Fish Emulsion - Beware! by Bob Fisher What a great guest speaker we had for our TBS September meeting. I mean, how one person with no visual aids (no slides, overheads, etc.), could keep us enthralled for three plus hours is a testament to David Kreutz's knowledge and enthusiasm. Getting back to the subject at hand, ...during his discussion, David stated that part of his fertilizer program included fish emulsion. That comment brought back a horrific situation I had with fish emulsion. Normally, for most of my fertilizing I use 20-20-20 interspersed from time to time with 30-10-10 (for my evergreens). Many of the books I have read indicated the authors also used organic fertilizers as a nice change for their bonsai trees. So, one bright Sunday in June, I decided to give it a try. I diluted the emulsion according to the label instructions, and liberally applied it to all my bonsai trees. Everything appeared normal until I came home from work on Monday night and went out to the back yard to water my trees. To my horror, the place looked like a war zone . . . I mean, there were uprooted trees and pots everywhere, and while the larger trees were still on my shelves, the soil was strewn everywhere, exposing roots, etc. My wife, Val, is also into bonsai, so I called her out and the first thing she did was check her own trees, which she keeps on a separate shelf. Lo and behold, her trees were absolutely perfect. By now I am really thinking . . . how the h... can hers be fine, yet mine are strewn everywhere? Then it came to me, it must be the fish emulsion. I used the emulsion on Sunday, while Val continued to use the standard 20-20-20. As the two of us were pondering over this mess, I happened to look up into the cedar trees at the back of our yard, and there I found the bandits ­ a family of raccoons, Mommy, Daddy and three babies! While the manufacturers of fish emulsion mask the odour with what appears to be lemon scent and various herbs, the fish smell is still there, and these little bandits caught the scent, assumed that fish were buried in my bonsai soil, and proceeded to rip everything apart in an effort to find a free meal. Needless to say, I haven't used fish emulsion again. But if any of you bonsai club members out there have found a solution to the problem, let me know. Otherwise . . . beware!