mixing kitty-litter into "hot" soil

Hey, hope everyone is having a good season. I recently remembered that back in the 1980's when I was still a kid, my friend's dad grew beautiful plants outdoors in his backyard. I know he mixed -in regular cat litter (not that scented fancy shit we have now days), into composted soil. Now thinking about it, I'm guessing his soil was full
of organic matter which probably made the soil's ph acidic. My guess is the kitty-litter balanced the ph in his planting mix. The plants were always lush and very healthy. Any thoughts?

@RM3 does this.

Hopefully he'll throw his 2¢ in.

indicat33 said:

Hey, hope everyone is having a good season. I recently remembered that back in the 1980's when I was still a kid, my friend's dad grew beautiful plants outdoors in his backyard. I know he mixed -in regular cat litter (not that scented fancy shit we have now days), into composted soil. Now thinking about it, I'm guessing his soil was full
of organic matter which probably made the soil's ph acidic. My guess is the kitty-litter balanced the ph in his planting mix. The plants were always lush and very healthy. Any thoughts?

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it's just DM, people have been using that for a long time. Works well.
I haven't heard that diatomaceous earth regulates PH though.
Could be wrong, on that.
Gypsum is used similarly to the way your friends dad used DM, that does a better job regulating PH

Was mainly asking because I have kitty-litter, but no cat . Thought of mixing-in some with my composted earth and giving that a try indoors this winter. Any idea of the ratio? Was considering about 1/3 KL to 2/3 composted medium. It will aid in stretching my home-made compost that I'm nearly out of, at any rate.

If your soil is too hot. That means it hasn't finished breaking down. Enzyme tea's with seed sprouts or coconut water will speed up the breaking down. Topdress worm castings too. Add cover crops like clover and barley.

indicat33 said:

Was mainly asking because I have kitty-litter, but no cat . Thought of mixing-in some with my composted earth and giving that a try indoors this winter. Any idea of the ratio? Was considering about 1/3 KL to 2/3 composted medium. It will aid in stretching my home-made compost that I'm nearly out of, at any rate.

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not sure I could answer considering I've only used it as a pest deterrent.
I wonder if it'd absorb any of your nutrients from your soil recipe?
I imagine it would, considering it's hygroscopic nature.
but I don't know.
Probably has a pretty good CEC rate i'd imagine too.
I'd maybe go with a little less than what you are looking at, only because it gets sorta muddy when it's wet.
ALSO make sure it's actually DM, some litter brands use some sort of clay instead.
And of course check to make sure i's not scented or anything else in it.

I'm pretty sure its calcined clay, some kitty litters may I deed be DE as well.