Newbie wanting help?

[Bush bunny]

My post went somewhere? Anyway there is a clay based kitty litter and it is 100% Australian.
After the near disaster too with just grey kitty litter, that blocked like cement the drainage holes I tested it and left a handful in a cup covered with water. After two days, the water was reddish, and there was grit remaining. $5 a bag from Coles.

[whitey]

I wouldn't use the stuff you can squeeze in your fingers

Sorry I worded it wrong , you cant just squeeze it to crush. you have to put a fair bit of force behind it to make it snap apart like a hard clay scotch finger.
I just read the kitty litter ingredients again and it states zeolite clay. So there must be a harder rocky zeolite and a clay zeolite. The kitty litter I've read that people use is vitapet purrfit and trouble & trix, the stuff I got is vitapet Ive read people use zeo clor too, does anyone know what that looks like
Found this post from an older thread -

Ken a correction on the description of diatomite and zeolite

Diatomite is 80-90% silica - so is not a clay
Zeolite is a clay


Zeolite minerals are formed at temperatures somewhat greater than normal clays (alteration of volcanic rocks by warm near surface water - or in buried basins) and are aluminosilicates. Normal clays are formed at surface by weathering . As a consequence of zeolite's formation at higher temperature it is harder and has a strong open structure that can accommodate water. So is great for bonsai mixes as it absorbs and holds water for release to the plant over time. As it has a stromng structure it doesn't break down readily over time.

Diatomite is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock forming in marine basins from the accumulation of diatoms, a type of hard shell algae. It is composed of 80-90% silica, so is is tough as well as being light because of its high porosity - which sucks in water. Like zeolite this is a great bonsai soil media.

Neville

I'm sure we will get to the bottom of this eventually, Im not going to use anything until I know for sure.

[whitey]

I tested it and left a handful in a cup covered with water. After two days, the water was reddish, and there was grit remaining. $5 a bag from Coles.

I might have to run a test too. I did wash some in a bucket today and it held together fine, its still in the bucket now so ill check it tomorrow.

[JaseH]

I've tried the zeo clor, it's the same as the zeolite rock you have but a finer grade, like sand. It's a bit too fine for an open bonsai mix. I'm guessing the zeolite clay might be OK of it was fired high enough. Test some in some water for a while and see how it holds up?

[whitey]

I think its looking a lot more better now. I just checked the kitty litter that was sitting in the bucket of water and it looks a lot better than straight out of the packet. Once that white coating is washed of it looks much more natural. You don't even have to soak it as I just grabbed a hand full and ran it under the hose and washes off immediately. Its still hard and holding its form too, no signs of it softening up or getting mushy/pasty.

[Bush bunny]

There you are catching on, well done. Another test is water the new soil mix and plant, and watch if it starts to drain away through the holes, almost immediately. When it doesn't or the water stays on the top, that it did with me I started to investigate. That's when I removed the soil completely, and the sticky clogged kitty litter. Let us know how you went.

[Sno]

Hi Whitey . What size pot are you going to put it in ? If you are going to put it into a larger pot something like a 200 mm or 300 mm black plastic nursery pot I would keep it simple . A good premium potting mix from a general nursery as half , one quarter the red zeolite ( this stuff will stay hard ) and one quarter tthe harder of the white stuff (wash it well ) . Grow it In this pot untill you have done your air layers (one year give or take ) and then work out where to go from there . If the white stuff 'melts ' in that time it won't hurt the tree as long as you don't over water . Never keep the soil saturated allow the soil to dry untill just moist but not dry . If the white stuff has melted in one year in the pot throw what's left in the bags into your garden .
If you are going to do any major cuts to your roots wait untill the weather warms up . Then don't do the air layers untill the tree has recovered from the root work . The tree will show signs of recovery when it is pushing new growth .
The first thing is health of tree don't try to push it to far at once .
I hope I haven't made this more confusing for you .
Cheers Sno
Ken that's a very nice mame .

image.jpg

[Bougy Fan]

Have a look HERE and go to Bonsai4me to work out if you can substitute diatomite with a kitty litter. I actually use diatomite and scoria for my figs about a 50/50 mix and they do really well. You can't have too many fines in the mix - figs in pots don't do well with wet feet and need a larger particle mix that is well drained.

[kcpoole]

Ken that's a very nice mame .

image.jpg

Thanks Sno
I like my trees smaller these days ( well mostly )

Ken

[whitey]

The kitty litter seems good so I cracked on with it. The root ball was very compacted so the hose did the majority of the work, pulled out a couple bits of pot that was embedded in the root ball. Didn't attempt any heavy root pruning just cut down the longest bits. The mix I used was 2/3 diatomite and 1/3 of the washed kitty litter zeolite, gave it a good water and the drainage is excellent. I will keep a close eye on it though and I still have the test bucket so if the kitty litter goes bad Ill see it in the test bucket first. Hopefully I've done the right thing and I guess the tree will let me know in the next coming weeks.

[Bush bunny]

This is healthy tree whitey. And it looks great in the pot you chose. I am not sure myself, but do you intend to give it some fertilizer, ie. liquid like Seasol watered down 50% of recommendations, or some solid fertilizer.? I would?

[kcpoole]

I think its looking a lot more better now. I just checked the kitty litter that was sitting in the bucket of water and it looks a lot better than straight out of the packet. Once that white coating is washed of it looks much more natural. You don't even have to soak it as I just grabbed a hand full and ran it under the hose and washes off immediately. Its still hard and holding its form too, no signs of it softening up or getting mushy/pasty.

I would almost Guarantee that this is Diatomite from Mt sylvia. The white stuff is just dust on the surface and will was off the first watering and leaving the light grey / brown particles.

Ken

[whitey]

but do you intend to give it some fertilizer:

Yes, I gave it a feed of seasol/powerfeed.

I would almost Guarantee that this is Diatomite from Mt sylvia. The white stuff is just dust on the surface and will was off the first watering and leaving the light grey / brown particles.

Ken

Ken I have a pic of the Mt sylvia diatomite and zeolite clay on the second page. They are definitely not the same but your right about the Mt sylvia diatomite when first watered it leaves light grey / brown particles.

[Bush bunny]

It had lots of feeder roots, did you prune some? That shows it will have a great chance of survival, and good luck. Keep us posted on development. I'd let it settle first, before any major pruning.

[Brad75]

Hi all,

You can be sure of one thing with monsieur fig and that is that it will be hard to kill; they love to sprout. Good luck!

Cheers,

Brad Jackson aka Brad75.