I've read that people have used unscented kitty litter to plant lilies and lotus in there ponds. Is this safe for the fish? And is there a good brand for doing this?
Thanks!
By the way I am new to the group - so hello all, I look forward to sharing with you all.
-Dev
Kitty Litter
Welcome Dev!
Yes, it's good that you asked instead of just running out and trying some kitty litter. You want the "special kitty" brand litter in the red bag only available at walmart. There is no other brand you can use and get the same results, you must have this brand in the red bag. Lots try others and they end up with a mushy mess. This is the exact same stuff used in the "aquatic soils sold very expensively in the garden centers! It's kiln dired calcium bentonite clay which is actually full of minerals and stuff that's good for ponds and fish. It will not dissolve and could be reused if you rinse it off, let it dry, then rinse it off again to make sure you get any anaerobic stuff or dead roots off it.
Lynn
I just returned from Wallmart with 5 more bags of the stuff. It only costs $2.54 per 25 lb bag.
Fred
Hey - welcome Dev - I got the same advice as you - the redbag from Wal-Mart - last year. I used it to plant all my iris, reeds, waterlilies, marsh marigolds, and lobelia - and it works PERFECTLY. Don't know about other brands but I sure am not gonna switch - plus, it's the cheapest! Dax
I know that lots of folks love the kitty litter or aquatic soil and have great results. For me however, I've had much more robust growth and flowers when I plant lilies in regular good garden soil with pea gravel on top. :)
Thank you so much!!! I will try that. Last year I checked out the aquatic soils and about died over the price, so it is so nice to know there is an alternative. It'll be fun to add the lillies and lotus this year to my pond without taking out a loan :-) hehe. Thanks so much!
-Dev
Does that Kitty Litter Float ?
Just found this on another forum ..
Substrate research
by "Jamie Johnson"
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999
Hi All,
It's been kinda slow this afternoon at work, so I started a little
project I've been curious about for some time now. My tanks use a
kitty litter/sand substrate and I've never had any complaints. First
off, I don't move the big plants around to disturb anything serious.
And, second, I don't have my 'mining cichlids' in those tanks,
either. My cichlid tank is about to undergo big changes, I'm
replacing the gravel bed with Fluorite. Being born with a very
stubborn, analytical brain, I had to research. I was very curious to
find what my substrates were made of, elementally. Since I work at
a lab and do trace metal analysis, I knew it was only a matter of
time before I got the best of myself.
I did analysis on 3 samples: Fluorite, Wal-Mart Special Kitty litter,
and soil from my garden. 1g of dry sample was pulverized by a
mortal/pestal and digested according to Method 3050B EPA Soil
method. *Disclaimer of method - This is not a total digestion. It is a
very strong acid digestion that will dissolve almost all elements that
could become "environmentally available". By design, elements
bound in silicate structures are not normally dissolved by this
procedure as they are not usually mobile in the environment.* This
is still a VERY good representation of what is in the sample, as we
use it daily for all kinds of solid samples. A Hydrofluoric acid
digestion in more complicated, but more geologically correct, as it
gets EVERY element in solution. I will do the HF digestion later to
compare results. Should be quite interesting. Here's what I got:
Element Soil (mg/kg) Litter (mg/kg) Fluorite (mg/kg)
Al 5700 6000 6800
As < 8.1 11.3
Ba 156 11.6 133
Be 0.2 0.5 0.3
Ca 5800 14300 530
Cd 0.6 2.4 <
Co 2.6 2.7 3.4
Cr 10 30 6.2
Cu 73 12.6 13.8
Fe 11500 14500 9610
K 433 2200 1700
Mg 1000 3760 1490
Mn 136 47.5 85.5
Na 570 395 444
Ni 4.1 21.1 8.0
Pb 218 ? 9.3 5.4
V 24.5 12.3 8.8
Zn 248 70.5 33.5
Three things caught my eye. First, where did my garden get Pb
from?? It's an old house and the garden in right against the wall, so
maybe years of lead paint leaching from rainwater into my soil. I
don't care, the veggies are delicious! Second, the As level in
Fluorite. It's addressed in their website, it doesn't leach out and is
no cause for concern. And, third, does my cat know he is standing
in Cd laced clay? I don't know where it came from, either, but
again, it doesn't leach out. My water tests sooo clean from my
tanks, and the only thing that ever shows is the things I add. I was
real surprised to see how dynamic my litter was. It's loaded with all
kinds of good stuff, plenty of Ca, Fe, K, and Mg. The soil looked
good, too, except for the lead. The Fluorite was the least reactive of
the three. It's hard as hell to grind up and just sits in the acid,
where the other two fizz and bubble, mainly because of the Ca
compounds and the organics in the soil. Small amounts of the litter
and soil went into solution, but I think all of the Fluorite stayed in
the beaker. It's like a crumbled brick sample.
