I use cottonseed meal to fertilize any acid loving plants as it is a natural acidifier and my dog has never bothered it. Then again, about the only thing he is interested in in the garden is the wildlife, so YMMV :-))

Thanks garden gal. Sounds like it's worth a shot! Maybe I will try it in the front yard first with my azaleas where the dogs don't have free reign and test their interest in it. I like that it's a soil acidifier too. Hopefully this one works out!

So bummed about the fresh alfalfa not working out. I can't believe I caught them eating it like chickens this weekend.

My neighbors dog dug out my pots ate the dirt that had bone meal in it - just fyi. Not sure all dogs would as she was selling the puppies and the poor dog got preggers a bit too often (they no longer do that).

Curious ... does anyone know how much of a soil acidifier cottonseed meal is? Thinking more about it, I actually already have acidic soil so maybe I shouldn't use it on my roses after all.

A simple and free "organic nitrogen source" that can't be dug out of the soil is human urine. Collect it in a can indoors, and then water it in, diluted to at least 1 in 10.

Lol. I don't know HighColdDesert. I have a feeling that if my dogs smell human urine, they would end up just peeing over it to mark their territory and they would pee (full strength) all over my roses. I'm probably going to leave that experiment to someone else.

I've used cottonseed meal for fifteen years and the late great Bonnie dog never mistook it for dog food.

To our sadness, she hated thunder and lightening and a really bad storm here happened and we never found her after that storm. (So bad that the nearest neighbors had their electric wall receptacles blown out of the walls by an especially close hit.)

"how much of a soil acidifier cottonseed meal is? "

Not much :-) It won't make any substantial changes to soil pH just being used as a fertilizer unless you apply by the truckload!!

If you don't have poor foliage color indicating a possible need for nitrogen applications maybe you don't have to buy and put on any of this stuff. And it would be better if you didn't over-fertilize.

Thanks everyone. Cottonseed meal may be a winner for my yard. I will test it out later this year.

Embothrium you're totally right... but I actually had my soil tested by a lab here in CA so I am not flying blind. I know my soil needs nitrogen. Luckily.. that's the only thing it needed! Everything else is off the charts (even though I have NEVER fertilized or composted in the past, just mulched). YAY clay (and mulch). ;)

So good news... I don't really need to fertilize. Just add nitrogen. Bad news... my dogs seem to love to dig and eat most organic nitrogen sources. Weirdos.

The least they could do is shed into my plants to add the nitrogen back in. But that's not going to happen.

Hopefully they won't eat cottonseed. Let's see what happens!

And StillAnn.. I am so sorry to hear about Bonnie.

Hey Cori how about a spray/ drench type of supplement? Like a kelp or fish product - not enough odor to attract the dogs and good stuff. My goofy guys are ok with the alfalfa, but any Tone product or Milorganite is doggy crack for them. They don't do anything if I spray fish emulsion though so that may be safe :)

Cattle are fed cottonseed meal.

my dogs eat everything except melon.

veggies, lettuce, they dig up potatoes and sun chokes and eat that.

Dang Josephine if cows like it my weirdo dogs may like it too. I'm going to have to try it cautiously. Thank you for the heads up. My dogs sound like they would be crazy friends with your dogs and go out to all you can eat buffets together. They don't eat most vegetables... but they do eat fruits (including melon). They even eat dirt. Just plain dirt. But they won't eat broccoli or lettuce.

Dingo I wish my dogs were as uninterested in fish and kelp as yours. If they even get a whiff of anything like that they will eat everything where the essence of that is. They will carry the mulch and dirt clods around in their mouths and bring them inside all over my light colored rugs. Because that's the best spot to eat mud I guess.

I still can't believe they mowed through my alfalfa. Who does that? Are they part goat?

Well. I guess the search continues.

So sorry, Cori Ann. What a hassle. I love dogs, but they can be a challenge.

Ok so that's pretty funny Cori Ann! We do have several spots in the yard the dogs like to claw up the dirt and eat it, but thankfully it's an outside activity!

CoriAnn, you have quail dogs. You know those crazy birds I have around here that eat everything that lands on the ground. I believe your dogs are related to my blasted quail. What happened to the tansy ground cover you were growing (I tried to grow it and the quail ate it)? Did your dogs eat that, too? Diane

Cori Ann, haven't tried broccoli on them. On BLT or salad nite they are lined up for lettuce. Grass cuttings became silage (fermented ) and they ate that.

i gave them frozen veggies when they were pups so now they eat their veggies first, mixed with their food.

jo

That's funny Diane. I have caught one of them nibbling at the tansy (lacy Phacelia) like its pet grass too.... but they haven't gone after it yet like they did the alfalfa.

Its getting big! No blooms yet, but it looks lush.

