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emme_dc

peeing in the garden

emme-dc
12 years ago

Been working on the garden lately with my two year old in tow. When he asks to pee (yes, he is totally potty trained, but he needs physical assistance and prompt response), should I point him to some spot in the garden? When covered with dirt, I am reluctant to drop everything and rush him into the house. If so, what spot in the garden? Are there better places and worse places for him to pee?

Comments (35)

  • joepyeweed
    12 years ago

    Direct Pee can be too hot, unless its diluted. Its commonly recommended to dilute urine before using it directly in the garden.

    However, in case of an emergency he is probably small enough to do a spot pee just about anywhere and its not going to be enough to do much harm. If you have some thick mulch, that would be a better place than directly on some plants.

    You could always hit the peed spot with the a bucket of water or some water from the hose after he is done...if you are worried.

    If you have a compost pile, that is the best place for a direct shot of urine.

  • jolj
    12 years ago

    I know a organic gardener who pee the length of his garden to keep deer at bay.
    This works fairly well.

  • gardenlen
    12 years ago

    let him pee i say,

    no harm at all will be done, dad should stand beside him and do likewise. beats wasting good water to flush it down the loo.

    len

    Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

  • bill13286
    12 years ago

    "I know a organic gardener who pee the length of his garden"
    WOW ! Must be a new record.

  • jonhughes
    12 years ago

    It is a very short....garden ;-)

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    12 years ago

    My tulips take direct hits and thus far, are nice healthy, most notably, the deer have not eaten them yet. Dh goes out at night when the lights are off to protect his own.

    If you have an open compost pile, it would be great to have him go there. Just teach not to let 'er rip into the wind!

  • toxcrusadr
    12 years ago

    Don't pee on anything you're going to eat very soon. Like the lettuce, for example. :-D Other than that, it's actually better to spread it around than to pick one spot (other than the compost, that is).

    I also know someone who 'pees the length of the garden' for deer control. In this case it involves walking while doing the deed, because the garden is way longer than that. ;-]

  • strawchicago z5
    12 years ago

    Great reply, Toxcrusadr! I love the humor in this forum.

  • emgardener
    12 years ago

    Direct pee is fine, just do it one foot away from any plant and the plant will love it no matter what the volume deposited.

    I'd recommend just targeting just one bullseye point. It reduces any lingering smell, as most of the liquid is then absorbed into the soil instead of drying off on the surface.

    You might want to join your toddler. The plants will enjoy it.

  • leira
    12 years ago

    We've taken to bring the little portable potty outside for our 2-year old, and she'll use that. Then she insists on carrying it over to dump it into the compost bin.

    Gotta train 'em young, I say.

  • pnbrown
    12 years ago

    Concerns about ingesting urine are misplaced. Spread of malaria and dengue fever northward via mosquito is a real concern, of which the urine-and-feces-phobes are blissfully unaware.

  • Robbie3
    12 years ago

    Your biggest concern is that he doesn't pee on the pants he just dropped to his ankles. (mom of three boys, here.) Other than that, the advice above is plenty. :D

  • jrmckins
    12 years ago

    Because of this thread every time I pee I think "I could be doing this on the compost pile"

  • inespilar
    12 years ago

    My boys have been peeing around my roses to keep the deer away for ages. No harm done. Totally agree with the comment about the pants being most at risk :-)

  • emme-dc
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, everyone! Maybe I should encourage the older boys to feed the camelias, too.

  • chickencoupe
    12 years ago

    LOL Great post this has become. The greatest which was "Because of this thread every time I pee I think "I could be doing this on the compost pile" " Too true!

  • mean_74
    12 years ago

    We are having an early spring in Minnesota. My wife was cleaning out the garden shed while I was adding the compost to our beds the other day when I heard her exclaim "Is there a bucket of pee in here?". It was as if she thought it weird to have a bucket of pee in the garden shed? I said of course, it's right next to the bucket of sawdust.

  • terrene
    12 years ago

    Whether the garden is short or long, I envy how much easier it is for the male anatomy to apply this liquid gold fertilizer to the garden. ;)

  • rmontcal
    12 years ago

    The plumber is here and the water is off, so I have no choice but to pee in the garden today!

  • RpR_
    12 years ago

    Do not pee on Peonies, it will not kill them but they look like some one got careless with roundup for the rest of the year.

  • toxcrusadr
    12 years ago

    Mean: if you pee INTO the bucket of sawdust, no one will see or smell the bucket of pee, it is a perfect green-brown mix that can go into the compost, and it also frees up a bucket! :-]

  • amoocow421
    12 years ago

    Rofl!!!

    When dh gets home, I'm gonna' tell him to stop going by the tree, and head down to the garden, instead. Too funny!

  • nancybeetoo
    12 years ago

    I love how, every time I visit this forum, there is a thread about pee on the first page.

    I think that shows that we are recognizing this valuable nitrogen fertilizer resource.

