I would recommend that you bury the cat into the ground and plant the tree on top of it. There is no point in putting both into a planter and it will most likely kill the tree if you want the tree to symbolize the whole life-comes-from-death circle of life thing. I'm sorry to hear about the cat, too.

>>2092000
I would, problem is this property is rented. So not only am I not really allowed to, I can't really take the tree with me.

I was skeptical that it would work. Or, it would, I'd probably just need a huge fucking pot.

You could always have the cat cremated and use the ashes in the dirt. Bit more expensive but you can use a smaller pot, making it easier to take with you

>>2091992
As long as you never let the pot outside.

Why do people talk out their ass so much on the Internet? It will not fucking kill the tree. What the fuck is wrong with you? Go ahead and put the cat's body in the planter. Works fine, especially with such a light body weight. Make sure there is at least, oh, 8" of soil at the bottom of the pot since there will be fluids that need to be absorbed. 8" of soil between the body and the wall of the pot and more like 12" of soil on top. That 12" of soil can include the root ball of the dwarf maple.

I've buried dead critters in flower pots many times.

I'm sorry about your kitty.

>>2092047
Tbqh the reason I said that it would kill the tree is because most likely there will not be the correct decomposers in the soil. If the cat isn't yet dessicated, it's gonna smell a lot if and when it starts to rot. Potting soil usually does not contain a lot of bacterium that the forest floor would have. When the gases escape from the body, there is going to be pockets of gas in the soil. Usually roots do not like being planted into a micture where there are gas pockets. That would be the thing to kil lthe tree, not the nutrients released from the cat. I'm not sure however if the cat could be broken down into nutrients even if potting soil is used...

>>2092023
Hey fuck you I keep all my tree planters outside and never had a problem

>>2092047
I did a lot of research (i.e. Googling) on this subject. Couldn't find a whole lot of info.

>It will not fucking kill the tree
I saw some people saying the toxins released from the body will fuck the tree.

The thing is if I had the tree in the ground, the volume of dirt relative to the body would be massive. In a planter? The body would take up a significant amount of volume, or at least I would think so.

I found forum posts where people planted on top of buried pets, with varying levels of success. I didn't find any anecdotes of burying a larger pet in a planter. Some people said they had successfully buried gerbils, rats, in potted plant soil.

Largest planters I can find at e.g. Home Depot are about 17" tall at the most although about 2ft wide. At that high, feels like kitty would be sandwiched in between 5" layers of dirt. I was hoping to find something that was 2x2x2ft, but I can't find shit. Cat died on Tuesday so I need to do something fast before her corpse really starts to get nasty.

I have read that using hydrated lime around the body will help with odor and keeping predators away.

>>2092114
This was my concern as well. I was told lime might help make the decomposition less toxic as well as help anaerobic bacteria break down the corpse.

I also was wondering if introducing a few earth worms would help the decomposition go more smoothly, since they are natural soil aerators if I'm not mistaken.

I'm just afraid I'll set this up and a week or two later I have this pot that reeks. I guess it's OK as long as neighbors don't smell it.

>>2092021
I might go this route, although it's not my favorite because I feel like most of the cat has already been consumed by flames, it's just a little less circle-of-life-y but might be my best option.

Try a nursery for larger pots. And Craigslist.

Truly, a 3.5 pound corpse will not kill the tree.

Also, you can put the body in the freezer to buy you more time.

BTDT with the whole thing, anon. The whole thing. Larger pot, freezer, tree on top.

Don't use potting soil under the root ball of whatever you end up using. Go scrape together some humus (not hummus!) and topsoil from the woods. You can top off with potting soil. In fact, that is preferred because it won't sprout a bunch of weeds in the pot.

>>2092223
Approximate recommended pot size?

I'm wondering if 22" circumference and 17" height wont work... If her body isn't still rock hard and I can coerce it into a little morph ball like she used to sleep, and just sort of pack her in there...

