Urea is a
water soluble compound which is why it is used by farmers as a nitrogen fertilizer. In water the NH2 molecule portions break and bond with one of the hydrogen atoms from a water molecule to make NH3, this only happens when there are ions available since both Urea and Water are fairly stable compounds.
One of the ways electric charges are conveyed to these two molecules is via friction (as the urea compound makes its way down into the soil it rubs against minerals and creates a small amount of friction which can produce a static charge just long enough for a molecule split and reformation to occur.
Another way is by bacteria excreting enzymes that break the molecule down and the end result is NH3, NH4,
CO2 and Carbolic Acid (C6H5OH). In lightening events urea has been found to form Nitric Acid and Carbolic Acid, these two acids will acidify soils and form salts by combining with minerals in the treated field.
The end result of using Urea and Ammonium Nitrate or Nitrite is acidification and salinization of the soil treated with these two chemical compounds, this results in poisonous conditions for the fungi and bacteria living in the treated soil and results in their death and so we have created dirt from healthy soil.
This is compounded as the farmer continues to add the artificial nitrogen compounds to the field until all microorganisms have been killed off and that creates more of the unsustainable use of synthetic chemical fertilizers.
Fermenting Urine results in salts being formed from the urea in urine and other salts are also formed by the other elements contained in urine. (Kidneys are good filters and concentrate all that passes through them that the body recognizes as waste and those compounds are then expelled with the urea as urine)
Adding Urine to compost piles has several advantages since it is a source of not only urea to be broken down by the compost microorganisms but it usually contains some trace minerals that are used by the bacteria to grow and multiply.
If you make a 5% solution of urea and pour it on a healthy patch of grass, then pour a 5% solution of Ammonia on a same or similar patch of grass, the urea will be more likely to cause root die off (burning) than the Ammonia.
This is because it will form carbolic acid where the ammonia won't do so as readily because ammonia doesn't contain a carbon atom but urea does.
The reasons for creating compost and compost teas is to add microorganisms to the soil and thus let nature provide all the nutrients needed by the plants in the manner nature has since the first plants evolved.
The only reason to add nitrogen to any soil is to provide food for the bacteria, most green plants get their nitrogen primarily from the atmosphere, not the soil.
Plants will draw N from the soil during their CO2 phase (usually at night) but when photosynthesis is in full swing the nitrogen in the atmosphere is the main source for this nutrient.
While bacteria and fungi, along with the rest of the microorganisms do die, they also reproduce very quickly, nematodes and other "higher" life forms take longer to reproduce than either bacteria or fungi, these two major players can become a million strong in less than one hour when they have all the nutrients available.
However, when we go and try to
feed the microbiome with artificial means, we actually create the conditions for them to die off (we murder our microbiome).
It is very possible to treat lawns (some golf courses are now being organically grown at less expense than previously done) without resorting to blasts of nitrogen in detrimental forms.
The nitrogen left in finished compost is contained inside the bacteria and fungi that created the finished compost, and that nitrogen along with other nutrients are the ones that plants can instantly utilize.
addendum: when you ferment anything the organism you are growing is lactobacillus, lactobacillus doesn't kill pathogenic organisms, it is the salt used to start the fermentation that kills pathogenic organisms.
Hope that helps you.
Redhawk
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