Indoor Plant Growing Advice (Fodder System)

[TCZaro]

Hello, before I purchase a tortoise I would like to learn as much information about their care as possible. I have some questions about tortoise diet that have not been cleared up through google/TF searches. Firstly, I would like to grow my own food indoors during the winter, and I think a "fodder" system would work well. I learned that without soil, grasses have less bacteria/pollutants, and will be much cleaner to grow indoors. I was wondering if anyone else has had success with a fodder system to feed their tortoises. If so I have some questions:
1. Does growing grasses/weeds without soil make the plants any less nutritious to the tortoise?
2. Is it OK for a tortoise to eat the seed and root system of a "fodder block" (see link for example)
3. How many square feet of fodder does one small tortoise (russian/hermann's) need per week? (see link for example)
4. If anyone has grown fodder before, what plants did you find easiest/hardiest/best to grow?

Thanks for all your help and time!!
http://www.foddersolutions.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fodder.jpg

 

[Trevor Ostrander]

I am also interested in this as well. I have just started a small scale fodder system. I am trying rye right now. My first batch had some mold so I tossed it out. I hear field grade seed is more likely to do this. I may order some organic cleaned seed from websites that sell it for juicing. I am going to try rye, barley, wheat, and oat grass. I will let you know how it works out for me. I would love to hear from someone that has been doing this already. Thanks for starting this thread! I was going to do it but just haven't had time. I hate feeding grocery store greens.

 

[TCZaro]

I am also interested in this as well. I have just started a small scale fodder system. I am trying rye right now. My first batch had some mold so I tossed it out. I hear field grade seed is more likely to do this. I may order some organic cleaned seed from websites that sell it for juicing. I am going to try rye, barley, wheat, and oat grass. I will let you know how it works out for me. I would love to hear from someone that has been doing this already. Thanks for starting this thread! I was going to do it but just haven't had time. I hate feeding grocery store greens.

Wow, I would love to hear what you found successful/what you experiences are. Make sure to keep me posted!!

 

[Tom]

I don't know anything about fodder, but it works just fine with regular soil. Here is a response I just typed up for a similar question about growing food for winter:

Get some trays and make a hole in your substrate so the tray will sit flush with the substrate. Do your best to find potting soil or garden soil with no additives like perlite. If you start several trays you can swap them out as needed so your tortoise will always have some graze available.

What species are you feeding? I like this one for most any species: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix

For grass eating species I add lots of this the the mix:
http://www.groworganic.com/premium-horse-pasture-mix-irrigation.html

Its getting to be the wrong time of year to start sprouting plants outside. All of my outdoor plots are slowing way down now that summer has come to an end. You might have better luck indoors with a rack system and some florescent lights.

 

[TCZaro]

I don't know anything about fodder, but it works just fine with regular soil. Here is a response I just typed up for a similar question about growing food for winter:

Get some trays and make a hole in your substrate so the tray will sit flush with the substrate. Do your best to find potting soil or garden soil with no additives like perlite. If you start several trays you can swap them out as needed so your tortoise will always have some graze available.

What species are you feeding? I like this one for most any species: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix

For grass eating species I add lots of this the the mix:
http://www.groworganic.com/premium-horse-pasture-mix-irrigation.html

Its getting to be the wrong time of year to start sprouting plants outside. All of my outdoor plots are slowing way down now that summer has come to an end. You might have better luck indoors with a rack system and some florescent lights.

Thanks for the advice Tom, I will probably go with your florescent light idea. I was wondering how much of your tort's diet is made up of your home-grown plants?

 

[Tom]

I was wondering how much of your tort's diet is made up of your home-grown plants?

That is a long story, but the short answer is almost all of it. I spend as much time tending the plants as I do the tortoises.

I grow:
mulberry trees
grape leaves
african hibiscus
lots of different types of opuntia cactus (about 40 stands)
red apple (the succulent ground cover, not the fruit)
lots of different types of grasses
squash for the leaves and blooms
eight 4x8' plots of the testudo mix
and all sorts weeds that I "encourage" to grow where I want them.

In addition to all of the above I supplement with leftover salad fixin's mixed with grass or chopped rehydrated hay, a wide assortment of weeds collected from a wide assortment of places, occasional pumpkins in the fall, and occasional Mazuri and ZooMed Grassland tortoise food.

I need about two five gallon buckets of food daily to feed my herd.

And after all that... for about 4-5 months of the year we get our winter "rainy" season. During this time the wild weeds and grasses sprout and take off. During this time I don't "feed" my tortoises at all. They eat their fill of grasses and weeds daily at will.

 

[TCZaro]

That is a long story, but the short answer is almost all of it. I spend as much time tending the plants as I do the tortoises.

I grow:
mulberry trees
grape leaves
african hibiscus
lots of different types of opuntia cactus (about 40 stands)
red apple (the succulent ground cover, not the fruit)
lots of different types of grasses
squash for the leaves and blooms
eight 4x8' plots of the testudo mix
and all sorts weeds that I "encourage" to grow where I want them.

In addition to all of the above I supplement with leftover salad fixin's mixed with grass or chopped rehydrated hay, a wide assortment of weeds collected from a wide assortment of places, occasional pumpkins in the fall, and occasional Mazuri and ZooMed Grassland tortoise food.

I need about two five gallon buckets of food daily to feed my herd.

And after all that... for about 4-5 months of the year we get our winter "rainy" season. During this time the wild weeds and grasses sprout and take off. During this time I don't "feed" my tortoises at all. They eat their fill of grasses and weeds daily at will.

Wow, you have some hungry torts! Thanks for the help.

 

[Jabuticaba]

I am also interested in this as well. I have just started a small scale fodder system. I am trying rye right now. My first batch had some mold so I tossed it out. I hear field grade seed is more likely to do this. I may order some organic cleaned seed from websites that sell it for juicing. I am going to try rye, barley, wheat, and oat grass. I will let you know how it works out for me. I would love to hear from someone that has been doing this already. Thanks for starting this thread! I was going to do it but just haven't had time. I hate feeding grocery store greens.

Let me know how the mallow seeds work out. I'm interested in starting a fodder system, too. Would be good for growing tort and human food during winter.


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