Seeds

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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How do we know what grass grows best in what state? Live in Central Tx, 60 miles north of Austin.
I suppose only extensive trial and error will give us a sure answer. Or... we can learn from the experiences of others who've already done it. I've seen members from all over the country posting good reviews of the grass mix from tortoise supply. It seems to do well everywhere.
 

Amelia.Walton

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Burnet, TX
I suppose only extensive trial and error will give us a sure answer. Or... we can learn from the experiences of others who've already done it. I've seen members from all over the country posting good reviews of the grass mix from tortoise supply. It seems to do well everywhere.

I recd my seeds from tortoise supply but no planting directions. Don’t want to waste the seeds but do want good coverage. Should I just mix the seeds together and broadcast them or dig little rows and plant them? Not sure how deep to plant. I have a 25x 25ft enclosure. Appreciate the help.
 

RosemaryDW

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You don’t need little rows; they are intended to be put down as a “true” mix. Nothing in it should need much in the way of depth.

Most people make the mistake of putting down too many seeds, allowing the quickest growers (radishes and clover) to choke out the slower ones.

If your ground is in good shape, I’d just rake it up a little bit, broadcast the seeds and lightly rake them in. I’m not sure if you have enough to seeds to cover that full enclosure, you might want to try a corner of it first and see how well your first try goes.

Good luck!
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I recd my seeds from tortoise supply but no planting directions. Don’t want to waste the seeds but do want good coverage. Should I just mix the seeds together and broadcast them or dig little rows and plant them? Not sure how deep to plant. I have a 25x 25ft enclosure. Appreciate the help.
If you try to plant them in the enclosure with the tortoise, they will be trampled or eaten before they even get going. Time and experience have repeated taught me that seeds tossed into a tortoise enclosure will be eaten by local birds or trampled by the tortoise. Nothing has ever grown for me when I've attempted to do it the easy way.

I would use wood or blocks and close off a few sections of enclosure. Maybe 3 or 4 sections that are 4x4' or 2x8' and do your planting in there. I broadcast the seeds over soil that I've tilled, added amendments of fertilizer too, watered heavily, and then I lightly sprinkle about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of soil on top of the seeds and water some more. Its important the the seeds never dry out from this moment on during germination and early growth. I water every hour or two on a hot sunny summer day here because we have zero humidity. Stagger your planting of these little closed off plots by about a week or two so they are reaching grazing size at different times. Make temporary covers for these plots to keep the local birds from stealing all your seeds before they germinate. I leave the covers on after germination and growth begins to keep all the rabbits, squirrels and rodents from ravaging and destroying my sprouts. I use 2x4 frames with welded wire, hardware cloth or chicken wire for this purpose, but you can make covers however you like.

When the plants are of a suitable size, open one section and let the tortoise have at it. When that section is grazed down enough, close it back off, and open the next section. The first section will recover and regrow and by the time the tortoise has grazed down the last section, the first section is ready to go again. In time you'll be able to tell how many plots you need and how big they need to be to make this work, and you'll never have to "feed" your tortoise again.

If some section or some specific plant types are growing too fast, you can always hand trim those with scissors and feed it out to the tortoise before grazing of that section begins (I'm talking to you radish sprouts...). Alternatively, you can plant all these seeds elsewhere or in planter boxes and just trim and feed it to your tortoise. I grab up handfuls, cut with scissors and drop each cut handful into a bucket. When I have enough in my bucket, I carry it over to the tortoise pens and drop the right amount on each of their feeding trays. If feeding a sulcata that is 12 or more inches, I first place a layer of orchard grass hay or Bermuda grass hay on the feeding tray and then put the fresh cut greens on top of the hay. This gets them started eating their hay, which is a tremendously helpful thing when they reach 100+ pounds and can seemingly eat that much food daily.

Questions are welcome! :)
 
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