Kitty Litter

LOL...can you picture that one at the recycling center?

I'm so glad to have found this thread. We're heading for
town today, so I'll pick up some litter & play with it today.

As our cats have always used the doggie door, I don't
have need for kitty litter around, so it will be different buying
some for a change.

:-)

MerryMary,thanks for the tip on the gutter-gaurd webbing.

I picked up the kitty litter from WW today and planted my bog plants in it. I just have a container water garden, so now I have to figure out what to do with the rest of the litter. I don't have room to store a huge bag like that. I'm thrilled to pay one-tenth of what I would have paid for aquatic soil!

Nice pots! Uh, in Denver can't you use the kitty litter as weight in the trunk over the rear wheels for driving in the snow? Or donate it to the local cat shelter?

Bought two bags yesterday and already have lilies potted up.

Thanks to those who suggested using it. :-)

The litter is good to fill the bottom of a container planter to keep from using so much potting soil too. Provides good drainage I would think.

Good ideas for extra litter. Thanks!

*** TEST YOUR KITTY LITTER BEFORE USING! ***

I have bag of the Special KItty... red bag from walmart. I read somewhere that you should test first to make sure it does not turn to mush... mine did! It dissolved in seconds. Now, what do I do with 25 pounds of Kitty Litter that I can't use in the pond? I guess it will turn to hard clay when it dries... yuck!

Tammie

Mine went to mostly to mush and the Lotus is growing gang busters. Thought that was the way it was supposed to be!

As new users to the red bag kitty litter in the pond, hubby
reports that if one 'massages' the wet litter, it will turn to mush,
but for planting purposes, rinse it, pot the plant and leave it
alone.

So I had to see for myself. I took a handful and ran it under
water. Just holding it in my hand, it remained intact and solid.
If I squished it and played with it, it did separate, but as the litter
would not be touched and messed with in a plant setting, I felt
more comfy with it.

Then I inspected a pond plant which has been in the litter since
Thursday. I checked out both the squish factor and the
finger-in-the-pot factor. Yes, it was soft, but again, not intended to
be played with or moved about, so I'm happy with it. If the plants like it and
it is that cheap, I'll add fertilizer and call it a bargain.

:-)

Wow, all that never happened to me. It never mushed at all.

I used the expensive aquatic soil last year with my Victoria waterlily. It grew like mad. This year when I pulled the pot out of the water to put the new one in, it was like mush also. I had never tappered with it either.

Jeri

Very strange because the "aquatic soil" is pretty much the exact same thing as the red bag special kitty and is not supposed to turn to mush.

Well by mush you mean when I push on the top crust it breaks and uck!!! That's what happened to mine.

Jeri

I don't think you're supposed to play with it, LOL.

;-)

I wasn't playing with it I drug it up to replant my Victoria waterlily in it this year and it was UCK!!!!

Oh, repotting. Yeah, that could be icky, but once you put in
the fresh, it will all be better again.

Jeri, I'm a bit puzzled. Are you saying the aquatic or the kitty
litter turned to mush? Your post above mentioned aquatic
soil.

Will you now switch to the opposite type?

:-)

I used the aquatic that turned to mush in a year. This year I went back with kitty litter will let you know how it does.

Mine always turns to a mush of soft clay, and my water plants do beautifully in their lovely ball of mush. Remember, most lake and creek bottoms are made of clay in the first place. It's natures potting soil for water plants!

Was poking around this morning in the pots and tubs. All the WM kitty litter is mush. The plants are absolutely thriving. I have one tub filled with kitty kitter from Meijer's. Meijer's is a regional chain which operates nearly identical to WM and they also have their cheap house brand kitty litter. The Meijer brand litter is substantially more solid in texture. The plant in that tub is also growing great guns. So, I dont think texture plays too great a role. Except when moving a big, big tub if you slop some out. Which in my case is gonna happen cause that tub weighs a ton and lifting it straight up is not an option. I have to slide it up the side of the pond edge to my DH while I am in the pond. Good thing koi like clay. Good thing I shouldn't have to repot for a year. If you have a Meijer's in your area give it try.

This si sooo weird! Maybe part of the process in making it has changed? I'm bothered enough I may go out and get a new bag just to see what happens with it. I used this for years and never had dissolving.

azreno - I have two cats (one 17 lb 1 yr old and a new 5 wk old 1 1/2 lb kitten). We call them Sir and Madam. Anyway, I am no stranger to litter these days. As cat litter the WM brand would be unusable. It is instantly soupy with the smallest amount of moisture. I don't think any self respecting cat would make a repeat trip to the same pan. But water plants, now that's another story. It works for water plants. Just don't tip the pot. Also cost is certainly a factor. I have a large papyrus plant in a pot sitting on a patio. The pot is very, very large. It took three bags of WM litter to fill it. There is no way I could have done this pot up if I had to pay for the high priced stuff. The only thing I cant figure out is how I am going to drain and store the pot over winter. It weighs a ton. But I still plan on using kitty litter from now on, even the mushy stuff. The plants grow and the money saved is substantial.

