How does pet urine affect a garden?
Question:My friend's dog pees all over a bean plant she has, and I feel weird about eating the beans. I say the waste travels through the roots and leaves to the beans. She says the plant filters out what it needs to. Are these beans OK to eat? (We only pick the ones up high, not the beans that actually come in contact with the urine.)
Answers:
They will be okay. Urine is mostly nitrogen, water, and salts which are used by the beans as a fertilizer. The plant will absorb the nutrients through hair roots on the roots of the plant which allow in only dissolved nutrients, not parasites. The urine is just free fertilizer for the plant and will increase yield not problems.
It is fine to eat. The urine increases the PH and kills most grasses. The beans are perfectly safe to eat, because the roots absorb only water and nutrients, not urine.
I wouldnt eat them, there could be parasites in them, since the dog peed all over them, they can and probably will get into the beans, dont eat them, just say you dont like beans or that you dont feel confortable eatting them, she will understand hopefully lol.
The beans are fine. just like anything else wash them and they will be ok. um Dogs by the way are not the only animal on earth and all the others pee too and to be nice give the advice of fencing it off to keep animals out...and natural fertilizer is made from poop!
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