I am embarrassed that I missed this innovation in gardening and sure fire way to enlarge my tomato crop. But thanks to Finnish scientists, I now know that applications of human urine will increase the size of your tomatoes.
The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that plants fertilized with urine produced four times more tomatoes than nonfertilized plants and as much as plants given traditional chemical fertilizer.
The researchers from the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Kuopio, Finland, said urine has been shown to work well on cucumber, corn, cabbage, and other crops, but tomatoes were selected for the study because it is commonly cultivated in home gardens and is an ingredient in many recipes.
The results suggest that urine can be used as a substitute for regular fertilizer to increase the yields of tomatoes without posing any microbial or chemical risks, the report says.
Urine for the study was collected from several private homes over the winter. Taste testing by a panel of 20 individuals found all tomato samples were evaluated as being equally good.
Here is a link to the actual Finnish study and, if you’re really into this concept of gardening, this is a link to a UK website that will tell you all need to know about urine farming, including where to get urine-diverting toilets and urinals.