I'll keep looking though. There's a garden center in the area I can check out.

Freezer space is minimal. I'm looking to have her buried in the pot this weekend, even if that means planting after the fact.

Introducing earth worms to soil -- good idea?

>>2092233
Earthworms won't hurt but also at this stage of decomposition they won't help either. It's the micro-organisms found in "wild" dirt that will be doing the heavy lifting.

Also, if aesthetics aren't a big issue, you can get huge plastic planter pots at nursery - particularly those that sell potted trees. Phone around and ask if they have one you can buy. If you want to play the pity card, that might help you get your hands on one... not to get one cheap or free, but because they re-use the pots themselves and are sometimes reluctant to part with them, even for money. Tell them you need it to bury your small pet in, since you are living in a rental. Some places will give you one, but some places won't even sell them. But it's worth trying, since those pots are everything you need and nothing you don't.

2 x 2 would work but it's really the depth you need more than the width. 18" wide should be fine if, like you said, you curl her up. (I'm really sorry about your kitty).

I hate to say it but, if kitty died on Tuesday, she's going to start, uh, leaking. She really should go in the freezer if you can manage it. That's why you need a good amount of soil under the body. Because of the fluids.

>>2092240
Yuck. Right now she's in a cardboard box inside of a plastic bag. It was pretty cool around 30-40F on her deathday so the garage in itself was somewhat of a fridge, but since then it's git 50s-70s. I'd hate for it to be the summer right now. I don't even want to open the bag because I feel like it's going to smell horrible, or that flies have already found their way in.

>>2092233
Wait, 22" circumference or 22" diameter?

17" high is pushing it. Might not be tall enough to have enough absorption under the body and also enough "cap" on top to filter the odorous gasses.

>>2092241
A plastic bag is about the worst thing a body could be in. Yeah, you might get a bit of a smell at this point when you open the bag. Hey, can you get your hands on dry ice???? Or even just some bags of ice from the quickie-mart. That will help a lot.

>>2092240
As far as container aesthetics, I would hope that one day I will own property and be able to transplant the tree to my own yard... I don't know how long it would take for my kitty to become just a skelton.

>>2092242
22" diameter.

>>2092243
Why is it the worst?

When I think about it...We do have an unused cooler...

>>2092244
Okay, so just pot integrity and it being able to hold up to being transported. Yeah, call around to nurserys for a large black plastic utility pot from a tree or large shrub. Maybe even call landscapers. Craigslist sometimes has them too.

If you put wild dirt in the pot, with the body, you'll probably have just a skeleton within 8 months or so. But it depends on the moisture of the soil. Needs some moisture but not too soggy, for optimum rate of decay.

>>2092242
http://www.homedepot.com/p/22-in-x-17-5-in-Grey-Stone-Wash-HDR-Julie-Planter-HDR-033776/206303742 here's what I'm looking at. So at best that's like an 8" base and an 8" cap, with the cat sandwiched right in the middle.

I tried to find taller/wider. If the have them, they're not listed on their website.

>>2092246
Because it traps the gasses inside that speed decomposition (like ripening fruit in a bag, sorry) and also the gasses don't get to dissipate into the air at the same rate they are generated, when they will be less-noticeable. Instead, they are trapped and build up in the bag until you open it. Then - stink. 22" diameter is good. But the 17" height is not quite enough.

Hey, worst-case-scenario, find a plastic barrel/drum and drill drain holes in the bottom.

Lots of places have plastic barrels for sale. You might have to saw the top off, but they are very strong and quite enough size for the task at hand. You could put as much dirt as you can find into it and you wouldn't even need to do it all at once. Put 8" in the bottom, add the body, put 6-8" on top for the first few days. Then, as you have time/money, keep adding soil on top until you have about 12" on top.

>>2092256
Ah OK. I thought it was a good idea because it would minimize exposure to the open air and slow decomposition. I'm just a semi-educated dude making shit up as I go along.

I'll keep looking for an adequate vessel, hopefully I find something soon.

