Growing Medium Revelation

Although my time growing bonsai is still very limited since I have started a new development in the standard growing medium used for bonsai occured. When I first started out, many people, books included, suggested the most suitable growing medium was a substance called Akadama. This was a Japanese form of baked clay, which retained water very well but at the same time allowed free drainage of any excess. Due to it being Japanese and therefore needing to be imported I found that this was not exactly cheap. It seemed that other people felt this too and so had been looking for a cheaper, more readily available alternative. This is where Cat Litter comes in, it may sound strange at first but this is now the preferred growing medium for a vast number of growers. The reason for this is that there are a couple of brands of cat litter name Sophisticat Pink, and Tesco Premium LightWeight cat litter, which use a very similar formula of baked clay granules. This meant that large bags could be bought of this product for a lot cheaper than their Japanese counterpart, and the cat litter works just as well and even slightly better in frost conditions. This was an excellent find especially for a beginner like myself who often doesn't have a huge budget to be spending on extra supplies. Care must be taken however when purchasing the cat litter to ensure it is the right brand, other brands have been shown to clump up around the rootballs of trees which can be disastrous. The only difference between the Sophisticat and the Tesco brand is the average grain size, the Sophisticat having the slightly larger sized grain, this is purely down to personal choice though, I am using Sophisticat and have been very happy with it so far, and my trees planted in it seem even happier!