful than "point of service". This is very useful to comprehend for composting toilets and for my terra preta pit project as well. Thanks for the data.
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flow
gopher
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Post by flow on Feb 18, 2022 12:54:27 GMT -5
A well known permaculture expert says not to pee around a fruit tree any more than about 3x a year. More than that will be too much, harm the tree and production.
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Post by flowerbug on Feb 20, 2022 19:49:09 GMT -5
how often you can pee on a tree may also be related to how big it is and how much rain the area gets.
for composting you want your carbon and nitrogen ratio to be in the decent range of 24-40:1 so if you get too much nitrogen in there it won't properly get composted and instead wash or leach away. for use as a fertilizer in the garden i'd only apply it when the plants are actively growing and probably want it covered.
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Post by RpR on Jun 12, 2022 16:27:28 GMT -5
I used to , in the winter, pee into 5 gallon pails of water in the basement, till I had the ratio I wanted; sadly I did not save all the lids and it gets very aromatic after a few months.
I did , in years past , when I had more compost (emtpied and refilled 4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot bin more often) would mix in kitty litter (straight clumping no fancy stuff) for the urine more than the poo, but now after I put in several yards of quite fresh Sheep manure, no real need to .
I do pee on the compost heap on occasion.
Urine will not wash out any faster than any liquid fertilizer and in a compost heap (depending on density may not wash out at all. {I rarely turn mine over and they are very dense).
I let them sit for years and usually leave them till the sides are collapsing out of the bin.
Now smell, well , as I said, I put quite fresh Sheep manure on the gardens, in town, and after a period, the smell goes away. (I was surprised that when I tilled it in right away one year, the garden still had that wonderful animal farm aroma, so unless one is very fussy, you get used to the smell of urine.
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, which I have been adding to my compost pile. My pile smells of compost and is of a somewhat decent size, about 3 feet tall and 3.5 feet wide. I consistently add kitchen scraps, junk mail, newspaper, cardboard, yard waste (leaves and dead plants), and broken clay pots, turn it, and water it. But as I add more urine to the compost everyday, I am starting to wonder if there is such a thing as too much. Thanks in advance for your input.