I used that red bag of special kitty for years in the pond, never for cats, I'm no stranger to using it, mine NEVER turned to mush, always retained it's shape.

azreno, please, I wasn't implying that you didn't know cat litter.I am grateful that you posted that WM cat litter was a good and inexpensive alternative. It is just exactly that. It could be that there are regional manufacturers for the same product and the manufactruing process is different in different areas. If you think about it that makes sense because that stuff, being heavy, is costly to ship. I have no intention of stopping using it. I have many more water plants this year, doing really well because of it. My crack about being no stranger to kitty litter comes from having 0 cats up until Holloween night 2006 and two cats as of last Tuesday. Suddenly, without warning, I find myself the queen of litter pans. A seventeen pound cat can pee plenty, let me tell you. If you got anything negative, anything negative at all from my post, it was not intended.

Mary

LOL Mary, 2 cats as of last tuesday?! Yes a 17 lb cat pees a lot :) We lost our large cat this past year and he was around 20.....thankfully we haven't had to use kitty litter for the cats in years, they would go outside thru a dpggie door. I feel for you, good cat litter is not cheap. Good luck with your kitties!

I wonder if there is a regional difference? All this makes me not want to recommend it anymore and that stinks because it was always such a cheap clean way to pot pond plants. I hate to say how good it is then hear everyone elses' is mushy :( I personally hate potting in clay and nowadays I use mainly river rock because my koi are monsters and I need the weight. I picked up some of that garden fencing though and am going to try that with the ties, wish me luck!

azreno I used the expensive aquatic stuff too and it turned to mush so don't blame the cat litter. My plants have trived in both so I see no difference other than the price.

Jeri

Yeah, that aquatic soil is expensive! I do wonder if it has something to do with water chemistry..........the aquartic soil should not be dissolving either :(

The fish and plants are living and me too.

When you guys talk aquatic soil could you name names? The only stuff around here is Schultz. It is a reddish tan gritty stuff that never changes in the water. It remains gritty. If it gets dumped it is the devil to clean up. It gets scraped out of the pots by fish grazing and rooting, even with rocks or gravel on top. I hate the stuff. It is also expensive. Give me the mush any day.

Many people who use kitty litter place something else on top of it,
such as pea gravel, large rocks, etc.

This keeps your mind off the litter, as well as your fingers and
your fish, ha ha!

Just wanted to mention, you should rinse the kitty litter off before
planting to remove the dust and such. Could this be part of the
problem for some?

There is no rinsing of the type of WM litter sold here. It just immediatlely becomes fully saturated with water. No waiting.

I have been reading this thread with much interest. I was wondering if someone could take a picture of the Kitty Litter bag. I have a Wal-Mart here, but I don't see any red bags for sale. Most of the litter they sell here is the clumping kind, not dissolving or mushy. Thanks!

Becky, the name of it is called Special Kitty. It's in a red colored bag. Sorry, I through my bag away. I used it to plant Lousiana Iris in my fishing pond.

Update on the kitty litter for our house.

We now have a new kitten. We also have pond plants. ;-)

Until the kitten is old enough to figure out how to jump the
dog gate and use the doggie door, we must have a litter
box. Let me say, I tried using the cheap stuff for her box
and promptly purchased the good stuff after one week with
the nasty stuff.

For pond plants, we couldn't ask more of the cheap litter. All
of hubby's plants are thriving, the water is clear, the world is good.

Becky, you might check on the very bottom shelf, it comes in
a big bag, like the size of those big bags of dog food. It runs two
dollars and some change here in Oklahoma.

:-) KM

Thanks y'all! I don't remember seeing any large red bags of Special Kitty stacked anywhere in Wally World, but I will certainly look again and buy it if they do! I have to pot these new lilies up when I get them and would like to try the litter as a comparison. My other water lilies are potted up with top soil and are doing great. Of course, those fertilizer tabs do the trick for growing them! lol :-)

Hi Becky,

A trick hubby learned, Osmocote works well, too.

I wonder about the kitty litter. As you live in Florida (where I've never
been lucky enough to visit) it makes me think maybe it might not even
be available in your area.

In all honesty, I can't believe anyone with a cat uses this stuff as cat
litter, unless you change it daily. LOL.

Hi Karen - I do use Osmocote, too! I mix it in with the soil when I pot them up. If I sprinkle it on top of the soil it encourages algae (especially that nasty string algae! yuck!). Thanks for the tip!

Here you go Becky.

Thanks, Jeri!
Nope, I have never seen this bag at Wally World. :-(
Oh well, soil it will be! :-)

Check with the store. The first 2 times I looked for it they were out.

Jeri