Uses of Household Ammonia

[CaptainCompostAL]

I was reading on the Nutri-Tech Solutions website how Arden Andersen recommends a few tblsp of household ammonia plus molasses as an extra nitrogen source in foliar/soil drench teas. He claims the carbon from either molasses or, the complex sugars in seaweed, help buffer and balance the ammonia so that it doesn't burn the plants' foliage:

http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/Interviews/Interviews1.htm

Has anyone else ever experimented with using ammonia in gardening, composting, or tea brewing applications?

[Mr. Clean]

:lol:

Cap'n,

When I think of using ammonia, I can't help but thinking of good ol' Jerry Baker who refers to it as (is it?) "lightning in a bottle". Jerry swears by (not at) it.

I haven't used ammonia for anything besides cleaning windows, and don't keep much of a supply on hand.

I'll await other's responses and experiences.

[CaptainCompostAL]

Thanks Mr. Clean!

[khwoz]

Could anyone tell me why to use ammonia and what kind? This sounds very interesting! What is commercial ammonia made of?

[CaptainCompostAL]

I found a couple of cheap, plain, $1.00 (2-quart bottles) of ammonia at a discount store the other day. I'm not sure, but I assume plain generic ammonia is ammonia, no matter where it really came from. Ammonia is a natural occuring substances that is produced alomg with nitrites and nitrates, from all the "greens" that we use in our aerobic composting piles.

I assume the extra ammonia in a "sweet" flavored compost tea recipe, allows the nitrogen food to stay on the plant's foliage and root system a little longer for microbes to digest it, than the quick leaching affect of nitrates from tea brewing or from our compost piles.

[khwoz]

Thanks Captain! For everyones benefit, I assume that lemon or other fragrances in ammonia is a no-no?

[CaptainCompostAL]

Yeah, I would think lemon and other scents would lean toward the pesticidal or herbicidal form of tea brewing... (LOL)

Not a good microbial or biostimulant additive...

[dragonfly]

Ammonia full strength from the bottle will kill fireants (I know from experience), and it will also kill vegetation in the surrounding area for at least a couple of years. Ammonia in a weak solution would probably be ok to use, though. I know that a few weeks ago, I added some cotton seed meal to areas of my garden to sit over Winter, and the ammonia smell is still pretty strong, so it will take awhile to cool off enough for planting in. Has anyone tried pouring diluted ammonia on the compost pile to see if it heats it up quickly? After my recent experience with the cotton seed meal, I'm planning to try just ammonia diluted in water for composting next year just to see.

[Enzyme11]

Household ammonia typically runs about 5% NH3, with a pH of about 11.5. Most/all of it is synthesized from petroleum/natural gas, and it is a weak base. The ammonia-like aroma from the compost pile with the cottonseed meal likely resulted from the deamination process in the same sense that the microbial breakdown of pet urine produces an ammonia smell. I don't think adding ammonia to the mix would harm much, although I'd prefer a more naturally-derived nitrogen source. The pH and the antimicrobial effect could be an issue in compost teas, so bear that in mind in deciding how much ammonia to add to them. As always, one shouldn't mix ammonia with chlorine unless one likes trips to the emergency room.

[CaptainCompostAL]

That's funny Enzyme11 !