AusBonsai

I purchased a bag of diatomite from enfield about 2 weeks ago, can be crushed somewhat easily but held its integrity after 48hours submerged in a glass of water. Have been using it 50/50 with bonsai souths bagged mix in trees ive since potted. Got some good trees potted in it so hope its the goods.

Hope this helps Ken

jerrin

kez wrote:I purchased a bag of diatomite from enfield about 2 weeks ago, can be crushed somewhat easily but held its integrity after 48hours submerged in a glass of water. Have been using it 50/50 with bonsai souths bagged mix in trees ive since potted. Got some good trees potted in it so hope its the goods.

Hope this helps Ken

jerrin

You have always been able to break apart fith force as it is brittle, but should hold its shape and not be squashed.
if it holds firm after 48 hours in water it shodu be fine

Thanks.
Ken

Hi everyone. Just thought I'd post this here. I've found a brand of kitty litter that I'm pretty sure is diatomite? I've attached some pics of the "substance" and a pic of the bag. I've soaked it and it's held up perfectly. I've potted a couple of small variegated benjamina I had into a mix of it and approx 30 percent good quality sifted potting mix. I'll see how it goes.

It's attapulgite not diatomite. Similar. See how it holds up over time and if it's code effective and works for then why not!


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Isitangus wrote:It's attapulgite not diatomite. Similar. See how it holds up over time and if it's code effective and works for then why not!


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Cheers. I'll look it up. How similar are we talking? It looks real good structurally. Soaked 3 days and it stays solid. Just looks like little bits of sharp, light coloured gravel.

I use crushed bricks and gravel. All inorganic. Add imported (he he he= Africa) Pine bark to some and make different mix for each tree.

I found this in Wiki
"Attapulgite is used widely in medicine. Taken by mouth, it physically binds to acids and toxic substances in the stomach and digestive tract"
Does this mean it would absorb the acid therefore making the soil too alkaline?
Perhaps the Horticultural/Soil specialists could comment.

Glenn

phillicondor wrote:Hi everyone. Just thought I'd post this here. I've found a brand of kitty litter that I'm pretty sure is diatomite? I've attached some pics of the "substance" and a pic of the bag. I've soaked it and it's held up perfectly. I've potted a couple of small variegated benjamina I had into a mix of it and approx 30 percent good quality sifted potting mix. I'll see how it goes.

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Hi Phil, your bag of kitty litter does happen to say "biodegrade-able" at the very top of the packaging with symbol. It will dissolve unlike Diatomite which won't degrade at all.

If you are going to use attapuglite be aware that it is not as stable as pumice or diatomite . It's hit and miss if you get a more stable 'batch' some attapuglite that I have used is still stable after three years while other that I have used has broken down after one year .if you are repotting every year this shouldn't be a problem as long as you mix it with gravel or some thing like that . I use it as an additive . Always wash it first because some of it turns to mush as soon you add water . I put it on an old fly screen and hose it and what's left I use . It's unstable with frost so always add a mulch layer ie gravel or moss etc . I don't know why but when I use it as an additive my trees grow better , not scientific I know but still i like it .
Be careful you don't get the kitty litter that is based with bentonite . Bentonite is used to seal leaky dams so that would not be good in a potting mix .
If you used attapuglite medicinally I presume you would poo it out so that could take the acids out with it .

Hi guys appreciate the advice and words of caution. I googled diatomite and saw a pic that looked like what I had and thought I'd scored. I had planned to buy big on this stuff and repot a heap of "starters" I have into it. I'll stick with ny perlite and cactus mix I've been using with a bit of aquarium gravel added for a bit of weight. I've bought cat litter that has dissolved as soon as it was wet so this stuff has been rinsed and been soaking for over a week now and when I pick it up I can't crush it even between finger nails . I've been struggling to find any sort of gravel or coarse sand in the right size range(or the size range I wanted) so I think if this stuff holds up structurally for a year I'll be able to find a use for it. I'm doing a lot of figs so I repot pretty often. I'll keep u posted.


Ps Can someone post a photo of the diatomite they have. Just curious as to what it looks like. If this stuff holds up structurally is there a decent chance of the ph problems suggested or are we just talking maybe coulds? I'm happy with my mix atm apart from the fact that the soil is very light and I'm thinking that a substrate that is similar to perlite but heavier might be what I need but I'm trying the aquarium gravel added to my perlite mix so this might solve my weight problems

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=19263&hilit=market ... 45#p198121

The bag on the left is Diatomite - Kleensorb, bought from Enfield's Pet&Garden for $22 if I remember.
They also sell different grades of Perlite too.


Note: They also do shipping but depends on where abouts you live and the travels cost for the courier etc...

For my grow pots I use 5.1.1 mix of pine bark, pumice and peat moss. The mix lasts about two seasons before it starts compacting. For bonsai I use 1.1.1 pine bark, pumice and crushed granite (all 6mm).