Permaculture in New Zealand

• Adrian Myers, author of Organic Futures: A Case for Organic Farming is part of the small group discussing the NG article about urine and ash as a fertiliser. His response is shown in part below
• Adrian makes some very good points. It is easy to get wrapped up in the competition to equal chemical pharming
  output when it is actually not necessary or even in some cases
  desirable i.e. the forced growth and subsequent susceptibility to
  disease. Also good to be reminded that just because something is
  organic does not neccessarily mean it is good for the plants, soil
  flora/fauna or the environment
• I generally advise people that orgnic material coming into the garden
  be composted before use, mainly as a primary processing method to break
  down complex molecules into minerals and nutrients which are accesible to plants, but also to remove
  pathogens and help break down toxins. I will add Adrians comments about
  nutrient stability and mycorrhizal managment of available nutrients to
  the benefits of using compost and composting

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...

Storing urine for a few days is good, but it still has a negative
effect on earthworms. Both urine and wood ash are very similar
to mineral fertilisers in that the plant nutrients they contain are
highly water soluable which can easily be washed out of the top soil
the same as mineral fertilisers. They also tend to force plant growth
unaturally making them more susceptible to pests and diseases.
 
The best way to use these concentrated water soluable products is to
put them though the compost heap. This converts their plant nutrients
into more stable forms (such as the potash in wood ash) or to attach
the amonium irons to humus particles or the convertion of nitrates into
the protein in the bodies of micro-organisms which again are more
stable. 
 
Many of the nutients are then held in the humus and soil and are less
susceptible to leaching. When a plant wants nutrients it sends messages
to the bacterial population around its roots suplying them with root
exudates and chemical messages and they in turn release the held
nutrients or convert them into water soluble forms which the plant can
absorb.
 
So - for me the message is "pass concentrated potential plant nutrients
through the compost heap" converting wood ash into more stable forms of
potash and calcium etc, and use the nitrogen and other elements in
urine as an effective activator to break down high celluous material
into a larger amount of soil and plant food than you had in the first
place. What you end up with is a balanced soil mico-organism food and
improved soil tilth creator that benefits both soil life and the plants.

Adrian Myers 2009-10-06 pers comms

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