the bentonite product “wetta soil and garden” has been great at improving my silty soil. today though, whilst extending a garden bed, i happened by a cat litter product in Coles. It was a Coles brand cat litter, and stated on the bag that it’s 100% natural clay, and can be disposed of in the garden to improve soil. So i stopped short of Bunnings and bought that, by-passed using the product as actual cat litter (as i don’t have a cat), and dug it through the soil that was beneath the excavated turf. Added some other goodies and compost.
Wondering if anyone else is using cat litter for their garden soil, and also if anyone knows exactly which kind of clay this is. it was under $5 for 15 litres of the cat litter, which i used in about 1 square metre of soil.

if anyone knows exactly which kind of clay this is.
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I’m not sure, they used to state the type of clay on the bag…is it the pink stuff? I believe they used to produce it at Duaringa, east of here…the roofs of the houses around the factory were pink, but I believe the factory no longer functions…

Isn’t bentonite the stuff they line dams with, to stop them from leaking?

aquarium said:

Wondering if anyone else is using cat litter for their garden soil, and also if anyone knows exactly which kind of clay this is. it was under $5 for 15 litres of the cat litter, which i used in about 1 square metre of soil.

think you might be onto something there aquarium

http://www.worldwise.com/catboxlitter.html said:

Clay. The first commercial cat litter, and still the most common and widely available today, was introduced in 1947. Made from natural clay, extruded into pellets and dried, it is sold just plain and unscented, or with additives such as baking soda, chlorophyll fresheners, alfalfa, and essential oils.

In 1984 it was discovered that when cats urinated in a particular type of clay, sodium bentonite, the clay would form a clump, which was easier to remove from the litter box. This product became even more popular than the original clay pellets and today 90% of all litter sold is made from clay.

Dinetta said:

if anyone knows exactly which kind of clay this is.
=====================================

I’m not sure, they used to state the type of clay on the bag…is it the pink stuff? I believe they used to produce it at Duaringa, east of here…the roofs of the houses around the factory were pink, but I believe the factory no longer functions…

Isn’t bentonite the stuff they line dams with, to stop them from leaking?

i think the pink stuff you mean was/is used in some kitty litter…and it’s porous.
this stuff is a brown, fairly hard clay…until water is added and then it falls apart into small particles.

regarding bentonite…yes it is used to line dams and ponds etc…and it’s very effective at improving sandy and silty soil’s wetting and water holding capacity. and also helps to hold nutrients for the roots. it’s a clay of volcanic origin, with some local (australian) natural deposits. unlike the (usual) clay which is not very good for plant roots as it holds onto the water very tightly; bentonite holds water but roots have easy access to the water. Arumpo is the local miner of the raw material, and has some writeup on it here http://www.arumpobentonite.com.au/html/products.html

I haven’t been able to buy it for a while, but I used to buy the kitty litter made from alfalfa. This was just the thing to put in the bottom of the kitchen compost tidy. Sometimes I would layer the scraps in the tidy with the alfalfa. It was a great deodorant, and helped the compost in the bin cook down…

Sometimes I use the sweepings from the pony’s hay…but this isn’t about alfalfa kitty litter is it???

oooh yuck they add it to stock feeds!!

regarding bentonite…yes it is used to line dams and ponds etc…and it’s very effective at improving sandy and silty soil’s wetting and water holding capacity. and also helps to hold nutrients for the roots. it’s a clay of volcanic origin, with some local (australian) natural deposits. unlike the (usual) clay which is not very good for plant roots as it holds onto the water very tightly; bentonite holds water but roots have easy access to the water

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My goodness I’m on a learning curve tonight!

Dinetta said:

oooh yuck they add it to stock feeds!!

yep…contains minerals. if you want an even better stock feed “fortifier”, then azomite is an even better product.

When the drought was really bad, some lot feeders used to mix molasses (and I guess, supplements) with sawdust…the cattle ate it apparently…

aquarium, did you see my post about how clumping clay cat litters are sodium bentonite?

Dinetta said:

When the drought was really bad, some lot feeders used to mix molasses (and I guess, supplements) with sawdust…the cattle ate it apparently…

i’ve put some azomite in duck/chicken/rabbit feed recently, only very small amounts…and already i’ve noticed they’ve plumped up a bit.

bluegreen said:

aquarium, did you see my post about how clumping clay cat litters are sodium bentonite?

yes….thank you BG…i’m hoping to confirm that that’s indeed what i used…which would make further purchases of bentonite much cheaper than the “wetta soil and garden” product. is there a test i can carry out by the moonlight? ;)

aquarium said:

is there a test i can carry out by the moonlight? ;)

lol!

on yet another tangent….i’m running out of steam…and cigarette packet is finished…
since i bought by mailorder a product (eco-rose and some other thing) from Organic Crop Protectants…i’ve just received another newsletter…good stuff about environment/gardening….www.ocp.com.au is their website

Dinetta said:

I haven’t been able to buy it for a while, but I used to buy the kitty litter made from alfalfa. This was just the thing to put in the bottom of the kitchen compost tidy. Sometimes I would layer the scraps in the tidy with the alfalfa. It was a great deodorant, and helped the compost in the bin cook down…

Sometimes I use the sweepings from the pony’s hay…but this isn’t about alfalfa kitty litter is it???

Someone told me ages ago that lucerne pony pellets are cheaper.

interesting facts about cat litter on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_litter
…including the bit about a bug in cat litter that can cause whale (and similar) sickness, if flushed down toilet.

hmm….need to check with Coles info line….as some kitty litters use zeolite…also a clay, but used more for fertilizer retention in soil, rather than water holding improvement. so many clays, so little time.
i still remember my first experiment/disaster with clay…when i while back i mixed sandy soil and gravel into clay (existing on site) under a lemon tree….and it turned into almost concrete. i’ve also used a similar mix with straw and cement added to make the duck enclosure, which is very strong. there’s a lot more to clays than meets the eye, that’s for sure.

Morning…. I use the kitty litter in the chook house….. cuts down the mud when it rains heaps. Chooks don’t have as muddy feet and I have cleaner shoes when I leave the run.

I also add it to “Freedom Road” in places and it works it way over into the garden over the months…. the soil isn’t as clayish…

Dinetta said:

When the drought was really bad, some lot feeders used to mix molasses (and I guess, supplements) with sawdust…the cattle ate it apparently…

Bet their owners didn’t mix that feed in their mashed spud.