As most of us clay users know, calcined clay sourced from Montmorillonite is the preferred choice...but difficult/pricey to obtain. The next best alternative to Montmorillonite is Bentonite, which happens to be more available and real affordable--if you know where to look.
For the past several years, my source for calcined Bentonite clay was an oil absorbent (Oil-Dri) sold at Wal-Mart for less than $5 for 25 pounds. Well, this past week I discovered that Wal-Mart will not be carrying Oil-Dri anymore....and I don't need a pallet of Turface or ProChoice (minimum order $500) so I researched a new source for calcined clay...and found one, at Walmart (lol).
In addition to oil absorbent, Oil-Dri also packages calcined clay for kitty litter (100% calcined Bentonite clay) sold under the brands: Johnny Cat, Cat's Pride and Walmart's private label "Special Kitty".
I bought a bag of Walmart Special Kitty Natural Cat Litter http://www.walmart.com/ip/Special-Kitty-Natural-Cat-Litter-25-Lb-Cats/10293705 for $3.87 (cheaper than Oil-Dri) and compared the clay with Oil-Dri; it is identical and confirmed with Oil-Dri (owned by EP Minerals) that the kitty litter is 100% calcined Bentonite clay.
I add calcined clay to my custom grow medium at the rate of around 6% or so.
Hope this helps. Cheers!
For the past several years, my source for calcined Bentonite clay was an oil absorbent (Oil-Dri) sold at Wal-Mart for less than $5 for 25 pounds. Well, this past week I discovered that Wal-Mart will not be carrying Oil-Dri anymore....and I don't need a pallet of Turface or ProChoice (minimum order $500) so I researched a new source for calcined clay...and found one, at Walmart (lol).
In addition to oil absorbent, Oil-Dri also packages calcined clay for kitty litter (100% calcined Bentonite clay) sold under the brands: Johnny Cat, Cat's Pride and Walmart's private label "Special Kitty".
I bought a bag of Walmart Special Kitty Natural Cat Litter http://www.walmart.com/ip/Special-Kitty-Natural-Cat-Litter-25-Lb-Cats/10293705 for $3.87 (cheaper than Oil-Dri) and compared the clay with Oil-Dri; it is identical and confirmed with Oil-Dri (owned by EP Minerals) that the kitty litter is 100% calcined Bentonite clay.
I add calcined clay to my custom grow medium at the rate of around 6% or so.
Hope this helps. Cheers!
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