# Urea availability?



## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Not sure where this question will get as many eyes but, does anyone know a national retailer that regularly stocks just straight urea?

I am finding lots of places (Southern States, feed and grains, farm supplies, etc.) that sell fertilizers with a # for N and then 0-0 (I.e., Southern States has a "46-0-0") but, NO ONE at ANY of these feed and grains or farm supplies can tell me whether those N particles are slow release or fast release. Alls I get are puzzled looks.

Hoping someone can point me to a bagged product carried by a national retailer that may be in my area so I can get my spoon feeding underway (we don't have any Menards in our area :-(


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

Potash Corp is what I got at Site One.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

46-0-0 is fast release.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Lawn Noob said:


> Potash Corp is what I got at Site One.


Thanks! There is a SiteOne near me although it's in a somewhat inconvenient location ... this is gonna be my backup! (I was just in there 4 days ago for some Shade Blend seed! :lol: )



Sinclair said:


> 46-0-0 is fast release.


Thanks! I ... did ... not ... know that! I've yet to visit the Southern States supply closest to me so looks like now I have an excuse! Thanks again! :thumbup:


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

440mag said:


> Not sure where this question will get as many eyes but, does anyone know a national retailer that regularly stocks just straight urea?


I'm not aware of a nationwide retailer that stocks straight urea (46-0-0) nationwide. It would be nice if there were one, though!



440mag said:


> I am finding lots of places (Southern States, feed and grains, farm supplies, etc.) that sell fertilizers with a # for N and then 0-0 (I.e., Southern States has a "46-0-0") but, NO ONE at ANY of these feed and grains or farm supplies can tell me whether those N particles are slow release or fast release. Alls I get are puzzled looks.





Sinclair said:


> 46-0-0 is fast release.


@Sinclair is correct that 46-0-0 practically must be "fast release" urea.

The reason for this is that "pure urea" has a chemical formula of CH4[/sub]N[sub]2[/sub]O. Going back to your high school chemistry class, the weight of a molecule of urea is the combined atomic weights of each of the constituent elements. If one works through the math, it works out that urea (CH[sub]4[/sub]N[sub]2[/sub]O) is 46.6% nitrogen by weight, resulting in the 46-0-0 labeling. (The N-P-K numbers aren't rounded off, but are "guaranteed minimums.")

Slow-release urea is urea which is coated with something or mixed with something in order to give the "slow release" effect. This necessarily means that something else is added to the fertilizer. The adding of another compound necessarily reduces the percentage of nitrogen in the resulting fertilizer, since what is added doesn't contain as much nitrogen as was in the urea (if any).

Examples of "slow release" urea include sulfur-coated urea (SCU) which is 39-0-0, XCU which is 41-0-0, and Duration CR which is 43-0-0, among others. Since something is added to coat the urea, the percentage of nitrogen always goes down, at least a little. If the coating could be made sufficiently thin and light, it may be possible to get a 46-0-0 slow-release urea, but I'm not aware of one that has been manufactured yet.

Note: The makeup of the compound is why ammonium sulfate is always 21-0-0, as well. Ammonium sulfate is (NH[sub]4[/sub])[sub]2[/sub]SO[sub]4 which calculates to being 21.2% nitrogen.


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## Bigfeather1 (Jun 11, 2019)

Kinda on the same topic. Is a liquid product available in farm country distributed by a Ag supplier ....30% N Sul. Does the sulfur slow the N release in liquid? Do you care to check my math? 12 gal per acre= .5per k? Thanks " Bear in the trees".


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

ken-n-nancy said:


> ...Going back to your high school chemistry class, ...


@ken-n-nancy Wow, THANK YOU! You saved me stopping off at a farm supply just minutes from the house to pickup 37-0-0 (which is what I used last year, not knowing and getting deer-in-headlight looks from even the senior most managers there) so I am gladly driving the extra 20 mins or so to ten Southern States to get the 46-0-0!!! :thumbup:

(I am half embarrassed half blushed to admit I skipped chemistry classes. I can't even remember her name now, 40 years later but, at that time, I'd have sworn we were both learning more than we ever could've in class! :lol:

I have got to commit your tutorial to memory - I am sure a ton of other folks desiring to start Fall spoon feedings are asking the same questions! :thumbup:

@Bigfeather1 I am clueless as to the answer to your question but, while we're waiting for someone who knows that answer, it reminds me of a product I came across at our local Tractor Supply yesterday (Looking for the DiseaseEx on clearance but, I was a day late and dollar short for that "Hot Buy" :roll:

Thinking about trying 6oz / 1,000 sf next season ... Wondering if this is a decent price or, not?


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Dupe.


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## jeffman2 (Apr 8, 2019)

I bought a 50lb bag of Urea at agway. Check to see if there is one near you.


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## Mardel74 (Aug 16, 2020)

I had hard time; trying to get urea finally a found a place call SiteOne with multiple locations they have it for $30 I was ready to go get it :and I found another place after calling nutrien ag solutions (nation wide) and they send me to a store where I got a 50 bag for $15.


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Mardel74 said:


> I had hard time; trying to get urea finally a found a place call SiteOne with multiple locations they have it for $30 I was ready to go get it :and I found another place after calling nutrien ag solutions (nation wide) and they send me to a store where I got a 50 bag for $15.


Which store?