I've got to admit I'm impressed by them all. I would've bet any one
of them would have lacked something important, but they're all
comparatively good. I didn't test my gravel, probably something like
950,000 mg/kg SiO2 ;-). I hope someone finds it all interesting.
Now, it's time to wash and rinse 45lbs of Fluorite.
Jamie
Jamie Johnson
Greenwood, SC
jjohnson@davisfloyd.com
jjirons@greenwood.net (home)
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/substrate-jamie.html
Nope, sinks like the titanic.
I should add that while I know all about kitty litter and have used it a lot in the past, I prefer larger rocks and pea gravel.....I can reuse them both more easily than I can the kitty litter and I think the larger size allows more water oxygen to the roots. I need large rocks as a rule because all my plants are in with very large koi. Like Charlotte said.....I know a great many people who have awesome results with clay/silty soil.
Holy Crap! You were bored LOL You should start a thread and show us all some pics of your fish. I love cichlids! What else are you keeping?
i like useing compost (cow) and good soil with gravel on top for my water plants my water cannas are in full bloom right now iris in a bout a mnth
I would think that the kitty litter would be less compact and easier to insert fertilizer tablets...is this true? I think this is a wonderful suggestion. Walmart will think the cat population has increased greatly when they see the litter flying off the shelves!
I don;t thik compost is good for a pond though.
Yes, I alwasy had a very easy time getting the tabs into the litter. LOL about walmart....I used to go in and buy 2-3 bags a week for like a month, I know they thoghut I was nuts :o)
Me too, Azreno, as I was filling foot deep shelves last year on the edges of the pond. At one point, a Wally world employee looked at me and said Sheesh! Have you got about a 100 cats or what! LOL - Dax
Too funny!
To think the cats would love to get my fish in my pond...what an irony. Anyway, I will be in line with you all for the kitty litter this year. When I plant my water plants in the garden soil, the clay compacts and I sometimes give up trying to get the tabs in. This is a great idea. Thank you.
Oil-dri clay - from Menards - $2.13 for 25lbs. Same company that makes the plain generic Wal-Mart kitty litter. This will be my first time using this. Do I use it alone or add anything? I had planned on adding about 1/3 of the expensive aquatic planting soil. There is no local source for clay soil.
I don't add anything except fertilizer and topping off with large rocks to keep the monsters out :o). Because I have 1 gal nursery pots readily available, I use these for all my young hardies and trops so I put larger rocks in the bottom too to block the litter from coming out of the holes.
Thanks azreno. I too have large rowdy koi. I use nylon window screen to line all the pots. It keeps the expensive aquatic potting soil in real well. Rocks might be better. Some pots could use the extra weight. Over the lotus tub I lay a piece of plastic mesh type fencing and attach it with plastic wire ties through holes drilled in the lip of the tub. The koi can't reach the soil to root and the stems grow easily through the 1" holes. If it wasn't for the plastic fencing I absolutely would not be able to have any lotus in the pond.
Thanks for the advice - my koi aren't that big yet, but sounds like I can get ahead of them by following your instructions now! Dax
Yeah, I also need to weight the bottoms of the pots. What a great idea with the fencing! I had heard of people using wire hanging baskets up sidedown for the same thing but I like your idea better........I think I'll store that away for future use :o)
i wonder if the cat fish will do there buss in the pots with kitty litter lol
They pretty much do their business anywhere they happen to be. And a lot of it!
That was funny phicks! Do you think if you put it in square pots they would be more drawn to those?? LOL
I was inspired today to go and buy the kitty litter to be ready to replant this spring. Instead of just putting it into the garage, I am putting a bag into each of our vehicles. In PA, we are still getting snow off and on. I had read that if your car gets stuck on snow or ice, if you put kitty litter behind/ahead of the wheels, it will give you traction. I figured if I have to store it anyway, might as well keep it in the car. In the spring, the bags come out and into the pond pots. Just a thought...although thinking more of snow and ice...UGH.