    Just as it should be- 80% of the nitrogen that we excrete is in our pee. Flushing all that nitrogen to the septic system is a giant waste of good water and turns the sewage treatment process into a new energy user rather than a net energy producer. Seriously it is quite energy intensive to remove the nitrogen for the "waste stream". It requires pumping and aerating (think energy consuming pumps) for weeks.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Urine diversion

  • bigredmt
    12 years ago

    Urine, I have read like most of you, has so many different views on whether to use or not, and how to use ( 1:20 dilutions only, ect).

    Now the only down side I see to using urine directly in a garden is if your little nitrogen factory consumes excess sodium and potassium salts. And if he is urinating on green leafy matter the excessive salts would harm the green growth giving it the burnt roundup look.

    Then again people above have posted testimonials about direct on plant urinations with no apparent harm but urine is not a stable concentration it varies through the day in composition and concentration. You will find that you first morning urinations are your most concentrated nitrogen, salts, proteins ect (a lot of dissolved solids/ High specific gravity). This is why they are recommended for urinalysis testing, urine pregnancy testing ect.

    Therefore it has been my practice that the compost gets first morning collections(full strength). The garden and anything else that could use some still non diluted "liquid gold" gets direct to soil/mulch applications avoiding leaves through out the remainder of the day.

    As a side note if you can teach him to be a crack shot you can use him as your own round up spray bottle, just point him at the weeds.

  • HIWTHI
    12 years ago

    This thread has me laughing out loud, LOL Wait till I tell the hubby he can pee in the yard. His dream come true.

    On a serious note, what about medications one may be taking or vitamin supplements, could those hurt?

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    12 years ago

    Personally, I would not worry all that much about most vitamins and medications. My thought would be there is not nearly enough volume to make a difference and it is more beneficial to go in different spots, so nothing is concentrated. The only exceptions might be chemotherapy drugs or chelating drugs for removing excess metals but even then, I doubt the volume excreted would be significant.

  • toxcrusadr
    12 years ago

    It would take a long time to accumulate enough of any medication in the soil to amount to anything.

  • LesIsMore1
    12 years ago

    There was another thread here about pee in compost. It was a long one, I read it all, and so glad I did. People have been trying to get me to drink more water for years, but that thread provided the incentive that made it happen. Drinking water all the time now, like its going out of style. I'm up in the mountains, so always need greens to make compost, and the hot piles can always use the moisture; I loathe using city water on the piles. BUT - I'm very afraid to use urine directly in the garden! It's not pathogens I'm worried about, it's my dog...

    True story. Even funnier than my sudden onset of 'water-lust'... the Airedale puppy who lives with me, paid very close attention to the sudden change in my behavior - after I saw the 'pee on compost' thread. When I started taking the special watering can outside, to 'water' the hot piles... he was right behind me, eager to get his own contribution on the pile right along with mine. More than that, the act itself seemed to have larger meaning to him which I was unaware of; a lightbulb went off in his head. He hiked his leg up there as high as he could, hit it from both directions...then beamed with pride over what he'd just done. At the time, I thought it was very funny. Made me laugh so hard, that I treated him for it... without thinking about the potential consequences.

    I now live with an Airedale who may be obsessed with peeing on compost. Furthermore, he expects to get paid for it in dog treats. It's his favorite place to go now... he tries to spread it around the whole pile; hits it on all sides, exactly the same way that I do with my special watering can.

    I don't know how it works in the garden, and will never know that from personal experience. All I know for sure...pee on compost can become addicting. I also suspect, the addiction can jump species without warning. If I start using my urine directly in the garden? Even diluted, I'm worried it would further encourage my dog to do the same. All my plants would die, and not willing to risk it. For me, its just safer to keep it all in the hot piles. Just sayin'...

    Leslie in CO

  • toxcrusadr
    12 years ago

    Hilarious Leslie! Uh, I mean, sorry about your troubles!

    Those silly pets.

  • jrmckins
    12 years ago

    I've been having a hard time getting my new pile cooking so I christened it tonight with a long pee. Hopefully that helps.

  • blazeaglory
    12 years ago

    Lol!! I love this thread! I hope I can get my boston to pee on my compost.

    But I think my neighbors in the morning would be kinda weirded out by my half asleep face just above the fence line and the sound of tinkling coming from below..

    If this was a few years ago, I think the earthworms might get some kind of contact from all my "meds"

  • toxcrusadr
    2 years ago

    ^^ I was afraid of what that was going to say, but I agree with it!


    Except for the one thing at the end about 'if you're using urine as fertilizer and giving produce to your friends, that's NASTY!' Worse than steaming cow poo? Worse than bug poop? Bacteria-ridden rotten food slop? Fly specks? Maggot slime? Because all that's in the soil already, and more besides.


    My approach is to spread it around as much as possible. You can actually kill a plant by putting too much on it, especially in dry climates where rain isn't likely to wash out the excess salts very fast.

  • joe LeGrand
    2 years ago

    It works well to activate biochar, before mixing the biochar into the garden. It is just as easy to compost your biochar & that will activate it.

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