Good seed mix for outdoor Hermanns enclosure?

[Michael Bird]

As soon as weather permits, I want to let my Hermann's tortoise get some quality outdoor time with real sunlight and real grazing/browsing in a dedicated enclosure. To get things started, I want to plant the area with a good variety of healthy plants that grow well in this area so that some of the plants can (hopefully) start growing before the outdoor temperatures are warm enough for him to go outside.

According to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map, we are either a 7A or 7B planting zone. I see lots of recommendations for different tortoise seed mixes, but so far I haven't seen any that list their appropriate hardiness zones.

This one looks like a really good mix of plants for the Hermann's, but I don't know how to tell if it will actually grow here: https://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix

Any suggestions for a good mix that I can plant here? Thanks!

 

[wellington]

That is a good mix to use. You can always grow it in trays first and get it going good and either transplant it or feed the tray and then switch it out when it's depleted with a full tray and so on.

 

[Michael Bird]

Thanks. How big of a bag do you think I'd need to effectively seed a good portion of a 5' x 18' outdoor enclosure? That's the space that I'm planning to wall off for the tortoise.

 

[Tom]

Thanks. How big of a bag do you think I'd need to effectively seed a good portion of a 5' x 18' outdoor enclosure? That's the space that I'm planning to wall off for the tortoise.

The mix from torotisesupply is excellent. I have been using it for years. The one pound bag will go a long way. I can do several 4x8 plots with that amount. It just depends on how dense you go with your seed dispersal. I probably use way too much and make it pretty dense because mine is in planters and not intended for tortoises to directly graze on it.

I would recommend planting in patches so the tortoise has room to walk. Make some 2x4 frames, any size or shape, and cover with hardware cloth. Place these frames over the seeded area until the plants start growing out the top. If you don't the birds and other critters will enjoy a wonderful meal after all your hard work, and your tortoise will never see what you did for him.

 

[Michael Bird]

Thanks. I'm planning to do some landscaping with a couple of in ground hides, a few larger plants like Hosta and Opuntia, and paths around the enclosure with some natural stone and maybe a small log or two, then plant small stuff all around that for easy "drive-by" grazing.

Somewhat inspired by this, but with more plants, and a much bigger area (about 5' x 18'):