2nd installment of Gma's indoor winter gardening thread (Sulcata)

Prairie Mom

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And here is the seed for the winter:View attachment 144971

Includes:
White clover
red clover
crimson clover
ryegrass
red fescue
pennigton ryegrass
kentucky bluegrass
catgrass
nodding fescue
wild timothy grass
buffalo grass
blue grama (grass)
trefoil
chicory
another clover mix with 6 kinds of clover
english plantain
variegated plantain
common plantain
purslane
common dandelion
red rib dandelion
rose mallow
cilantro
lavendar
pansy
petunia
carrot
chamomile
radish
rosemary
beet
mesclun
pumpkin
summer squash
arugula
winter squash
watermelon
cucumber
spinach
kale
swiss chard
nasturtium
marsh mallow
marigold
viola
zinnia
chrysanthemum
basil
thyme

I think that's all....for now.....
Sounds great! Although, I wouldn't bother with any of the herbs and teas unless you're doing it for yourself. -Yummy people food, icky tortoise food:)
 

Odin's Gma

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Everything is looking great! I've struggled a bit with Crimson clover and Marsh mallow. I'm not sure if it's my specific batch of seeds or what. Please let me know how yours works out for you.
I have had great luck with the crimson clover outside, we shall see what happens inside. I have noticed that is preference is for the red clover first, white second, and he rarely touches the crimson.
I have also had no luck with the marsh mallow, at least not that I have noticed. It's hard to tell when he eats every seedling he comes across before I can identify which mallow it is.:rolleyes:

Sounds great! Although, I wouldn't bother with any of the herbs and teas unless you're doing it for yourself. -Yummy people food, icky tortoise food:)
It is mainly for me, but not for the reason you think. I like to throw in a little something that he doesn't eat in every tray mainly because they always look so sad and barren at the end of the week. The little leftover touches of green make it seem...hopeful? Like he hasn't managed to destroy everything I worked so hard to grow. Weird? o_O
 

Odin's Gma

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Today I had to repot the big hibiscus. Yes, I know I just did that about 6 months ago, but it needed to be done again. It went from a 16 inch pot to a 20.
I really worked up a sweat! (lies! I made my kid do the heavy lifting!)002.JPG

The little hibiscus is also due, but I was in the mood for sauerkraut, polska kielbasa and roasted potatoes, and when I need to cook, I need to cook.003.JPG

Before the cooking began I also changed out his garden tray and replanted the one I removed, so it was a productive day. It will not be from here on out. :)
 

Odin's Gma

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How is everyone's winter gardening coming along?
Well, not as well as I would like! Much of the indoor stuff is now in Odin's new greenhouse enclosure and he is hell-bent on not letting anything grow more than an inch!
Ooh! I also just got wheatgrass seeds to try, just planted them a couple days ago so I don't know if they will grow well or be a hit with the Mighty eating -Machine...I mean Odin, but I will try and update more this weekend.
 

Odin's Gma

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Indoor gardening not going as well as I had hoped. I asked Odin, very gently, if he could please allow something, anything in his greenhouse to grow. He took a huge poop and gave me this look:014.JPG


You can see hundreds of freshly sprouted seedlings....again...they don't last long Also, in the back center of the photo you can see that sad, yellowing banana leaf. Yeah. That is my adorable super dwarf that I was so pleased with and that WAS growing so well. He has knocked it down and trampled the poor thing. I don't think it's going to make it. I ordered 2 more ( http://green2995.stores.yahoo.net/bananaplants.html ). One for the greenhouse and one for the house, just to hedge my bets.016.JPG

Half of the little hibiscus has died off because......017.JPG

He decided that behind the hibiscus was the best place for his new burrow, so half of the roots are exposed. This is just after I backfilled a bit with coco coir. sigh.018.JPG

On th eplus side! Everything outside of his domain is going gangbusters! Mr. Hibiscus has fully leafed out again after his dramatic fall pruning, and the ice cream banana plant is nearly 3 feet tall now!025.JPG

