Urea is a stable organic fertilizer that can improve soil quality, provide nitrogen for plants, and increase crop yields. Usually, urea fertilizer is in the form of dry granules. Urea fertilizer has a number of benefits, although there are also disadvantages. By knowing how to properly apply urea fertilizer to your soil and how it reacts with other fertilizers, you can avoid these disadvantages and get as many benefits as possible.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Using Urea Independently
Step 1. Minimize ammonia loss by applying urea on cold days
Urea is best applied on cold days, with temperatures between 0 - 15 °C, with little or no wind. At colder temperatures than that, the soil will freeze, making it difficult for urea to be absorbed into the soil. At higher and windy temperatures, urea will decompose more quickly before it has time to absorb into the soil.
Step 2. Apply a urea fertilizer with a urease inhibitor before planting
Urease is an enzyme that triggers a chemical reaction that will convert urea into nitrate that plants need. Applying urea before planting will cause a large amount of urea to be lost before it can be absorbed by plants. Using fertilizers with urease inhibitors can slow down the chemical reaction and help retain urea in the soil.
Step 3. Spread the urea evenly over the entire soil surface
Urea is packaged and sold in the form of pellets or small, solid granules. Spread the urea with a fertilizer spreader or sprinkle the pellets by hand evenly over the entire soil surface. In most plants, sprinkle the urea as close to the roots or to the area where you will be planting the seeds.
Step 4. Water the soil
Before turning into nitrate needed by plants, urea will first become ammonia gas. Since gases can evaporate easily from the soil surface, fertilizing in wet conditions will help the urea absorb into the soil before the chemical reaction begins. That way, more ammonia is stuck there.
About 1 cm of the top soil should be wet to retain as much ammonia gas as possible in the soil. You can water the soil or spread urea before it rains
Step 5. Dig the soil to mix the urea
Digging fields or gardens is an effective way for urea fertilizer to seep into the soil before the ammonia gas has time to evaporate. Use a tractor, fork, or hoe to stir the soil to allow the urea to settle into the top layer.
Step 6. Control the amount of nitrogen you give to potato plants
Certain potato varieties can absorb high amounts of nitrogen, while others do not. Just be safe and treat the whole potato the same way. For potato plants, do not apply large amounts of nitrogen from urea fertilizer.
- Urea fertilizer can be applied directly to potato plants or in solution with other fertilizers, as long as the solution contains only 30% nitrogen or less.
- Urea fertilizer solutions containing more than 30% nitrogen should only be applied to the field before planting the potatoes.
Step 7. Fertilize grain crops with urea on a shady day
Urea can be applied directly to most cereals, but not on days where the temperature is above 15 °C. If given when the temperature is warmer, the plant will emit an ammonia smell.
Step 8. Apply urea directly to corn plants
Corn seeds should only be given urea indirectly by spreading it to the ground as far as at least 5 cm from the seeds. Direct exposure to urea will poison the seeds and will reduce crop yields significantly.
Method 2 of 2: Mixing Urea with Other Fertilizers
Step 1. Determine the ideal fertilizer ratio
The fertilizer ratio-also called the N-P-K number-is a series of three numbers that show how much of a fertilizer mix by weight. This mixture is made from fertilizers that are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. If you've researched a sample of your garden soil, you'll be able to determine the ideal fertilizer ratio to help correct nutrient deficiencies in the soil.
Most people who like gardening can buy a blended fertilizer that fits their needs at a gardening or gardening supply store
Step 2. Mix urea with additional fertilizer to create a stable fertilizer mix
Urea supplies plants with nitrogen. However, other elements such as phosphorus and potassium are also important for plant health. Fertilizers that you can mix and store safely with urea are:
- Calcium cyanamide
- Potassium sulfate
- Potassium magnesium sulfate
Step 3. Mix urea with certain fertilizers to fertilize plants immediately
There are certain fertilizers that can be mixed with urea, but will lose their effectiveness after 2-3 days due to reactions that occur between the chemicals in the fertilizer. Fertilizers that fall into this group are:
- Chilean nitrate
- Ammonium sulfate
- Nitrogen magnesium
- Diamonnium phosphate
- Basic slag
- Phosphate stone
- Potassium mutation
Step 4. Prevent unwanted chemical reactions from damaging the crop
Some fertilizers will react with urea to form an unstable chemical reaction or turn the fertilizer mixture into completely useless. Never mix urea with the following fertilizers:
- Calcium nitrate
- Calcium ammonium nitrate
- Ammonium nitrate limestone
- Ammonium sulfate nitrate
- Nitropotas
- Potassium ammonium nitrate
- Superphosphate
- Triple superphosphate
Step 5. Mix urea with a fertilizer rich in phosphorus and potassium to make a balanced fertilizer
By following the reference list of fertilizers that are effective and not to be mixed with urea, choose sources of phosphorus and potassium to add to your fertilizer mix. These materials are widely available in plant or garden supply stores.
Add each fertilizer of your choice according to their respective weight ratios. Mix until evenly distributed. You can do this in a large bucket, wheelbarrow, or with a mechanical stirrer
Step 6. Spread the urea-based fertilizer evenly throughout the plant
Apply the fertilizer mixture as you would with urea alone, i.e. spread it evenly over the soil. After that, water and hoe the soil so that the fertilizer is mixed into it.
Urea is not very dense when compared to other fertilizers. If you are using a rotating machine to spread the urea-based fertilizer over a large area of the farm, keep the spacing below 15 m so that the fertilizer is spread evenly
Tips
- Always follow the instructions for use listed on the commercial fertilizer packaging label.
- This article discusses the ratio of fertilizer ratios. Do not confuse the ratio of fertilizer with fertilizer content. The fertilizer ratio will tell you - by weight - how much of a certain amount of fertilizer should be added to the fertilizer mixture that you want to make. Meanwhile, the fertilizer grade tells you how much of each individual element is in the fertilizer. To use “fertilizer content” as a determinant of “fertilizer ratio”, divide each number in the fertilizer content by the smallest of the three numbers.
Warning
- Too much nitrate in the soil can burn plants. Applying urea fertilizer to moisten the soil will prevent the plant from burning.
- Always store urea and ammonium nitrate separately.
