In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Chuck Banshee wrote:
On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:56:44 -0800, Billy wrote:
Most plants take up nitrogen primarily in the form of nitrate (NO3-)
€¢ except in conditions where nitrifying bacteria don't grow well
(low pH, anaerobic). Then ammonia (NH4+) will be available for uptake

Now that's interesting!

Since it's compost we're working with, we don't know (yet) which
plants will be using the nitrogen.

So, I guess, we want the nitrogen as both a nitrate (NO3-) and as an
ammonia (NH4+).

I wonder how we know if a plant that we plan on fertilizing with this
compost uses its nitrogen as nitrates versus ammonia?

And, depending if we want more nitrates versus more ammonia, I wonder
what we'd need to do to tilt the chemical balance one way or the
other?

I don't think it is feasible to manage the situation down to that level of
detail in soil.

David

Feasible? No. Possible? Yes. Personally, I think that the degree of
control that Chuck wants, can only be found in hydroponics, not organic
gardening.
--

Billy

E Pluribus Unum

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:13:57 -0800, Billy wrote:

I think that the degree of control that Chuck wants,
can only be found in hydroponics, not organic gardening.

I'm not actually trying to 'control' so much as not to 'waste'.

For example, if I didn't know better, I'd just pour the urea on the top
of the pile and leave it at that. But that would be a waste.

If I really wanted to control it, I'd 'inject' the urea ... but that's
too much work for a single home sized compost heap.

I'm content with simply covering the urea with moist soil, since that
seems to keep 90% of the nitrogen locked up instead of gassing out.

Like anything new ... it's a bunch of simple things that get us most of
the way there. So, I'll do the simplest things that work best.

It's more about not wasting ... and not doing something stupid or
counterproductive ... than about control.

Thanks for all the advice & viewpoints. I learned a lot!

In article ,
Chuck Banshee wrote:

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:13:57 -0800, Billy wrote:

I think that the degree of control that Chuck wants,
can only be found in hydroponics, not organic gardening.

I'm not actually trying to 'control' so much as not to 'waste'.

For example, if I didn't know better, I'd just pour the urea on the top
of the pile and leave it at that. But that would be a waste.

If I really wanted to control it, I'd 'inject' the urea ... but that's
too much work for a single home sized compost heap.

I'm content with simply covering the urea with moist soil, since that
seems to keep 90% of the nitrogen locked up instead of gassing out.

Like anything new ... it's a bunch of simple things that get us most of
the way there. So, I'll do the simplest things that work best.

It's more about not wasting ... and not doing something stupid or
counterproductive ... than about control.

Thanks for all the advice & viewpoints. I learned a lot!

That being the case, I would apply the urea to the garden or pots and
then water it in. If you don't till your soil the mycorrhiza will spread
the the nutrients, including the nitrogen, around in the garden, and the
life and death cycles of the microbes you encourage will feed the plants.
--

Billy

E Pluribus Unum

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953