Growing Grass??

[dmarshall1991]

Hey everyone! I'm working on an outdoor tortoise area and am going to be growing grass so they can graze. What I'm wondering is how do I go about growing grass (rye) without fertilizer??? I was talking to my dad about it earlier this morning and he told me that the grass won't grow if I don't use fertilizer. Do you use it or is it unsafe for tortoises?

 

[Zeko]

You can buy organic soil. No artificial fertilizer, and it's safe for your tortoise. This is what I use, and it grows grass and such just fine.

Stay away from all the Mericle Grow stuff.

 

[Ciri]

Depending on your soil, and the type of grass, you may not actually need fertilizer. What kind of tortoise? What kind of grass?

 

[dmarshall1991]

I have organic potting soil. It's about 2-3 inches deep. I was thinking rye grass because it's good for winter. I live in southern Arizona so it doesn't snow or anything but it does get pretty cold and it does get a good frost here and there. The tortoises that it will feed are a sulcata, and a desert tortoise. Also a red foot who will be using the area to get sun for an hour or two. none of the torts will be out there permanently except for the desert tortoise once he's healthy (adopting him this coming week and he's not healthy at all) so he will be kept inside until next spring when he's healthy enough. So basically it's just an enclosed area for sunning and grazing a couple hours a day when the temp is high and the sun is out.

 

[Tom]

Grass grows just fine without artificial fertilizer. There is natural fertilizer in the soil you've got and the dirt outside too. The weeds and grass that grow every rainy season, or near any leaky pipes should be proof enough of this.

Potting soil usually has additives like perlite in it. I would not use that.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I've never used fertilizer and I've grown big lawns

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

We don't use fertilizer on the yard, and there's grass galore and more weeds than grass, probably, but the point is, it grows great ;D

 

[Ciri]

I don't know if you are aware that the desert tortoise and sulcata tortoise should not be living together, as the sulcata could get the desert tortoise sick. This is what my reptile veterinarian has advised.

This link is a list of foods for the desert tortoise:
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/DesertTortoiseDiet2014.pdf

I don't know which grasses are best nutritionally for the sulcata and red foot tortoise.

Diacondra would be a good one to plant this time of year. I'm doing that myself and I'm in southern Arizona as well. It will grow in our desert soil, but if you add some organic compost that will help. You can get organic compost in Tucson at Acme sand and gravel, and also at Desert survivors. For planting Diacondra I always soak the seeds first to get off the chemicals. It's impossible to get Diacondra seeds that are not treated. Desert survivors also has good plants for desert tortoises to eat, such as globe mallows. Native Seed Search is also another good source here in Tucson for seeds. I don't know if rye has good nutrition for tortoises, but I know it's not one that my vet recommends for desert tortoises. He has said that Bermuda grass is good nutrition, but mine doesn't grow very well in the winter.

This is a brochure listing lots of really healthy native foods for desert tortoises:
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/NativePlantsforDesertTortoises_2008.pdf

Hope all goes well with the tortoises, especially the desert tortoise who you mentioned is recuperating.

 

[dmarshall1991]

I don't know if you are aware that the desert tortoise and sulcata tortoise should not be living together, as the sulcata could get the desert tortoise sick. This is what my reptile veterinarian has advised.

This link is a list of foods for the desert tortoise:
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/DesertTortoiseDiet2014.pdf

I don't know which grasses are best nutritionally for the sulcata and red foot tortoise.

Diacondra would be a good one to plant this time of year. I'm doing that myself and I'm in southern Arizona as well. It will grow in our desert soil, but if you add some organic compost that will help. You can get organic compost in Tucson at Acme sand and gravel, and also at Desert survivors. For planting Diacondra I always soak the seeds first to get off the chemicals. It's impossible to get Diacondra seeds that are not treated. Desert survivors also has good plants for desert tortoises to eat, such as globe mallows. Native Seed Search is also another good source here in Tucson for seeds. I don't know if rye has good nutrition for tortoises, but I know it's not one that my vet recommends for desert tortoises. He has said that Bermuda grass is good nutrition, but mine doesn't grow very well in the winter.

This is a brochure listing lots of really healthy native foods for desert tortoises:
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/NativePlantsforDesertTortoises_2008.pdf

Hope all goes well with the tortoises, especially the desert tortoise who you mentioned is recuperating.

Thank you SO much for all this help!!! I am going to go to Acme sand and gravel tomorrow and pick up some of the organic compost that you mentioned and I will also go to Desert survivors and get some of the plants and seeds from that amazing list that you provided me. I have never heard of Native Seed Search. what cross streets is that located on?? I would like to check that out as well. I want to grow Bermuda grass so badly but i don't want to frustrate myself with trying to grow summer grass in the winter. I will probably do a mix of rye grass with dichondra and some other tortoise friendly weeds and seeds, I know i have some clover seeds that supposedly grow well in the winter, but im not sure if they actually will. ill try it out though! Thank you again for all the info and help I really appreciate that a lot.

 

[Ciri]

Just so you know, Acme sand and gravel sells compost by the cubic yard. So you either need a truck, or to take a lot of buckets. Or they deliver. You might want to call them first. They have two kinds of organic compost, and one was more broken down than the other – that's the one I bought. It's been really nice compost. Native Seed Search is on Campbell near Fort Lowell. Here's the link for them:
http://shop.nativeseeds.org/pages/seeds
They do have a desert tortoise wildflower mix of seeds, and this is a good time of year to plant them. Have fun in Tucson tomorrow.

 

[dmarshall1991]

Just so you know, Acme sand and gravel sells compost by the cubic yard. So you either need a truck, or to take a lot of buckets. Or they deliver. You might want to call them first. They have two kinds of organic compost, and one was more broken down than the other – that's the one I bought. It's been really nice compost. Native Seed Search is on Campbell near Fort Lowell. Here's the link for them:
http://shop.nativeseeds.org/pages/seeds
They do have a desert tortoise wildflower mix of seeds, and this is a good time of year to plant them. Have fun in Tucson tomorrow.

I just got back from the natives seeds search and I bought the desert tortoise wildflower mix you were talking about along with some other seeds. I also went and got the compost and went to the desert survivors place but they weren't open today so i went to mesquite valley growers and got a pallet of dichondra because they don't sell the seeds for it anywhere that i asked. Thanks for all your help i had a successful shopping trip thanks to you! I'll probably go back to desert survivors tomorrow to check it out and see if there's anything there that I don't have already. here's a picture of the stuff I got today.

 

[Ciri]

Everything looks very yummy! I'm glad your trip was successful. I didn't know Mesquite Valley growers did pallets of Dichondra – that certainly makes it a lot easier.

 

[dmarshall1991]

Yes they have pallets of it for $21. They told me that the seeds really need to be planted when the temp stays in the 80s for it to grow. So I just decided to go with the pre grown stuff haha. I took the easy way out. But it's worth it to me.plus my torts have instant yummies to snack on