Is your soil nitrogen-deficient? Too much nitrogen can burn your plants.
Nitrogen is a naturally occuring element in the soil. If you've prepped/amended the soil with compost then it should be fine.

wanda

Urine, eh? I might have to explain to the spouse why I'm you-know-what on my plants, only to try and feed them to him a few weeks later ;-)

Wanda, we just bought the house and the seller was a pretty avid gardener himself. He said he did a soil test right before he sold it to us and it was quite deficient because this particular bed has been home to a wide range of plants, flowers, vegetables, shrubs... but not really amended much. I have added some compost but wasn't sure it'd be enough. I'll definitely try a test before adding anything -- or making midnight trips out to crouch among my spinach plants :-)

If you are trying to inject a quick hit of nitrogen into an existing vegetable crop, you are probably stuck with the Home Depot-type chemical stuff. If the ingedients include "urea"...can you guess what that is?

You are on the right track with your coffee grounds idea. They add nitrogen to the soil and earthworms seem to love them. Starbucks packages used grounds for giveaway, but my local small coffee place is happy to save their grounds in my container. I pick up every day or two and leave a clean container.

I found that using the chemical fertilizers seems to decrease the earthworms in my garden soil, which, to me, is a bad sign.

I had the same initial reaction as Joe with the urine, but you mustn't just go pee in the bed because it needs to be quite diluted -- as Joe said.

Some say it keeps your spouse more loyal, LOL!

If undiluted, it would kill or burn your plants...

Compost and patience are the best way to improve your soils nitrogen level. Chemical fertilizer feeds the plants but destroys the soil microbes which, if fed vegetative matter, such as compost, will multiply and produce all the nitrogen your plants will need. Al

You can mix real charcoal into the soil where it will improve aeration, improve fertilizer use efficiency (organic or otherwise), improve soil structure, and will never degrade. A big bonus is that you will be permanently trapping carbon and locking it in the ground forever.

Compost and other soil amendments will rapidly degrade in the California climate, reverting your soil back to previous state if you stopped using organic amendments. Organic amendments in California literally burn in the soil due to our hot temperatures, but when used together with charcoal, you get the most benefits and your soil good characteristics will be there much longer if not forever. The effect of charcoal is not immediate, it takes years to build them up in the soil.

For reference, you can search terra preta or Amazonian Dark Earth...

I like liquid fish fertilizer (5-0-0) for leafy veggies. It is too slow-acting to burn and it lasts for the 8 weeks or so you're growing the spinach or lettuce. It tends to work best when initally added when tilling soil and less well as an amendment to currently growing plants.

pound for pound of usable nitrogen, the liquid fish fertilizers are amongst the most expensive ones to use. I would use compost tea mixed with some ammonium sulfate to achieve the same benefits.

A 50-lb bag of ammonium sulfate costs $6-$10, which means that each lb is just $0.16. To achieve a formulation of liquid 5-0-0, dilute this with compost tea (basically free from your yard, contains some N, P, K and traces of other micronutrients), it would only cost you far less than a penny for each 16 oz of the equivalent liquid 5-0-0.

What I meant was far less than a dime. My computations came to be 3.49 cents per 16 oz.

Thanks to everyone for the great tips, this is really useful. Joe, when you talk about adding charcoal, do you mean the same stuff that you use in a grill or some other kind of stuff? I did a soil test myself for pH and it turns out I've actually got pretty alkaline soil (clay) and I'm wondering if maybe that's not part of this too. My lettuce has been growing for a month and I've got only a pair of true leaves on the biggest of any of them. They seem to be growing verrrrrrrry slowly.

The charcoal should be horticultural grade, something that come from wood in raw form, without the binders, coals and other additives. The charcoal briquittes are bad to use as they could be toxic to the plants instead.

Adding amendments like charcoal and compost should improve your soil pH. If you have high sodium, then some gypsum should improve the physical properties of your alkaline soil.

I'm bumping this message, because I just tested my soil in my vegetable garden with a home kit, and it showed that my soil is completely depleted of nitrogen. I'm the one who posted a message awhile ago about putting way too much chicken manure in my potager. Also, I had wood chips on the paths around my beds, and am wondering if that helped to tie up the nitrogen in my soil.

Anyway, my question is this: I'd like to keep things organic, and was wondering if blood meal would be a good way to add nitrogen to my garden. I've used it before and liked it, but was going to increase the amount and let the soil rest a few weeks before I plant for the spring. The reason why I'd like to use bloodmeal rather than the ammonia solutions is that I want something that will stay in the soil, and not wash out. What do you think?

As far as compost goes, I'd have to add bagged stuff, because my compost pile is not ready, and after the chicken manure fiasco, I'm distrustful of the stuff you get from big box stores. I've read that a lot of it is full of sawdust.

BTW, I'm planning on raking up the woodchips and replacing them with something else. Also considering the charcoal for the beds. I don't want to overdo it, but I do want to fix a garden gone wrong.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

I should charge you guys for this advice.

Tropical fish tank water. Especially if it doesn't have any salt in it. It has nitrogen in it, it's dilute, and it has already been broken down from its ammonia form by beneficial microbes. And it's a good excuse to change your fish tank water every few weeks. It's a pure and quick shot of natural fertilizer and it renews itself.

blood meal is high in nitrogen. I prefer organic fertilizers.

Penny

If your lettues is growing fine then dont worry about adding anything to your garden. Wait till your crop is done and grow a cover crop. That should take care of your soil for the next season.

Penny, I was confused by your post. Blood meal is organic, isn't it? Or do you mean that you use blood meal and prefer it?

Blood meal is organic, but not plant-based... Alfalfa meal works well as a plant-based source of N. Blood meal seems to scare off the rabbits, I like it for that reason.

I use the filthy water from my koi pond filter. Free fish doo/dead algae, already partially broken down into nitrates by the filter's bacteria. Makes plants very happy.

hoovb, do you mean the stuff that smells really rank? I got a koi pond with our house and when I empty out the big biological filter tubs, I wonder if the stuff at the bottom that comes out is good for plants or would kill them :-) Haven't tried it yet, but it does seem a waste of water if nothing else.

I've see alfalfa pellets used around the State Capitol building and the surrounding parks. The roses are beautiful. I think there are beneficial fungus in those pellets that help fight the bad fungal diseases.

And yes, the water from the pond or aquarium filters are good for your plants. The same with the bloody water from rinsing the meat, or from cleaning fishes, you use them immediately to water your plants. Of course, spread them around the yard to diffuse the smell.

so pee on what you want nitrogen for? i don't think they allow that, at least not in the city limits

I am quite certain it is well past the time limit for bringing charges on this one.

molasses is a good way to convert the compost into a plant usable fertilizer. most fertilizers cannot be taken up by the plant until microbes have converted them. feed the microbes to increase there numbers.

Fish tank water works for me as well