Stuart does it say on the bag what the ingredients are? Diatomaceous Earth (spelling is probably not correct) is one component that is widely used. Did you allow the stuff to sit overnight in the water? Also if you do use it I highly recommend sifting the fines out because they will damage your roots by plugging up the drainage in your pots.

Tracy

Tracy, this is the description off the bag: Catsan Hygiene Litter consists of particularly fine pored Hygiene granules made of natural quartz sand & lime. It say nothing about Diatomaceous Earth.

I didn`t use it yet and i will sifting it out and will check it tomorrow if it is still hard.

And thank you for you recommendations.

Tracy, I checked tonight and it is still the same hard structure.

What about that it isn`t made of Diatomaceous Earth ?

Tracy, good. I have 50 plus 1-2 months old obesum seedlings.

I will transplant 2 in the pure stuff en 2 in litter/humus than post the results.

The cat litter in water with nutrients.

2 month old obesum.

seedling in pure cat litter with some osmocote 14-14-14 on top.

cup with nutrients in water

It will sit a few days in water.

The plant will be immerse in water once a day for maybe 5 minutes.

The seedling is doing great so far in pure catsan catlitter. I sprinkled some soil on top a few days ago.

Catsan catlitter mixed with hydro pebbels and some soil on top.

I personally grow my adenium in a mix of potting soil, but many here might be able to use this.

My greatest concern would be how hot it can get before breaking down. The information you listed said to keep it away from heated flooring. Heated floors aren't that hot, and are rated at 130 max. So, I wonder if these break down in ~100 degree F temps.

Hi Jedoba, it will breakdown at temperatures above 840 °C

Smell was my thought, but wasn't sure. I don't see a problem with this product.

In a month time roots already come out of the drain holes in the pots. The product is too good to be true.

Impressive growth! Did you continue to immerse daily during the entire time? I think many different media could be very effective if one was willing to do daily immersions and keep up with fertilizing - this is a lot of work though.

No, 2-3days in water a few minutes and weekly weakly fertilizing. And water the plant every day. If you dont have time then mix it with something.

Keep us updated.

Rob

Arabicum black dwarf sown Nov 6 2015 in catsan catlitter vs other mix. Transfered a few weeks ago from potting soil mix.

Stuart, hello, impressive results with cat litter! could you please let me know if your cat litter is the clumping or non clumping variety please? It is easily available in India but I want to be sure which type to buy.

thanks

Sinha

Sinha - I would most certainly say Non Clumping. You would want the water to run freely through the media, without turning it into a rock. you also don't want any scented variety.

Rob

Thanks Halocline. I was thinking the same too. Stuart, thank you for uploading such detailed pics and explainations!

Sinha, Rob is right. If you using this cat litter you have to water the plant twice a day in hot weather.

Not able to get non clumping litter here but found one supplier for LECA ( clay pebbles) like stuart has in his media. However thanks for all the help!!

update

Hi Stuart, nice growth your plant has put on post transfer to cat litter.

We are still in the cold spell here,which has had a late onset and is likely to go on till end feburary.My plants have all been moved to the foyer for some protection and are leafless mostly but holding on.

Looked for non clumping cat litter over here but none available so had to change plans. Ordered LECA instead. Its on the way all 100kgs of it.

Meanwhile while munching on peanuts,a thought came to my head about using the groundnut husks as a replacement for tree bark.Wonder if it will work. So am saving most of these and plan to mix it with the LECA and use it on some plants just as a test case.

Would definitely appreciate your ideas/thoughts on this!

I was going to say, in the US it's called "Hydroton", but then I saw it referred to as such at the bottom of their page.

What size did you get? How much is shipping on 220lbs (100kgs)?

I've heard of people using Peanut shells. Make sure they're not the salted kind.

Rob

Wow Sinha 100 kilos!? LOL

Hi Sinha, Yes peanuts shells will work but when decomposing it will release Nitrogen. Peanut Shells NPK value: 3.6/0.15/0.5

I don`t think it`s a big problem to use it. sprinkle some soil round the root system in the hydroton/peanut shells mix for faster and better adapting.

Hi Halocline, Tracy & Stuart,thanks for your inputs.

It wasn't too expensive. It's costed me Rs.88 per kilo,i.e.Rs.8800 including shipping.He sent me 20 bags of 5 kg each.I was lucky to find a wholesale supplier willing to sell it to me in retail, so I agreed to shell out.

After all it does not degrade.That is a plus in itself.

Stuart, thanks for sharing about the npk value of peanut shells.What about dried and powdered eggshells? Say a spoonful for every pot ought to satisfy their calcium requirements or no?

Since I can't do much about the dormant plants, having been planning their diet for a change, so have been drying up eggshells too, as we consume a lot of eggs too.Plan to feed them all this stuff after they wake up!

The LECA is coming by surface transport all the way, so should be here by end of next week. Will share the pics with all of you once it does. Looks like I wont be able to use it till end of Feb because the cold spell isn't ready to say "The End" !!

Good idea Sinha, check this here

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/homemade-eggshell-plant-fertilizer-42947.html

So what I was instinctively doing is right!!.Good article.Thank you Stuart.