Urea 45-0-0 ?

Hello,
I'm new to the site an to growing so I thought maybe someone could help me with a question I had. I recently went to a local greenhouse shop and much to my dismay they didn't really have much there as far as nutes and fertilizers. I ended up walking out with Espoma Quick Solution Urea 45-0-0. I'm currently growing in a soil medium I made using peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. My babies are about 3 weeks old and the 1st round leaves have browned an begun to fall off. I've used an extremely small amount the other day (about 1/2 Tsp diluted in 2 liters of water) and haven't seen any adverse effects as of yet. I'm kinda on a shoe string budget so at this point expensive nutes are kinda out of the question at least for a few more weeks. Has anyone used Urea before? Is this product OK to use?

Anyone out there that can help? I can't afford to kill these plants, isn't there anyone out there that knows about this stuff and whether I can use it or not? I know that this is an ingredient in many other fertilizers but is it OK to use it by itself as a fast acting nitrogen boost to plants? I recently read that it is broken down and taken in from the plant with the aid of microbes in the soil. If I'm using peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite are there even any microbes in my soil?
Please help this sorry noob gain his green thumb.

C'mon there has to be someone here that can help....please?

Hi there, I don't know anything about that product you purchased. That sounds like a shit ton of nitrogen to my understanding. I tried a grow in perlite, vermiculite, and warm castings. I ended up transplanting because it grew slower than everybody else. May not if you water it several times a day. SOunds like you live in the US. Check the hydrofarm website and they have a retailer locater. Maybe you can find something there. Goodluck

From Wikipedia:

In soil, urea hydrolyses back to ammonia and carbon dioxide. The ammonia is oxidized by bacteria in the soil to nitrate which can be absorbed by the plants.

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What this means is, unless you are using an organic based soil (ie. contains lots of organic debris and lots of bacteria, fungi, etc.) the plants won't be able to absorb nitrogen because the ammonia will not be converted to plant absorbable nitrates. In other words, this fertilizer seems to be better suited for outdoor gardening, where natural soil contains all the bacteria, etc. that are required to break down the ammonia to nitrates so that plants can absorb them.

I would recommend against using this product and get something with a much higher percentage of nitrates. Even miracle grow would be a much better choice for indoor soilless gandening (ie. peat, perlite, vermiculite), and you can purchase that at any walmart in the country.

mix it with diesel fuel and light it

wonderblunder & highpsi, Thank you both for the replies. I think my babies are starting to show signs of N deficiency. Not good but at least I know not to use the urea now. Thanks for the help.

Urea as in piss? Urine?

CrispyFried said:

Urea as in piss? Urine?

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No. Urea as in the ingredient that's in many fertilizers which is derived from urine. If you look in the ingredients of numerous fertilizers you will find urea is a common source of Nitrogen. I went to a terrible little greenhouse store and asked for a high N non-time release fert and that's what they had, wish I hadn't purchased it but hindsight is 20/20, at least I have something for my outdoor garden next spring.

If youre strapped for cash look up Blue Mountain Organics on eBay you can get a veg nute and bloom nute for like $15...

Patrick Bateman said:

If youre strapped for cash look up Blue Mountain Organics on eBay you can get a veg nute and bloom nute for like $15...

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Will do, thanks for the advice. Hopefully my plants can last the next week until I have some cash to get them what they need.
Perhaps I shouldn't have used a soiless medium and just went an used a good soil. I was going on the recommendation of a good grow video "Read, Set, Grow." Great video for any noobs out there like myself but perhaps going soiless isn't the best bet for a 1st timer.