Cat Litter as bonsai soil

[jneal4k]

HELP!!!!I tried a 100% Clay Cat Litter Mix with soil in my Bonsai and it seems that it broke down somewhat ( I didn't test in water ) I mixed it in with new soil, repotted last night, will it be ok for now, I hate to stress my bonsai by repotting it again....some of the clay turned mushy....I am not sure what to do.......HELP !!!!!

[rainbowgardener]

You have to get it out of there. The cat litter is dried clay and is designed to break down and clump when it gets wet. It breaks down very fast when wet and turns into a big clay clump which will kill your tree.

The clay you are looking for, as in Turface, oil-dry, etc. is calcined clay, which has been fired.

[tomc]

Every permutation of kaolin product that was "supposed" to be an affordable soil amendment, was inadaquate to my need.

The total list of agricultural inert amendments that actually works are: Agricultural perlite, heat expanded shale, granite chicken grit, lava rock*.

Not every one of these will be on the shelf in every area. You are going to go to the livestock feed store and enquire. My local brand of feed is: Blue Seal, which does have a store finder for local stores. Your local brand may also have a 'finder'.

*Lava rock; finding bonsai sized gravel can be problematic.

[carino]

I use small pebbles used for fish tanks and have had good results. I also use "turface" the oil absorbent one that you can purchase at auto parts stores. There are other items I can use but my financial resources are very limited.

I don't believe the cat litter will harm your tree but, it could clog up your drainage. Good luck to you.

[imafan26]

The cheap cat litter is non clumping but the fine cat litter is clumping and can become cement. For bonsai media, I use different grades of crushed gravel and cinder. Cinder is fairly easy to crush to small sizes. I do not use peat moss for my plants because I water them every day and peat moss would hold too much water. I also prefer to use cement starters and unglazed pots rather than glazed pots. What you use really depends on your habits. I prefer a well drained mix in a breathable pot. Perlite, fine gravel, black cinder is usually what I use. I can buy gravel at the local cement tile and stone dealer and If I take my time and bring my larger sifter I can sift out the larger pea gravel pieces enough to fill a bag. Later I can use the finer mesh to sift them into different grades. I must admit I did once consider using aquarium gravel for the bonsai, but it is actually hard to find black cinder in larger pieces anymore so I can used most of the crushed lava rock without doing anything more than washing it out. I don't have any bonsai right now because my ficus got too big and kept excaping so I let it die and I sold my cascading juniper years ago. I have some desert rose that I could probably convert into bonsai, they look like good starters now, I just have to find the right pot for it and do a little root trimming to reduce the height. I have some rosemary topiary, but they are out growing their forms and the pots are too rootbound, I will have to change the style and root prune them or start over. I don't have the time or the sun space right now to give them the kind of attention they need.