Very Smart!
Aluminum is not good for Ericaceae. But then, neither is that much water.
Where do you get fluorite, reasonably priced? Does it glow?
I found black big holed mesh in the fabric department at Walmart for $1.00 a yard. I used regular unscented Special Kitty cat litter as the soil, and made little bundles with the mesh fabric filled with the litter and the roots of my plants. I just dropped them in around my pond, and the plants grew like crazy. The mesh allowed circulation for the roots, but didn't allow the little to fall out, and didn't allow the fish to nibble at the roots.
:)
That does sound ideal! The more oxygen you can get to the roots the better.
Hello all,
I'm sitting here with my mouth open. Hubby and I have had a small pond
for a while, but never paid too much attention to it. As of late we have
fallen in head over heels and can't get enough aquatic information.
So, on the subject of kitty litter (Special Kitty red bag only - noted)
I was surprised to see so many favoring it's use. We know a lady who
uses it, but we thought she was just trying to save money. I admit, we had
visions of mucky junk all over the pond, but to read this thread, it sounds
like the answer.
Mary, I can't tell you how impressed I am with your kitty litter bundles. LOL.
That didn't come out right, but you get the jist. :-)
Could anyone help hubby and I with a few questions?
1.) Does the kitty litter cause the water to be murky, milky or muddy?
2.) We imagine the kitty litter to be a mucky clump of yuck. Does it create
a solid mass of gray mud-like stuff? Is this conducive to plant root growth?
3.) How does this affect springtime divisions? Does it dump out in one
solid clump? I guess we can't imagine it and will have to try it with a few plants
willing to give their lives in case things go wrong. LOL
Many thanks, all.
Karen Marie
I used this particular kitty litter to plant picklerweed and Louisana Iris in my fishing pond. With the pond water level being low I built a burm with the kitty litter and the clay pond soil. Even with my labador jumping in the water around these plants, he has not disrupted my plantings. The litter does not make the water murky. It sinks and stays in place. I've also used it to set pavers with sand.
The reason you want this specific litter is because it does not clump, it's kiln dried calcium bentonite clay, it retains it's shape. It starts out like tiny tiny gravel and when you pull it out next year it will be like tiny tiny gravel, it doesn't dissovle.
Ah, that is the perfect answer, many thanks!
Here is a pic taken April 17 of a "Mrs. Perry D. Slocum" lotus just breaking dormancy. It was repotted using kitty litter about March 25th. Beyond what might might initially float or spill off when maneuvering the pot or tub into the pond, the unscented, cheap, kittly litter causes no water quality problems. What does spill or float off is actually good for koi.
christmascactus
May 23, 2007
snapple, did you plant with the kitty litter only..was anything else added to the litter? Is anything put in the bottom of pot under the litter? Is the mesh over the pot plastic? Sorry for all the questions.Your koi is beautiful & pond water is so clear. Thanks for sharing your picture.
This message was edited May 23, 2007 11:08 AM
The sides and bottom of the tub are solid, no mesh openings. Kitty litter is the only planting medium. I use the common water plant tablets for fertilizer. The mesh over the top of the tub is plastic garden fencing. The purpose of the fencing is to keep the koi from rooting out all the clay/kitty litter and tearing up the lotus roots. The lotus stalks grow up easily through the holes. Ask away, please! My goodness I am only too happy to share what little I know. I depend on the many great DG'rs to answer my questions.
Fabulous posts, everyone, thank you!
christmascactus
May 24, 2007
snapple,thank you so much.
Now,I know what to put over my pots.
I'm guessing,I can get this at walmart or HD?
I use the kitty litter only, no other soil. Occasionally I will put a rock in the bottom (if using a pot) just for stability. I have not fertilized in the past, and everything has bloomed very well. For smaller pots, there is a gutter-guard webbing, that comes in a roll at Home Depot, Lowes, WalMart, etc....It keeps leaves out of your gutters, but I use it in the areas I don't want the fish nibbling.
Clay actually absorbs water toxins, so helps keep the water clear. If repotting, discard the old kitty litter blob, and start with new fresh litter.