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megan907_gw

Ficus+cat urine!

20 years ago

While I was away on a 2-week vacation, my little lady feline decided to use the pot of my Ficus tree as her private litterbox...my housesitter never suspected! My once healthy and vibrant Ficus looked terrible! The pot absolutely reeked of urine, even after a day of fresh water flushing in the backyard! I decided to rinse my tree completely down to the roots because the concentration of urine was so strong in the soil...I washed the inside of the clay pot until I could no longer smell urine and repotted with fresh organic soil. I decided against any added nutrients at the time because the plant was under so much stress I thought the work of absorbing such would not be for the better. Leaves continued to yellow and drop at a rapid rate the following week. I watered lightly and, of course, added garden lime to neutralize. It has been a little over a month. Leaves are still dropping, but much less...seems as though the tree needs to drop ALL poisoned leaves before it is done...there are new buds often, but most seems to dry up and drop before they can unfold. Have I done the right thing? I have no plans of giving up, but is there anything else I should do or just be patient?

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