OK  I  know so little about figs and fig culture compared to a lot of members here. I am soliciting  opinions on the below topic .

I only have six trees in pots and I have managed not to kill them for three years.

Recently I was repotting some house plants . " not figs "

and I remembered yrs ago there was a product called

"Miracle plant water crystals ."

The IDEA.... was that they would Absorb Water if soil was to Wet and Release water if soil was to Dry ??

WOW ! a Miracle ? haha .
trouble was the 8oz jar was like $12.

All they were were was silica crystal beads.

Well it occurred to me that you could get a 4lb bag of silica bead unscented Mimi KittyLitter  beads at Wal-Mart for $4 . Hummm.....

So I thought heck lets get some and mix it up in the potting soil and see what happens ???

So far all of the plants potted with the thrifty version of "Miracle plant water crystals ."  eeerrr I mean KittyLitter are doing well including one small fig tree ..

My latest experiment , Am I A FOOL or a Genus ???

What Say Yee INTERNET FIG EXPERTS ?????

""NOTE : I am not talking about the Clay type kitty litter. This product is hard round Silica Beads.
there are many brands . I bought the cheapo Mimi kitty brand silica  litter at Wal-Mart """"

I use regular cat litter on top of my growing medium to lock moisture in. I dont water till top is dry. Keeps me from over watering cuttings in small pots

Richard is that the fullers earth type kitty litter ??

I just mixed a cple cups of the silica beads into the potting mix

Yea its pretty much dried clay. Works grate in keeping moisture in my small cutting pots so i dont over water them

well I thought it would be interesting to give the silica crystal beads a try . see what happens

My latest experiment , Am I A FOOL or a Genus ???

What Say Yee INTERNET FIG EXPERTS ?????

Genius if it works. How about getting it for free in packages of food. It always says don't ingest it. Any chemicals to worry about?

well I think the unsented kitty litter silica beads is  just silica hummm...

good question ???

Please Internet Experts Pontificate ... ???

I can't comment on kitty litter... but I did buy some "water crystals" and have been using them this year - about $7 per pound.  Does the kitty litter expand like crazy when water is added?  The stuff I bought says 1 teaspoon per gallon of water and it expands to many times it size as it absorbs water.  Since this is the first year I am trying them, I can't yet comment on effectiveness.  

No  the kitty litter beads remain hard and do not expand .. they absorb and release  moisture but do not get soft or expand 

 The MIMI litter is $4 for a 4lb bag at Wal-Mart . there are other brands .. .....


I also use the same kitty litter as a humidification media in my three humidors . I put it in bags made from cut up nylon hose . it keeps the humidity level in my humidor at a rock steady 65% RH.

I have about 400 stinky good cigars in my humidors.

if I need to raise the humidity a few points I sprits one of the bags a few times with distilled water .

if the relative humidity in the room is higher than I want .. I can dry one of the bags in microwave and lower the RH in the humidor to 65% if lets say the RH in my basement is 80%

It is very dry here in winter and very humid in summer .


Anyway now I am experimenting using the kitty litter to regulate moisture levels in my potting soil .

Hummmm......

Ok my casual unscientific observation so far .


I have 2 figs in 10" self watering/water from below dollar store pots . They are  in a mix half half   Miracle-Gro organic garden soil and  miracle-gro potting soil.
I added some course perlite . They are a Excel and a VEBT.


I have one  Genovese Nero in10" self watering/water from below dollar store pot tin the same mix As above with about a half cup to a cup of the kitty litter silica beads in the mix .

I have to water this plant about half as often .. as the other two

ok maybe I should actually write it down .. now I am just recalling ....guessing . ha

I have several house plants potted up with the same mix with the kitty litter .

ok today I am  potting up some dahlia rhizomes one with regular mix and one with the Kitty Litter silica beads added . 

oops left the little tree with the beads out in the rain .. we will see if it stays to  wet or ???

ok I am just bumping this up .. over 500 hits and only three people commented ..ha ha

I was hopping some of the brainy super figgy geeks might comment.... or even give my idea a try .

I know a few of you experiment with different soil mixes ect.?

man you guys are even to polite to say if you think it's a bad idea ha ..

well I will be up potting a cpl trees soon and will do a few with the silica beads ..

please give me your thoughts thanks ...

Yeah, you've got to pot up plants of the same type and same size and age at the same time, doing one group without the litter and a second group with the litter. Preferably with several identical plants in each group.

Myself, I'm a little skeptical. The kitty litter beads aren't actually the same thing as the water-retaining crystals. But you'll never know if you don't give it a good try!

thanks for comments egghead ..I got the idea for using the kitty litter in potting mix from using them to keep a steady RH in my humidors ..

they seem to give off or absorb moisture at a constant rate ?  or it seems so .

bump!

 Well the plants with the silica beads seem to be doing a tad better than the ones with out ?
It will take all summer and the super hot days ahead to see any real difference ????  So I think  ??? ha

Nothing ventured nothing gained

Good Luck SONI ; )

Look for it  at WalMart it is MiMi crystal unsented litter . its silica .4lb for $4

I think a half pound to a pound . I just guess when I mix up my soil .. sorry not very scientific . doh !

HEY SONI did you give the Wal-Mart Mimi Kiity litter silica beads a try?

I did a little reading about the use of silica for moisture control. Hate to tell you  but it only releases its absorbed water at a temp of about 300F. That is why it works so good in keeping packaged products dry. It does not release the moisture back.

So unfortunately it will not work for your plants, it only sucked up water until full gain (40% by weight) then it locks-up the moisture. Sorry.

well sorry  my experience using these beads for 3 yrs says they do release moisture 

 I use these silica beads for humidity control in 4 different  humidors and it does release it back at 63f at about 63 to 68 %     humidity according to my calibrated digital hygrometers ..

but I could be wrong ha

my hygrometers say different


so far  I water the pots with humidity beads about once every two weeks ,those without about once a week

I am sure they were not at 300f

not sure if the silica product you read about the same  as what I am experimenting with ?

anyone else with actual exprance ?

please chime in
 .

Sorry that was a little snarky response GENE
I also did a little reading and the silica in those little stay dry packs  mustt be way different then the beads I have been using ?

The actual fancy ones they sell for humidors . can be purchased calibrated with mineral salts to release humidity at different levels  . say 62% , 65% , 70% ect.

Experimenting I found the kitty litter beads realsed humidity at about 65% to 68% in the humidors

so I thought lets try in potting soil

They also helps correct when soil to wet ..

figs hate that.

I got a little fig tree from Burpee and couldn't believe how teensy it was when it arrived.  It was in a 2" pot and is about 2" tall and I'm stretching it.

To all of you who got "trees" from Burpee--Were they tiny as well and did they grow well for you gaining size after you planted them?  Mine is too tiny to be put into the ground.

Thanks,

noss