How fast does urea convert to nitrate-nitrogen?
It depends on the environmental conditions. When soil conditions are favorable for microbial activity, in other words, warm, moist, proper pH and so forth, the conversion is quiet rapid. The process will begin within a few days under favorable conditions. In a band application the process may continue for a month or more. How does urea compare with ammonium nitrate? Urea contains about one-third more nitrogen, is less corrosive than ammonium nitrate and is less prone to caking. In addition, all the nitrogen is in the ammoniac form and, until nitrification occurs, it is less subject to leaching or denitrifiction than the nitrate portion of the ammonium nitrate. Is the nitrogen in urea different from nitrogen in “organic fertilizers” in terms of plant nutrition? No; the ammoniac nitrogen or nitrate nitrogen taken up by plants is chemically identical regardless of the source. Nitrate or ammonium that results from urea application is indistinguishable from the nitrate or ammonium that resu