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## Mardel74 (Aug 16, 2020)

learningeveryday said:


> Mardel74 said:
> 
> 
> > I had hard time; trying to get urea finally a found a place call SiteOne with multiple locations they have it for $30 I was ready to go get it :and I found another place after calling nutrien ag solutions (nation wide) and they send me to a store where I got a 50 bag for $15.
> ...


Farmers and planters too I call nutrien which has an store on the same street and they send me there .


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

jeffman2 said:


> I bought a 50lb bag of Urea at agway. Check to see if there is one near you.


Thanks! Checking now but coming up empty here in WNC :-/

On the plus side the weather sure is cooperating here of late, big time! :thumbup:


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

440mag said:


> @ken-n-nancy Wow, THANK YOU! You saved me stopping off at a farm supply just minutes from the house to pickup 37-0-0 (which is what I used last year, not knowing and getting deer-in-headlight looks from even the senior most managers there) so I am gladly driving the extra 20 mins or so to ten Southern States to get the 46-0-0!!! :thumbup:


Just wanted to mention that the takeaway from my earlier post should be that if a fertilizer is labeled as 46-0-0, it pretty much got to be fast release urea.

If other fillers or macronutrients are added, it is fully possible that fertilizers with a lower percentage of nitrogen could still be entirely fast release nitrogen.

Also, even if a fertilizer has some slow release content in it, granular fertilizers are a mix of fast-release and slow-release. The label should indicate the amount of slow release content with a sentence of the form, "Contains _x_% slowly available Nitrogen from ..." Just because a product has some slow release nitrogen, it may still be mostly fast release.



440mag said:


> (I am half embarrassed half blushed to admit I skipped chemistry classes. I can't even remember her name now, 40 years later but, at that time, I'd have sworn we were both learning more than we ever could've in class! :lol:


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## 01Bullitt (Aug 31, 2020)

440mag said:


> jeffman2 said:
> 
> 
> > I bought a 50lb bag of Urea at agway. Check to see if there is one near you.
> ...


Southern States and Agway are basically the same store. Southern States bought the Agway name and their warehouses in 1999.


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## Kiza (Oct 30, 2019)

If you're getting straight up 46-0-0 urea, then it's fast release nitrogen. If you're getting urea that is coated (usually a polymer), then typically, those are slow release. Don't think urea = always fast release. Read the bag.


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## mac_mellow (Jul 30, 2020)

@Sinclair is correct that 46-0-0 practically must be "fast release" urea.

The reason for this is that "pure urea" has a chemical formula of CH4[/sub]N[sub]2[/sub]O. Going back to your high school chemistry class, the weight of a molecule of urea is the combined atomic weights of each of the constituent elements. If one works through the math, it works out that urea (CH[sub]4[/sub]N[sub]2[/sub]O) is 46.6% nitrogen by weight, resulting in the 46-0-0 labeling. (The N-P-K numbers aren't rounded off, but are "guaranteed minimums.")

Slow-release urea is urea which is coated with something or mixed with something in order to give the "slow release" effect. This necessarily means that something else is added to the fertilizer. The adding of another compound necessarily reduces the percentage of nitrogen in the resulting fertilizer, since what is added doesn't contain as much nitrogen as was in the urea (if any).

Examples of "slow release" urea include sulfur-coated urea (SCU) which is 39-0-0, XCU which is 41-0-0, and Duration CR which is 43-0-0, among others. Since something is added to coat the urea, the percentage of nitrogen always goes down, at least a little. If the coating could be made sufficiently thin and light, it may be possible to get a 46-0-0 slow-release urea, but I'm not aware of one that has been manufactured yet.

Note: The makeup of the compound is why ammonium sulfate is always 21-0-0, as well. Ammonium sulfate is (NH[sub]4[/sub])[sub]2[/sub]SO[sub]4 which calculates to being 21.2% nitrogen.
[/quote]

LOVE THIS!!! thanks for the lesson.


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## mac_mellow (Jul 30, 2020)

ken-n-nancy said:


> @Sinclair is correct that 46-0-0 practically must be "fast release" urea.


LOVE THIS!!! thanks for the chemistry lesson @ken-n-nancy .


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Just want to come back and say a hearty and sincere, THANK YOU, AGAIN - it just so happens that when I went into the Southern States closest got me I wound up running into the young man with whom I'd talked by phone when I called ahead and who told me: "I don't know if we have urea but, we have 46-0-0" and, as I was relating the info from this thread (which he appreciated!) he happened to look down at the bottom of the bag and commented, "Oh, oh yeah, it DOES say, 'granulized urea' right here, on the lower corner!"

PS - I was amazed at how fast this stuff breaks down! I dropped a couple granules on the bone dry brick patio on a low - no humidity afternoon and when I came back after spreading (approx 1hr + later) where each granule had been there was a small wet spot - it appeared as if each granule had simply melted!

PSS - my lawn is absolutely loving this stuff, spoon feeding 25lbs (1/2 50lb bag) across roughly 28,000sf with Lesco broadcast spreader on setting # 9. It's coming out of the spreader so lightly it's a great workout walking 28k sf of hills and wondering if any difference is being made but, a couple days later and, "Wow!" No questions about it!


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

440mag said:


> Just want to come back and say a hearty and sincere, THANK YOU, AGAIN ... "I don't know if we have urea but, we have 46-0-0" ...
> 
> It's coming out of the spreader so lightly it's a great workout walking 28k sf of hills and wondering if any difference is being made but, a couple days later and, "Wow!" No questions about it!


Glad to hear that you found some 46-0-0, and that your lawn loves it!


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