New research suggests that a slurry of wood ash and piss makes a good fertilizer for tomatoes. It's the nitrogen in urine and the calcium and magnesium in the ash that does the trick. After promising results in a greenhouse, University of Kuopio environmental scientist Surendra Pradhan and his colleagues plan a real world test in Nepal. From National Geographic:
Human urine and wood ash have each separately been used as fertilizer for centuries. But until now, no one had explored applying them together..."Human Pee With Ash Is a Natural Fertilizer, Study Says"
Urine can be collected from eco-friendly, urine-diverting toilets. Or farmers could just collect their pee in cans.
The researchers estimate a single person could supply enough urine to fertilize roughly 6,300 tomato plants a year—yielding some 2.4 tons of tomatoes.
The farmer would just need to give plants ash three days or more after applying urine...
One potential setback may be that pharmaceuticals and hormones excreted in human urine—such as remnants of birth control pills—could negatively impact crops, Pradhan said. For instance, such byproducts could promote antibiotic resistance in local bacteria or get absorbed by the plants.
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Ummmmmm this a pretty old school trick actually. Also the traditional source for the Salt Peter (Potassium Nitrate) what keeps the botulism out of my bacon.
"a single person could supply enough urine to fertilize roughly 6,300 tomato plants a year"
Let's see: Pee six times a day, times 365 days,..that's three plants to pee on whenever I take a whizz. (Collect in a can? Naw, just make sure you plant the tomatoes close enough to the back deck...)
Ah, I knew my collection would prove useful someday.
I've got a spare jar of August 1997 here if anyone wants to experiment.
Stefan: It was a very good year...
Tried this once when the yard caught fire. The stench was awful, the neighbor's complained and the damn tomatoes didn't survive.
Wait a second aren't the conditions for growing tomatoes remarkably similar to the conditions for growing pot?
Yeah, using human excrements of either kind is a REALLY bad idea for fertilization in general.
Basic bioaccumulation: We're at the top of the food chain, so our crap has the highest concentration of bad stuff in it. (heavy metals, etc)
Pharmaceutical residues are a smaller problem I think, those can be dealt with by treating it with UV light, or hydrogen peroxide, or electrical redox.
Gives tomatoes an extra tang.
@Alex_M: Not if you're a vegetarian, and even better if you eat organic food.
Don't most fertilizers and potting soil have calcium, magnesium, and nitrogen in them already? What is taking a leak in my garden going to give me that Miracle-Gro doesn't?
Not that I wouldn't do it anyway. It saves me time watering, and lets everyone know those tomatoes are MINE.
Just don't whizz on the electric fence.
@seanboing:Even better to eat free-range vegans who only eat organic.
I guess it's a good thing that my dog has been peeing on my compost pile, then. :D
@7 Alex M: speak for yourself, bucko.. My urine is some pristine pee! No antibiotics, no hormones, all natchul!
Does this work on all plants or just tomatoes?
During the Civil War the south was running short on potassium nitrate to make gun powder. There was a request put out for chamber lye (urine) which was put in the sun on evaporating trays With the residual contents collected.
@6
yes
All those times as Boy Scouts pissing on the fire at the end of the campout... just giving something back to nature :)
I am NOT saving my pee.
That is just way too "crazy guy at the end of the block."
@17... I was thinking the same thing...
I've been "experimenting" in my backyard for about a year with ash from my bbq pit mixed with human and dog urine as a fertilizer for my grass. It seems to be working ok!
I am NOT saving my pee.
Good. Because it's better fresh. Just piss on your compost pile. The bacteria that break down the compostables need nitrogen to do their work.
I've got a spare jar of August 1997 here if anyone wants to experiment.
In San Francisco, it's normal to have six roommates and one bathroom, so having a jar in the closet is quite common. Don't even ask about solid waste workarounds.
at this years (2009) ars electronica conference in linz, austria the artists britta & rebecca had a piece called drink.pee.drink.pee. in a daily workshop people could bring their own urine which was then transformed into useable fertilizer within a few hours. the project is found here: http://brittaandrebecca.org/drinkpee/
Having been a backyard early morning pee'er for years I've find that not only does it green up those brown patches in the yard but it keeps wild animals such as coyotes (who like to feed on pets like cats and small dogs) at bay.
@5, Anonymous,
I misread your comment as as ..."and the yard caught fire," ...which would have been very impressive indeed.