Just called the garden center explaining that i needed a large planter or container for a dwarf tree and the lady seemed kind of clueless. Might drive out there and see what they actually have.

>>2092256
How about this question. 17" is too short, what diameter would you feel is too narrow?

I see some more expensive planters like this: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/slant-tall-planter/s105437 I'm...kind of OK with the price point... It seems to be plenty tall but narrower. Don't tree roots like to sprawl out horizontally?

I've never planted a tree to be honest.

>>2092260
Well, odors and liquids aren't going to escape though the plastic side of the pot, so I would think that your width would be constrained by the canopy (or future canopy) of the tree you plant on top. I think most trees want their roots to spread horizontally to the "drip line". That is, the roots should spread as wide as the tree's branches do.

>>2092260
If you aren't completely devoted to the idea of planting a tree, you could just keep planting cheerful annuals on top of the pot. Whatever's currently in bloom and attractive at the nursery. When those blooms are spent, dig up the plant and chuck it into the compost and put a new cheap, cheerful plant on top. Knowing all the while that your pet is planted far enough down in the pot that the shallow roots of these transplanted annuals aren't reaching deep enough to feed on the body and maybe preventing you from forming an unnecessary attachment to what is essentially a disposable plant.

>>2092266
Huh, but the whole point is to feed on her body. But surely the roots don't actually consume her actual body? If I intend to throw away the plant, then I might as well just put her body out with the trash.

You're right in that it doesn't need to be a tree, I just really wanted a tree I guess. I guess any attractive perennial plant for zone 6a will suffice.

File: Naamloos-1[1].png (20 KB, 200x200) Image search: [Google]

20 KB, 200x200

>>2092023
>As long as you never let the pot outside.

>>2092276
Trees don't actually feed from soil except for water and some trace minerals.
You'll just be feeding some bacteria, worms and maggots.

>>2092295
>Trees don't actually feed from soil except for water and some trace minerals.
Well...yeah...is that not feeding from the soil? If I'm not mistaken, there's actually a shit-ton of micro and macro nutrients that plants need to get from the soil.

>You'll just be feeding some bacteria, worms and maggots.
Hopefully. Don't these organisms in turn perform other functions in their life cycle that lead to the eventual formation of usable fertilizers that plants eventually consume?

>>2092264
I'm thinking I'm going to use a 20 or 32 gallon trash can.

>>2092312
Stuff like carbohydrates and proteins we need to consume they can make themselves. What they get from the soil is just our equivalent of vitamins and minerals. And water.

>>2092276
Sorry, I wasn't on the same page about nourishing the soil with the decomposed body. The plant does indirectly benefit from the body, after the soil microbes break it down. The roots don't do the actual decomposing but they feed on the nutrients from the body just the same.

The trash can sounds like a good idea. Drill drain holes so the soil doesn't get waterlogged. Soil that is too wet will prevent the proper composting of the body and it will get all gross.

One word of caution if you intend to go get wild soil. Make sure you don't scoop up old charcoal or other stuff from a campfire or burn pile. The wood ash will react with whatever fat is in the body and make SOAP, which will then take forever and ever to decompose. A friend of mine exhumed a half-soap cat once, when she was expecting a skeleton.

>>2092339
That's all I really want, for a piece of her to be part of the tree. Plus I want a pretty tree.

>>2092353
Well, I guess maybe don't set the root ball directly on top of the body. Put a buffer of 8" or so above the body. Most of the anaerobic stuff should die down by the time the tree puts its roots into the area where the body is.

>>2092223

> scrape together some humus (not hummus!)

this amuses me far too much.

Some raccoon is going to dig it up and have dinner. I hate cats and cat owners, so go ahead and do it.

>>2093772
Actually I didn't have the balls to do it. She is being cremated and her ashes will be put in the soil. Then I can use a normal planting pot (or a smart pot) instead of a trash can.

It would have been an interesting experiment, though.