My two hardy cactus are tiny and adorable and will go outside in the spring.030.JPG

The agave that I have been babying for nearly a year finally look like little plants and will have to be moved to their own pots soon. YAY!031.JPG

Three of my four new varieties of aloe are growing like crazy and are also in need of repotting!036.JPG

The 4th new aloe is still small, but doing well, and in the background you can see that one of my 2 large pots of aloe vera are still completely out of control!039.JPG

The second pot of aloe vera along with 2 of the 4 african violets are also strong and healthy041.JPG

And the massive amount of Opuntia have taken over my kitchen island. They will slowly be moved, as needed, into the enclosure.
Of the three I originally planted in his enclosure, only one remains.042.JPG


So, the lesson is, everything grows indoors as long as you keep it away from the Mighty Odin, destroyer of all things green. :/
 

Odin's Gma

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A wonderful winter day for indoor gardening!
As I mentioned last time, three of the 4 aloes were in desperate need of repotting, the agave were itching for a little more legroom and the enclosure needed a couple more opuntia, so I threw a pork roast in the oven and got to work!

(with beer, because days off to garden practically demand it!)043.JPG

Like I said, the aloe NEEDED it
045.JPG 046.JPG

The agave just wanted a pretty pot to show off in.048.JPG

I also keep some herbs that I don't share with the beast. Basil, and of course, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Some of you older folks are singing it as you read it, aren't ya? ;)050.JPG

Also some chives alongside my baby hardy opunita and the newly repotted aloe and agave, with the back-up food trays on the two lower shelves.051.JPG

And the other two aloe happily cheering up my living room.052.JPG

Two of the smaller opuntia transplanted into the enclosure and his food dish scrubbed clean in the hottest water my hands can take (which is ridiculously hot from years of working in kitchens)054.JPG

And Master Odin resting happily in his burrow under the dead half of my once beautiful little hibiscus. *sigh*056.JPG

Surprisingly productive day for this tort Gma! Cant't wait until the new super dwarf banana plants arrive. I tried to right the one in his enclosure today and found it snapped off at the base. It looked like something had been chewing on it. Hmm......wonder who? o_O
 

Odin's Gma

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I have to gush and plug something here, so pardon the interruption from tort love, but this company, oh my!
I have mentioned in in this thread and at least one other that I fairly recently purchased a couple of banana plants for the beast, well, the ice cream banana plant is doing wonderfully but Odin destroyed the one in the greenhouse so I ordered a couple more super dwarfs the other day to replace the one.
Today the owner called me to verify my shipping address. I missed the call and called back within a few minutes and he personally answered the phone. He was absolutely lovely, and encouraged me to call him back if I had any questions or issues in the future as far as care goes.
That is the kind of customer service that you so rarely see these days. So, if anyone is interested in banana plants, I know a guy, and his name is Ted.
http://www.greenhousebusiness.com/bananaplants.html
 

Odin's Gma

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New banana plants arrived yesterday, and, as expected, are absolute perfection!
One went into the greenhouse:
003.JPG 005.JPG


Although someone was not happy with humans digging in the Odin-only dig zone of his greenhouse:

002.JPG

And the other is in a pot, safely away from the chewing and stomping. Please don't tell him, there is no telling what he would do if he knew of the secret cache of food I have been hiding from him.
In the foreground is the new baby super-dwarf banana, and in the back, next to Mr. Hibiscus, is the gorgeous ice cream banana plant, which at this pace, will make Mr. Hibiscus look like a little guy in no time!
009.JPG

Two other plants in his enclosure are actually doing remarkably well, the spider plant and the aloe vera!
007.JPG 008.JPG


It's weird about the aloe; in his last enclosure they didn't survive for more that a few weeks, but these are still the original ones I planted in there a couple months ago!
I imagine part of that is the fact that we have been giving him near daily salads in an attempt to distract him enough to allow things to grow, but it has always been one of his favorites, so it is quite unexpected. He does eat it, as you can see by the stalk-stubs around the bottom, but his focus seems to be the thousands of poor seedlings that barely get a chance to sprout before he nibbles them into the dirt. :(
 

