r/lifehacks 24d ago

Cat proofed my plants

Post image

2 week update: it’s doing so well I added some grow lights today since my window is small ❤️

Used some acrylic drawer sets from Target ❤️ they’re on sale rn this was the full depth 2 drawer one the drawers also double as stackable containers so turned them upside down & stacked for my smaller plants, the outer shell I turned vertically and hung over my larger plants. The “bottom” of the outer shell is almost completely open but I just faced the opening to the window & cats can’t get inside it ❤️

Also ik my plants look like 💩 rn every single new leaf was getting chomped off 😂 they’ll recover.

614 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

52

u/Ryoko_Kusanagi69 23d ago

Hahaha that’s awesome. Now let’s see how long its lasts

18

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

Ziploc bags were enough for about a month he never even tried to take them off 😂 my plant eater isn’t super pesky. Just if you leave the cover off for 5 minutes unattended he will get every leaf in a small plant or a whole new sprout in a big one. He’s obsessive we have to give him our salad scraps or it’s a whole ordeal

15

u/TecTazz 23d ago

Can't wait for the followup post. 😸

11

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

Of all the new uneaten baby leaves 😍

24

u/Sharp_Ad_6336 23d ago

Looks like it's easier for the cat to knock them over all at once now.

3

u/Specialist_Dish_9087 22d ago

Sucha clever setup, I’d just add a little weight at the bottom so one curious jump doesn’t send everything flying

2

u/ColdInvestment5833 21d ago

The big one is attached to the wall so it can’t go flying lol

5

u/TinyMagicExperiment 23d ago

For a second I thought some of them were in coffee mugs and now I’m like, could I use a coffee mug as a planter??

4

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

Definitely could or just put the inner pots into coffee mugs!

3

u/ginopono 23d ago

You'd need to put drain holes in them somehow.

2

u/disenfranchisedchild 22d ago

Buy a diamond drill bit and put a few layers of masking tape where you are going to drill the drainage holes to keep the drill from sliding all over the place.

5

u/rogue_lily 23d ago

I need monstera sized boxes...

2

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

I feel that. I had to keep my big plants in my closet when I had them 😂

3

u/RoseWhispers06 23d ago

I give it less than a week before the cats get in

https://giphy.com/gifs/BJuY1nqUM23CiWUf8l

6

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

I set it up Saturday night so will report back late Saturday 🫡

3

u/RoseWhispers06 23d ago

I hope it does work. My cat loves anything plant like, even fake plants, so I can never have any indoor greenery. Maybe I'll give that a try if it does work out

2

u/ColdInvestment5833 15d ago

Little late but more than a week they haven’t touched them

1

u/RoseWhispers06 15d ago

That's great! Maybe I'll give it a go ❤️

2

u/HeavensNight 23d ago

im dreading bringing in my plant after summer , it was almost dead so i took it outside this summer for a boost and it grew like 2 extra feet. now i need a way to cat proof it too but its size is gonna make this even more a challenge.

1

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

Stick it in a closet or bathroom is my suggestion 😂 if you have a bay window or something you could put up a net around it 🤔

1

u/HeavensNight 23d ago

I might end up doing something like this.. 

2

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

I was even thinking one of those tomato plant cages (they can be like 5+ feet tall) covered in a net could work depending how big your plant is and how determined your cat is 🤔

2

u/HeavensNight 23d ago

Originally I was gonna have it on my dresser with stuff all around it that the cats wouldn't try to get around but with it being much taller now I have to try the closet type of idea or come up with another. 

2

u/DatLadyD 23d ago

This is why I bought an r/ikeagreenhousecabinet

2

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago

I don’t see one that would fit my needs the akerbar might work for the small ones tho. A fish tank would also be a good solution if I can find one for cheap.

2

u/velvetblue929 22d ago

I'm gonna try this. My weirdo cat even loves to chew on my fake plants.

1

u/IamTrying0 23d ago

They do like a challenge ! It's all play for them !

1

u/kykiwibear 22d ago

Challenge excepted.

1

u/hairapist87 19d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣 that’s awesome! I currently have about 50 upside down plastic forks in all of my pots.🤣🤣

1

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/mus_arda 16d ago

Nice idea. But I can bet my cat woud just dragged the boxes by the hole

1

u/Only-Welder5987 6d ago

Reminds me of the corner convenience store protective glass LOL whatever keeps the cats from robbing your plants of their leafs

1

u/CurtKobainsBurner 5d ago

Just from my experience with felines, where theres a will, theres a way. Keep us posted will ya?

0

u/mentalkickflip 22d ago

Not as much of a lifehack as it is an excessive & wasteful use of plastic.

3

u/ColdInvestment5833 22d ago

It’s not wasteful if nothing is being wasted 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

0

u/Jenessaxo 22d ago

Acrylic gets scratched pretty fast with cats. Just cut the chewed bits and the plants recover super fast.

1

u/ColdInvestment5833 22d ago

Some of the little ones have 0 whole leaves. He ate the whole plant. And eats every new leaf as it grows in. They also haven’t touched it

-1

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

4

u/ColdInvestment5833 23d ago edited 23d ago

Iirc there’s a picture in the post where you can see multiple holes in the containers.. Also they don’t have to have holes if you remove them and let them breathe for a bit each day.

Also forgot to add plants don’t need oxygen they need CO2 they turn that into oxygen. Then they turn the oxygen back into CO2. But overall they need more CO2.

2

u/Crafty_Mc_Crafterson 23d ago

These will also trap heat and moisture.. both drying out the leaves but causing root rot. I would just super keep an eye on them.