Are you looking for better ways to keep the citrus trees and other plants in your garden healthy and happy?
And also searching for an alternative to industrial fertilizers make sure your citrus trees are getting what they need? One old garden myth sees gardeners using human urine on some plants to help them grow.
But is this a myth or something you should be doing in your garden?
Human urine offers many benefits when used on citrus trees.
It is actually a good fertilizer for your citrus trees and many other plants in the garden. It has high levels of nitrogen or urea, something plants crave.
Nitrogen is a crucial element for plants and trees. Additionally, urine also contains phosphorus and potassium and is a great way to replenish soil.
Just make sure you give your trees a good drink of water as urine has high levels of salts, which can do damage to plants.
These are just some of the reasons you should try using human urine on your citrus trees and in your garden. As with anything, there are also drawbacks to this method.
Stay tuned as we look into the use of human urine on citrus trees and other plants.
Is Human Urine Good For Citrus Trees?
When looking through the options for fertilizing your citrus trees, you might feel overwhelmed standing in the store.
You want to provide your citrus trees with everything they need, but there are so many options, and if you are trying to stay away from industrial fertilizers you might be looking for a more natural alternative. One option gardeners might explore is the use of human urine.
Citrus trees like soil that is slightly acidic. Urine is usually at a pH of about 6 and it often gives the soil a slight acidity, just what the citrus trees want.
Human urine can be used for citrus trees to help as a fertilizer, but also to replenish the soil.
Human urine has high levels of nitrogen, which many plants need to grow. In addition to nitrogen, urine also contains phosphorus and potassium, two other nutrients citrus trees and other plants need.
The levels of these good nutrients varies from person to person and even daily, based on the person’s diet and health. Someone with a serious infection should avoid peeing on their plants.
This isn’t just an old wives tale, urine really can be beneficial for citrus trees, but there are also drawbacks. Most urine contains high amounts of salts flushed out of the body.
Salt is not something your trees can handle a lot of.
To combat this problem, you should dilute the urine before applying to plants
For smaller operations, like home gardens, citrus tree owners need to be sure to water their citrus trees, giving them a good drink of water and diluting the salts just added to the ground.
Urine should not be applied directly onto the leaves of the tree, instead it can be applied at the base of the tree directly into the ground.
Direct application can often provide too high of levels of the nutrients we talked about. Direct application should be done in moderation. Urine can be collected and diluted for more regular applications.
Is Human Urine Safe For Plants?
Citrus trees can benefit from applications of human urine, but this might make you wonder if it is safe for other plants in your garden.
Not all plants should have urine applied as a fertilizer.
There are some scientific studies done around the world that show a dose of urine is great for plants like tomatoes, root vegetables like beets, cucumbers, and cabbage.
Like we talked about above, the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are great additions for your plants, helping them to grow, thrive and eventually produce a large yield.
The high levels of nitrogen are ideal when the plants are young seedlings. As they grow, many plants will need higher levels of potassium and urine doesn’t quite live up to the task.
Gardeners have discovered the one, two punch of urine for young plants followed by wood ashes for more mature plants to help increase the size of the yield.
Again, urine often contains high levels of salts that can be extremely detrimental to plants, especially young ones.
Be sure to either dilute the urine or follow up undiluted applications with a good drink of water.
Is Urine Good For Fruit Trees?
Citrus trees aren’t the only ones who can benefit from urine applications. Other trees like fruit trees also appreciate the good things that urine can do.
Fruit trees that like a slightly acidic soil will, like citrus trees benefit from the use of human urine.
Again all the good nutrients in the urine, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are exactly what the trees need.
Fruit trees like apples, and plums are among the types that will show positive signs after the liquid fertilizer has been added to the soil around them. Yields improve, as does plant health.
It is important to keep a watchful eye on the nutrient levels in the soil before urine is added and throughout the process. Good nutrients only help in the right levels. When there are high concentrations of the nutrients, the tree or plant will show signs of distress and can sustain long term harm.
Does Pee Help Lemons Grow Bigger?
Like other citrus trees, lemon trees do benefit when human urine is applied as a fertilizer.
The nutrients your pee can provide, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium help the tree and they also like the soil to be slightly acidic, something urine can help with.
But does pee actually help the lemons on the tree grow bigger?
In a way, yes, urinating on the lemon tree can indirectly help lemons grow bigger. If you have a healthy and well cared for plant, and conditions are right, lemons will grow and develop better and in greater quantities.
You will need to monitor your lemon tree to make sure the levels are acceptable and you aren’t building up too much salts, or that the acidity level isn’t getting too high.
While there are other factors out of your control, like weather, peeing on your lemon tree can give it more of the nutrients it needs so it has a better chance that the lemons will grow to their best size.
Which Plants/Trees Will Benefit From Using Urine As A Fertilizer?
Many plants are going to benefit from the liquid fertilizer you can provide. This isn’t always the case, and if you are unsure if a certain plant should or should not receive a urine application, you should do some research on that specific plant to ensure you are not causing damage.
Yet, there are many plants that benefit from using urine as a fertilizer.
Here is the list of some of the plants and trees that have been known to show positive signs after using human urine
- Lemon Trees
- Orange Trees
- Apple Trees
- Plum Trees
- Pine Trees
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Corn
- Tomatoes
- Cabbage
- Beets
- Basil
- Eggplant
- Peppers
- Potatoes
- Melons
- Bananas
- Squash
- Onions
- Parsley
- Pineapple
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Leafy Greens
There are many others that like the occasional application of this liquid fertilizer.
Diluting urine is generally thought to be a better use of the stuff, so you can make sure not to overdo it on your plants. This is also something you should not be applying every day.
Most plants do best with it being used at most twice per week. Some plants require less.
The urine should be applied to the base of the plant near the root system.
Be careful not to apply directly on leaves as they can be burned because of the high levels of nitrogen. This is why you sometimes see brown spots in your grass when your dog uses the bathroom in your yard. And also why human urine is sometimes used as a weed eliminator in yards.
After an application, a watering will help work the nutrients into the soil and also to dilute urine to avoid levels being too high. Urine fertilizer is best applied to seedlings that are approximately two weeks old. Mature plants don’t benefit as much from urine, so doses can be greatly reduced as the plant grows.
Conclusion
Using urine in your garden might seem like a strange concept, but it is common practice in some parts of the world. The benefits many plants will see from the use of human urine is enough to make many gardeners look into using it.
Urine contains some pretty good things, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These are great for your plants in the right doses. There are some drawbacks like high salt levels and varying levels of the good nutrients, depending on the diet of the donor.
Around the world, urine is used fertilizer, but the stigma of using our waste product often holds it back from more widespread use. Now that you are armed with some more information, you can see the benefits of using human urine, and may be more willing to try it out in your garden this year.