Anyfoot

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New banana plants arrived yesterday, and, as expected, are absolute perfection!
One went into the greenhouse:
View attachment 158462 View attachment 158463


Although someone was not happy with humans digging in the Odin-only dig zone of his greenhouse:

View attachment 158461

And the other is in a pot, safely away from the chewing and stomping. Please don't tell him, there is no telling what he would do if he knew of the secret cache of food I have been hiding from him.
In the foreground is the new baby super-dwarf banana, and in the back, next to Mr. Hibiscus, is the gorgeous ice cream banana plant, which at this pace, will make Mr. Hibiscus look like a little guy in no time!
View attachment 158466

Two other plants in his enclosure are actually doing remarkably well, the spider plant and the aloe vera!
View attachment 158464 View attachment 158465


It's weird about the aloe; in his last enclosure they didn't survive for more that a few weeks, but these are still the original ones I planted in there a couple months ago!
I imagine part of that is the fact that we have been giving him near daily salads in an attempt to distract him enough to allow things to grow, but it has always been one of his favorites, so it is quite unexpected. He does eat it, as you can see by the stalk-stubs around the bottom, but his focus seems to be the thousands of poor seedlings that barely get a chance to sprout before he nibbles them into the dirt. :(
Well impressed just doesn't cover it. This is amazing. My internet is on the blink, so I'm struggling to get all your posts open. A lot of the text is missing.
Do you grow bromeliads at all? Im sure I read somewhere that redfoots eat these in the wild.
 

Odin's Gma

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Well impressed just doesn't cover it. This is amazing. My internet is on the blink, so I'm struggling to get all your posts open. A lot of the text is missing.
Do you grow bromeliads at all? Im sure I read somewhere that redfoots eat these in the wild.
Just the one, it is in the corner of the "dry" box next to the ramp. Not sure of the type, but it was at deaths door when I transplanted it, and, to be honest, I am still not entirely sure it is alive now, It is such a strange plant! o_O
When I transplanted it I was fairly certain it was completely dead, yet it remains green, and it may even have new growth, so what do I know?

He chomps on it occasionally, and the other day ripped off a whole dead petal/leaf for no good reason and dragged it across the enclosure.
 

Odin's Gma

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I find your posts so interesting to read. I know I shouldn't laugh but I can't help it at times. You are in a constant battle with your greedy mighty tort. He eats everything.
Oh, and he tidies up all the dead leaves. :p
Laughing is good, heck, I laugh when I type some of these!
He is just such an enigma to me. I'm a Mom at heart, I was long before I had my first kid. I want to feed beings and care for them and make sure those beings are happy and healthy. With most (human, canine, feline, avian, etc.) I get feedback in the form of words, or snuggles or attention seeking behavior.
From Odin, I get "the look" if I get anything at all. o_O
 

Odin's Gma

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The battle for green continues.....

*sigh*
Everything that sprouts gets eaten and trampled in short order, so it is being reseeded at least every week, but there are bits that are so far escaping his wrath and continue to grow! Back in the corner around the new banana plant there is a nice, healthy stand of grasses that are holding strong, well, holding strong vertically.....but it's something!
001.JPG

Today I added my little parlor palm into the greenhouse, mainly to cheer me up....002.JPG

It did not cheer Odin up. Oh how he loathes me digging in his dirt.
And the poor little hibiscus! I would like to relocate it, but I don't want to incur the wrath of the Mighty Odin :eek:004.JPG

I also added a few new spider babies into another corner, hopefully they will take.005.JPG

The plants in the dry box are doing well, except for the fact that he keeps uprooting the opuntia and I have to continually replant them, but they aren't lunch (yet) so I am counting it as a win!006.JPG

And the transition box is getting some nice tufts of (flattened) grass between the spider plants, also a win!007.JPG

