Background:
- I'm starting a tortoise garden for my desert tortoise hatchlings to play in, supervised.
- I only have experience growing peppers using the wrong kind of soil for native plants.
- I'm confined to a large pot (for now) because my dirt contains heavy-duty pesticides.
- I have seeds and am going to a nursery tomorrow to look at plants. (I finally caved and used TurtleStuff instead of my favorite local seed seller.)
The Issue:
My issue is getting tortoise friendly soil. I don't even know where to begin. I feel so silly living in Arizona and having the worst dirt ever. What I do know that it needs to drain well, gravel is right out because it'll burn them... I'm going to ask about it tomorrow, but I don't expect them to have tortoise knowledge.
What do you guys use? Cactus soil? Mixes of clay and sand with river rocks under it for drainage? What about fertilizer or soil stabilizing plants? Even if I make a good mix for the plants, does something else need to go over it for the tortoises' safety?
Am I just out of luck because everyone else with Gopherus morafkai lives in more natural parts of town?
Plants / Seeds:
Turtle Stuff seeds
Dot Seed Plantain
Common Mallow
Wildflower Mix
Desert Tortoise Seed Mix
Plants / Grasses I'm going to find out more about tomorrow
Arizona cottontop
Brittlebush
Buffalograss
Desert poinsettia
Plains Bristlegrass
Desert honeysuckle
Parry Penstemon
Desert Globe Mallow
Desert Marigold
I don't have my heart set on these, but from the research I did about plants for tortoises + the nursery's listing of plants they have, this is what I cross checked yesterday.
- I'm starting a tortoise garden for my desert tortoise hatchlings to play in, supervised.
- I only have experience growing peppers using the wrong kind of soil for native plants.
- I'm confined to a large pot (for now) because my dirt contains heavy-duty pesticides.
- I have seeds and am going to a nursery tomorrow to look at plants. (I finally caved and used TurtleStuff instead of my favorite local seed seller.)
The Issue:
My issue is getting tortoise friendly soil. I don't even know where to begin. I feel so silly living in Arizona and having the worst dirt ever. What I do know that it needs to drain well, gravel is right out because it'll burn them... I'm going to ask about it tomorrow, but I don't expect them to have tortoise knowledge.
What do you guys use? Cactus soil? Mixes of clay and sand with river rocks under it for drainage? What about fertilizer or soil stabilizing plants? Even if I make a good mix for the plants, does something else need to go over it for the tortoises' safety?
Am I just out of luck because everyone else with Gopherus morafkai lives in more natural parts of town?
Plants / Seeds:
Turtle Stuff seeds
Dot Seed Plantain
Common Mallow
Wildflower Mix
Desert Tortoise Seed Mix
Plants / Grasses I'm going to find out more about tomorrow
Arizona cottontop
Brittlebush
Buffalograss
Desert poinsettia
Plains Bristlegrass
Desert honeysuckle
Parry Penstemon
Desert Globe Mallow
Desert Marigold
I don't have my heart set on these, but from the research I did about plants for tortoises + the nursery's listing of plants they have, this is what I cross checked yesterday.