Urea Formaldehyde in Potting Mix

greenthumbomaha · April 6, 2012

One of the fertilizers in Majestic Earth potting mix (with the water crystals) is urea formaldehyde. I was told by a chemist the formaldehyde would probably bind with the urea but I'm still a little sketchy using it to pot up my toms. If anyone can post any research on this use of formaldehyde on vegetables or if we have any chemists in our midsts I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Doug9345 · April 7, 2012

Urea formaldehyde is a resin that is made by reacting Urea with formaldehyde. It is used as a slow release fertilizer. It is also used in a whole hoard of building products such as particle board as a binder and glue. How much unreacted formaldehyde is in it will depend on the quality control of the manufacture. It's not new technology and I think building material standards would be tight enough to pretty much eliminate formaldehyde in the fertilizer. What it does when it breaks down I don't know. Any other plus or minus discuss will parallel organic, non-organic discussions.

April 6, 2012	#1
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Urea Formaldehyde in Potting Mix One of the fertilizers in Majestic Earth potting mix (with the water crystals) is urea formaldehyde. I was told by a chemist the formaldehyde would probably bind with the urea but I'm still a little sketchy using it to pot up my toms. If anyone can post any research on this use of formaldehyde on vegetables or if we have any chemists in our midsts I would appreciate it. Thank you.

April 7, 2012	#2
Doug9345 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Durhamville,NY Posts: 2,706	Urea formaldehyde is a resin that is made by reacting Urea with formaldehyde. It is used as a slow release fertilizer. It is also used in a whole hoard of building products such as particle board as a binder and glue. How much unreacted formaldehyde is in it will depend on the quality control of the manufacture. It's not new technology and I think building material standards would be tight enough to pretty much eliminate formaldehyde in the fertilizer. What it does when it breaks down I don't know. Any other plus or minus discuss will parallel organic, non-organic discussions.