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old cat's poo in veg patch

(38 Posts)
cherwell3 Mon 20-Jul-15 16:57:41

I have found a white chalky substance in my veg patch, and when I took it to a local garden centre they identified it as cat's poo. Its obviously old and I wondered how it will affect the plants. There is currently a victoria plum tee and some rhubarb in the plot as I have taken out everything else, neither of these is flourishing, but the rhubarb may need dividing, and I had a good crop from the plum tree last year although there don't seem many this - I think this is common for plum trees.
Does anyone know if there is a way to neutralise this stuff,so it not affect any future planting. It is unrealistic to remove it.

rosesarered Mon 20-Jul-15 17:01:16

Why unrealistic to move it? anyway, poo is poo and will not damage any plants.

Teetime Mon 20-Jul-15 17:44:13

Dh was sick to death and sick to the stomach of clearing our neighbours' cat poo from front and back gardens on a daily basis. Since he installed two 'silent' sonic devices available from Amazon magic - no cat poo.

tanith Mon 20-Jul-15 17:46:03

old cat poo won't harm your plants its not nice but not damaging to plants.

Penstemmon Mon 20-Jul-15 17:53:39

I net my veg patch when I have just planted otherwise it all gets dug up by cats as well as pooped on! I remove the poop with a trowel and dig it in at the back of the flower bed. Sprinkle orange/satusma /grapefruit peel around..that puts them off!

Ana Mon 20-Jul-15 18:14:27

Or get some of that Silent Roar lion dung fertiliser. Keeps the cats away, but also puts anyone else off visiting your garden! hmm

loopylou Mon 20-Jul-15 18:25:42

Garlic granules work wonders as does a strategically-used hosepipe grin

merlotgran Mon 20-Jul-15 18:30:40

I bet they loved you at the garden centre hmm

loopylou Mon 20-Jul-15 18:36:49

It reminds me of MIL stomping into the garden centre and having loudly complained, on a very busy Saturday morning, that their plants had 'thousands of snails eggs' and she'd spent hours picking them out and here was the proof.
She was politely informed that 'Madam, that is slow release fertiliser'.......

I was told about this by three different friends who witnessed her rant!

Anne58 Mon 20-Jul-15 21:13:04

How do you know that it was poo from an old cat? confused

janerowena Mon 20-Jul-15 21:57:02

I'm afraid the odd cat poo is a fact of life, Obviously it will prevent the plant nearest to it from growing properly, but ants tend to eat them pretty quickly, I am surprised you managed to have one old enough to go white as the ants are usually pretty quick off the mark. I managed to keep cats off my veg garden by covering each row with a length of wire mesh, which also keeps the pigeons off. Once the plants get big enough and cover all the soil, the cats stay away on the whole. The problem has been completely solved this year, by having raised beds. They haven't been inclined to use those at all. We have no cats, but one neighbour has three, the other has two and there are various others all looking for fresh territory. As I also have fox poo and hedgehog poo to contend with, to say nothing of goose and chicken poo and pigeon poo, the odd bit of cat poo in exchange for their disposing of my mice seems a small price to pay - except I do wish they wouldn't leave them right on my path to my outside freezer for me to tread on in the dark!

janerowena Mon 20-Jul-15 21:57:24

Phoenix... grin

Anya Mon 20-Jul-15 22:50:15

Teetime I have strategically placed silent sonic cat scarers in my garden too. I had the same pair for years now and they're still going strong. They also flash.

I can't hear them but the GC and other chukdren/teenagers can.

No cats anymore smile

janerowena Mon 20-Jul-15 22:52:22

I wonder if I had dodgy ones - mine didn't work on them at all. At one time a cat was pooing on my doorstep every day, which was why I bought them.

Anya Mon 20-Jul-15 23:04:36

Possibly, but there's a complicated bit (on mine anyway) about turning the sound right off then in again if you want to readjust the level. Apparently they don't work if I just turn them up or down.

Try testing them with a small child (age 7-8 works best as they are still young enough to hear them but sensible enough to judge the sound levels)

Anya Mon 20-Jul-15 23:05:07

in again on again

Anya Mon 20-Jul-15 23:07:02

PS it's quite funny watching young passers by as one of the cat scarers faces the road. When it's triggered you can see them looking around for the noise source. It's even funnier if an adult is with them who can't hear it!!

Alea Tue 21-Jul-15 00:08:26

I took this as a simple statement until I saw the apostrophe.
Old cats poo in the veg patch
Old dogs prefer to use the lawn
C'est la vie!
(And old gits DH gets up several times in the night . But that is probably TMI )

thatbags Tue 21-Jul-15 08:54:07

Natural fertiliser. Why worry? If I didn't want it on a particular spot of garden I'd just chuck it on a compost heap.

We mostly get roe deer droppings now. I just leave them where they are and they disappear into the ground in due course. I made very good compost when we had chickens.

Alea Tue 21-Jul-15 08:57:03

Is one difference though that poo from herbivores (e.g. horses) can be excellent fertiliser, whereas cat poo and dog turds are from carnivores and so quite different?

thatbags Tue 21-Jul-15 09:05:05

Yes, but a bit of it in compost shouldn't be a problem. Chickens are omnivores so their shit is too strong to put straight on beds, but its strength means that it is a great compost activator.

An alternative approach, if one doesn't want it in one's compost is to bury it. Worms and other beasties will then deal with it out of sight.

annodomini Tue 21-Jul-15 10:12:36

It could well be faeces from an old cat. When mine got older, they became more negligent about burying the evidence. Younger cats usually cover it over.

ninathenana Tue 21-Jul-15 13:40:29

DH would love to find a way to stop the foxes pooing in the middle of the lawn.
We also get cat poo in the flowerbeds, can't complain about that though, it's our cat grin

cherwell3 Tue 21-Jul-15 15:46:51

Thanks for all the comments. They have all been helpful, and made me realise that it is not such a big deal, and perfectly manageable.

grannyjack Tue 21-Jul-15 16:46:29

I have 2 cats & before I sow my veg patch I water it with a diluted solution of Jeyes Fluid. Keeps them off & a bit of sterilisation as well. I used to live on a dog walk route & once a week watered the pavement outside with diluted Jeyes Fluid & dogs weren't interested in fouling there.
PS - I have no investment in this company!