Mr. Hibsicus and his BFF Billy Banana (he needed a name, don't judge!) are doing beautifully upstairs and the geranium is coming back and even flowering after the early frost damage.
008.JPG

Little Betsy banana is also stunning, and safe from you know who....safer than the wood on my sliding doors from the pesky claw sharpening of the resident felines :rolleyes:009.JPG

And it seems no matter how often I clip from the opuntia forest they continue to produce! Best purchase ever!011.JPG

I am starting to consider blocking off portions of the greenhouse just to give the poor seedlings a break. It's as though Odin thinks tasty food just grows on trees! ;)
 

Odin's Gma

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The aloe situation is once again out of control, so a certain lucky little tort got some more transplants of both aloe and opuntia in his enclosure today!
003.JPG 004.JPG

And the three still-overgrown pots of aloe have a little bit more legroom005.JPG 006.JPG 008.JPG


It also seems that after months of seeding and hoping we may actually be getting some of the grass to withstand Odin's barrage of stomping and chomping! Of course at this rate by the time it is lush and green it will probably be spring, but hey, I will take what I can get!
Also, as you can see, the newly added parlor palm and mini-banana plant are doing beautifully!
001.JPG
 

Odin's Gma

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Apparently Odin's morning salad was not entirely to his liking, despite the fact that he got a couple of fresh, juicy chunks of opuntia fruit. I went to check on him and he had uprooted a couple of the smaller aloe I planted yesterday, munched them and dragged one around the enclosure.
001.JPG


He toppled one of the new opuntia, ate the tender young growth off the top, and left it for dead (I replanted it)

013.JPG


THEN stormed into the greenhouse and munched a few of the brand new pumpkin seedlings that had jest barely broken the surface.

005.JPG

Of course when I caught him he gave me the look that clearly said "What? I was not eating those delicious new seedlings, that was some other tortoise, I just came over here and found them this way!"

And then turned away from me to finish them off:
006.JPG


In other news, I think it's time the old concrete hide comes out:
036.JPG 039.JPG


It was adorable while it lasted: Awwww :<3:
001.JPG

027.JPG
 

Odin's Gma

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Well, the opuntia that Odin knocked down and munched the new growth off of this morning is now gone. It was there an hour ago when I put him back in the enclosure after his bath and just now when brought him his dinner snack salad there was nothing left but the bottom half inch with the roots. It was about 4-5 inches tall and almost 3 inches wide.

Some torts just wanna watch the world burn.....

*sigh*
 

Odin's Gma

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The battle for green wages on.
Last week there were 6 opuntia and at least 5 aloe plants in his dry box, this is what that same corner looks like now:
011.JPG

He has waged a one-tort war of anything attempting to grow in that area, he has won, and he is pleased

004.JPG

There are still two of the original 3 opuntia remaining (he took out the third yesterday when I was at work) and I have concerns they won't fare much better than their fallen brethren:

024.JPG

Fortunately his annihilation campaign in the dry box has given the greenhouse and the middle box a bit of a respite!

The greenhouse actually has more green than brown! (just barely, but it's something)
001.JPG

There are grass and clover patches all over, desperately trying to get a foothold.....002.JPG

Before they succumb to the beak and talons of the Mighty one....003.JPG

The banana has remained untouched, for now007.JPG

And he has shown zero interest in the parlor palm008.JPG

The poor hibiscus is still just a shell of a plant, but one of the spider babies I planted beneath it is taking hold and coming along beautifully! His partner was found mangled and uprooted halfway across the greenhouse the other day. :(009.JPG

The babies I planted in the other corner are coming along more slowly, but they seem to be taking...for now010.JPG


And the middle box is, at least temporarily, half-grassy. :D
Although one of the newly planted aloe is mysteriously MIA...hmm.....
021.JPG


You be the judge, are these are the eyes of a remorseless stone-(plant)-killer, or an innocent shelled angel who is clearly being framed by the evil, feline contingent in the house?
Dun, dun, DUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN
015.JPG
 
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