Having trouble growing plants.

[JonAz]

So no matter what I've tried, sulcataseedmix, Bermuda grass, different veggies/grasses/lettuces and even dandelions I can't get anything to grow!!!

Is there any tortoise safe fertilizers? I don't know what else to do. The two hibiscus plants I planted seem to be doing fine.

Help me haha!

 

[jaizei]

You should describe what you've done so far. Are you trying to grow in pots, or do you have a garden?, etc.

As for 'fertilizer', I just use compost. Vermicast is even better.

 

[wellington]

Where are you trying to grow them? In pots, in the yard? In the house? It may be too hot if you have them out in the sun. You also might not be watering them enough or too much. Try growing in indoors in low sided trays. Then you can just put them out when ready to feed. I don't know of any fertilizer that is tort safe except maybe older manure

 

[mctlong]

What are the temps in Mesa? Are you trying to grow outdoors or indoors? If outdoors, is your nursery elevated or on the ground? Are you growing in pots or directly in the ground? If in the ground, is your soil sandy or clayey?

 

[JonAz]

Sorry, growing outside underneath a 60%uv blocking nursery cloth. I get a few very few sprouts of Bermuda grass but nothing compared to the amount of seed I put down.

Temps have been up to 110 recently here but have been slowly dropping.

 

[Edna]

You'll have better luck when the temps drop. My seed sprouting is near 100% at temps around 70.

 

[mctlong]

Your biggest problem isn't the fertilizer, its the roots cooking at 110 degrees. You'll have better luck purchasing mature plants from a nursery and replanting them in your garden. Mature plants are going to have more robust roots than the little sprouts growing from your seed mix.

Some plants do better in heat than others. Prickly pear and sweet potato might be some good options for you. Your seedmix is not impossible to grow in the heat, its just going to be more challenging to keep the little plants from frying.

For any plant you grow, seedmix or otherwise, there are some steps you can take to keep the roots a little cooler. First, you want to plant directly in the ground. Roots in the ground are better insulated and stay cooler than roots in an artificial pot or in an elevated nursery (such as a table-top garden). Water generously twice daily when its cooler out (i.e. once in the evening and once in the morning before the sun rises). Keep the surface or your garden area an inch or two lower than the ground surrounding the garden. Finally, use a soil that holds moisture. Sandy loams are better at this than silty soils. You can make a good sandy loam by mixing a pesticide-free, organic topsoil with sand.

I wish you the best of luck. Please keep us posted.

 

[Jacqui]

Your biggest problem isn't the fertilizer, its the roots cooking at 110 degrees. You'll have better luck purchasing mature plants from a nursery and replanting them in your garden. Mature plants are going to have more robust roots than the little sprouts growing from your seed mix.

Some plants do better in heat than others. Prickly pear and sweet potato might be some good options for you. Your seedmix is not impossible to grow in the heat, its just going to be more challenging to keep the little plants from frying.

For any plant you grow, seedmix or otherwise, there are some steps you can take to keep the roots a little cooler. First, you want to plant directly in the ground. Roots in the ground are better insulated and stay cooler than roots in an artificial pot or in an elevated nursery (such as a table-top garden). Water generously twice daily when its cooler out (i.e. once in the evening and once in the morning before the sun rises). Keep the surface or your garden area an inch or two lower than the ground surrounding the garden. Finally, use a soil that holds moisture. Sandy loams are better at this than silty soils. You can make a good sandy loam by mixing a pesticide-free, organic topsoil with sand.

I wish you the best of luck. Please keep us posted.

Some very good advise!

 

[MistyChee']

I'm in Yuma, AZ and have had the same problem. I have killed spider plants, aloe, and 4 hibiscus. No grass will grow except sod. I think it may just be the climate here in the summer. Hopefully like others said we will have better luck when it cools off a bit.

 

[mctlong]

Some very good advise!

Aww, thanks Jaqui, I fried alot of plants before figuring this out the hard way. I totally empathize with JonAz's frustration and anyone else living in these insanely hot climates.

 

[redbeef]

It's not nearly that hot here in Southern California right now and I still wouldn't recommend anyone starting plants outdoors until at least a month from now. Just wait until Fall and try again...or start them indoors now and move them outside when it cools down.

 

[AustinASU]

aquaponics is the way to go, thats how i grow everything

 

[JonAz]

Thank you mctlong for he great advice. Looks like I will have to wait another month or so to start my boys their garden.

 

[Tom]

Jon, I'm in Santa Clarita, CA. Our summer temps are similar to yours, just a few degrees cooler most of the time and usually much cooler at night. I started trying to grow things in December. It was cold so it took a long time for things to get going, but they did. We had a glorious spring here. Days were only in the 80's for months on end. Everything I planted was thriving. I couldn't feed enough to my whole herd it was all growing so fast. Then when the normal summer temps hit and we started getting 100+ days, a lot of my stuff just started cooking. Established, producing plants just yellowed and wilted no matter what I did. My automatic watering timers are set for every six hours. 6am, 12pm, 6pm, and 12am. The soil in my plants would stay damp, despite the heat, but the plants just couldn't take it. New seeds would sort of start a little but then just turn pale and stall. I tried putting pots where they would just get some morning sun, but then afternoon shade in the real heat. No dice. It is just really hard to grow anything in a hot dry climate during summer. Try again in fall. When the rest of the country is frozen over for winter, you will be able to grow some nice grazing plants.

Just want you to know that it is probably not anything you are doing or not doing, it's just that heat.

 

[kingskettle]

I'm in the south of Spain with similar temps to where you are and I started a tortoise lawn last October . It grew away beautifully in the cooler temperature of autumn/fall and my two leopards started grazing this spring but once the summer heat came, the grass just started to die off and there is no grass for them to eat now. Sooooooooooo I raked all the old thatch off and scattered more seed this week and watered it in. Next day, I noticed hardly any seed was visible: I hadn't seen any birds in quantity onsite so scattered another load of grass and weed seeds on the ground and covered most of the area with thermal fleece just in case it was birds. However, later that evening,the real culprits were revealed.----ANTS! The dastardly bugs were there in their thousands carting away each and every seed! Termination took place and more seed was scattered plus some more water so now I hope the seeds will sprout in the cooler (82F) temps here. I also have dandelion,sainfoin,alfalfa and lettuce growing in deep troughs under shade material and they're all looking good. The things we do for our beasties!!

 

[mainey34]

Jonaz,
I live in AZ. West valley. I grow a garden outside year round. Without any problems. In fact I just replanted cucumbers 4 days ago and have sprouts already. Now, here in AZ. It is where you place your garden. Mine gets sun from 7am to 12 pm. Right now the sun is not very hot. So I do not cover my garden. Depending on what you are using make sure you have proper drainage. I don't have luck with pots. I have a 6 by 6 raised garden.just keep it moist, but don't soak. Water early in the morning. And just make sure it doesn't dry out. Email me if you have any [email protected]