Cottonseed meal is a good fertilizer but cotton is one of the most toxic crops grown today. The things sprayed on cotton plants is bad stuff. And it's many different strong chemicals used together. I would not use it around pets.

BTW, it's completely legal to fry your food in cottonseed oil even though cotton is not regulated as a food crop and has stuff used on it that are restricted for food crops. Many fast food places use it. It's also popular as an inexpensive oil in snack foods and chips.

Hmmm. Well all this info is why I am so appreciative of these forums. Thanks everyone.

Diane... since you asked about it...here's a photo of how the Lacy Phacelia is doing in the ground near some roses.

It's the lush fern-y foliage to the right in the background. That Barbra Streisand bloom is such a tease. She grew another cane that is now shading my first bloom after defoliating in the winter so it's taking so long for that first bud to open! She's making me wait.

Here is a photo of the Lacy Phacelia I sprouted in the raised beds near some fruit trees (and a pencil). It's real happy. Thick and stocky. I fertilized the raised beds and the trees so that's why.

And here's a photo of it between some Icebergs. With one of my weirdo dogs in the background.

And a photo of it in pots near my raspberries and blueberries... with some bulbs, green onions, mint and thyme growing in there too. This is the area I catch one of my dogs eating usually. He likes to eat from this spot because it's moist from the fountain I think. Or maybe because it's near other herbs that give it flavor. Who knows. They eat dirt so I don't really consider them to have gourmet taste.

The Lacy Phacelia is doing well I guess and will end up being a pollinator magnet and then a nitrogen source in time once I chop it down. Since my dogs don't eat that (very much) growing that annually from seed may be one of my best options.

Why would anyone contemplate using cotton byproducts when one can use good pesticide and herbicide free, unmunchable manufactured nitrogen fertilizer is beyond me.. My go-to nitrogen fertilizer is a 50-50 mix of ammonium sulphate and coated urea with urease prohibitor, which contains about 33% N, but this is appropriate for my conditions. A warning about urea, keep it off seed beds (although the mix with ammonium sulphate neutralizes the effect somewhat). The above mix works best if incorporated and/or watered in as soon as it is applied.

Diane thank you so much. I like a variety in my bounty. :) And... Yes it's an annual.

Nik you do make a valid point.

It would be great if the Lacy Phacelia would be enough of a nitrogen source. Then I could grow my own!

Cori-Ann, my dogs love vegetables, tomatoes, and alfalfa too!

What worked for me with the alfalfa is volume. I put a ton (literally) out there and they were thrilled at first but then lost that "buried treasure" attitude and became way more ho-hum since it's always there now.

Now, like with any grass, they'll take a bite or two if they are in the mood, but now look for more exotic treats.

(Don't get me started on the story of the entire consumption of Madame IP, and then her replacement!)

Earthworm castings have never been interesting to them though.

My fertilizer info source says that soy bean meal is about 7% N & cottonseed meal is about 6% N so that might be a possible alternative. Don't know if it will be something that dogs like however.

Thanks! Wirosarian! What source do you use? That would be a really helpful book (if it's a book).

I found an online source that said that the lacy Phacelia is 4% nitrogen... so almost half... but still not terrible... so maybe that will be the green manure I just continue to grow here annually if my dirt eating, alfalfa eating, fruit eating dogs leave most of it alone.

It sounds like it would be safer to leave the cottonseeed meal out of my back yard so my dogs don't eat it... just in case... (because of the pesticides others referenced).

Secrets to Great Soil by Elizabeth Stell, a good reference for the gardener on soil, fertilizer, pH, etc

Oh... I've got that! Thank you so much. It does list a few nitrogen percentages, which is very helpful. It's a great book. Recommended to me by others on here.. maybe even you! Thank you again. ;)

I have been using Mills Magic and various Tones, usually right before a big rain. It's a time-consuming process since I have to pull back the mulch, scratch in the fertilizer thoroly and then replace the mulch. To keep the dogs off I lay empty flats (the plastic trays that six-packs of annuals come in). I still find soil disturbed here and there and guilty looking dogs with mustaches of dirt on their golden faces!

Am going to back off on the process this year by relying on compost, liquid feed and alfalfa tea instead. Most of my garden is established shrubs and OGR's and I want to see how they do on this regimen. After all I'm not growing for exhibition!

Yeah the more I think about it... I may just rely on earthworm castings like lavender lace and my own Lacy Phacelia for nitrogen. If my lupines and sweet peas end up growing well from seed this year I will add that too.

Trying to fight mischievous dogs is a losing battle!

Eating sticks, chewed up dirt clods and tennis ball bits all over my hubbys putting green... although I'm a mischievous wife because I'm leaving this mess for him to clean up! Strangely enough, they leave the golf balls alone.