I decided that the flowers in my Aerogarden had reached the point where they were fading out. So I emptied the hydroponic unit and started a batch of herbs. The pods were in place and the little domes over the top waiting for the seeds to sprout. This is the third or fourth time I’ve launched a batch of seedlings since we acquired Callie and Milo. They’d pretty much ignored the process each time. Yet the morning after planting, I noticed that someone (I’m scowling at you Milo) had nibbled the edges of the cilantro pod pulling part of the paper out from under the little dome. I figured if that was the worst, we’d be fine. The next morning I discovered all of the domes knocked free, the cilantro pod looked like it had been dug into, and the thyme pod had been pulled free completely and batted across the room. I was headed out for weekly grocery shopping anyway, so I looked for a “Keep the cats out of my aerogarden” solution. I found deer netting.
I thought this might help. I was very wrong. Deer netting is apparently a preferred cat toy.
Milo wanted to tug at it. Callie wanted to eat it.
I thought that even though they liked fiddling with the netting, it meant they would leave the little plant pods alone. Nope. When I sat down to write this post I discovered that they had reached through the netting and knocked half of the little domes off of the pods. So now I have a new solution.
The aerogarden will get to keep its box cover for a couple of weeks until the sprouts are large enough to remove the domes. At that point I’ll get to discover if the cats plan to also eat my plants this time around.
Reminds me of a story when my wife and I were first married. My mother had bought us a plan for our apartment. Unfortunately, our dachshund decided that it didn’t taste too bad so she started nibbling on it. Well, my parents decided to visit and we really didn’t want my mother seeing her damaged plant. So we asked our vet and she recommended covering it with hot pepper. So we did that and left for work the next morning. That evening upon returning from work we found the plant had been eaten down to ground level. So much for the “Dog’s won’t eat hot pepper” belief.
We have the same aerogarden. They are great. Our source of plant disruption is the toddler. Especially when the plants start to emerge.