Rapeseed fertilizer question

TreeBay

You can partially bury the fertilizer cakes, but I like to keep them at least halfway out of the soil so that they can dry just a bit between waterings. That, and having the sun's UV light on them will help to kill off mold.

You need to replace the organic fertilizer every 6-8 weeks. You can tell when the cakes begin to break down.

Now about the dogs, that can be a difficult problem. Burying the cake can help some but as Jerry noted they smell interesting, and crunch like doggy kibble, so it can encourage digging anyway. You might try putting a little cayenne pepper on the cakes, which will be irritating to the puppy if he tries to dig. Alternatively you could try to train him in your preferred way - like with a squirt gun and a strong voice, or whatever your obedience trainer recommends. He should probably be trained not to play around & in the bonsai anyway.

There are little plastic fertilizer covers available on the website that can be used to protect the fertilizer cake from insects and birds, and are somewhat protective against rodents, but not larger ones. They wouldn't be of much use against a puppy or a determined squirrel.

Sometimes, against really determined rodents I make a grille of hardware cloth - that's 1/4" spacing or so galvanized wire. I cut it to shape with tin snips. Cut a circle out for the trunk to poke through and cut a slit from the perimeter to the center hole so I can slip it on. Bend the grille apart, slip it on the tree and bend it back flat. Then you can drive some long wire "staples" into the soil or tie it down around the pot. That *might* work against a puppy until he gets a little bigger, but it is almost guaranteed to keep squirrels and rats out.

Thanks for your order, by the way!

Regards,

Matt

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