Indoor Grazing Field project - Growing your own food

NolanFeinberg

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Hello everyone!
My greek tort named Zeus is a little over a year old. Since a baby, he was fed various store-bought lettuces and weeds along with some fruit, vegetables and a hibiscus flowers from time to time. I always follow Tortoisetable.com's plant database to know what is okay and not okay for him to eat. This database is legit!
After reading various threads own growing your own vegetation, i decided to start growing my own plants and weeds, such as various grasses, hay, clovers, plantain, mach, in order to enhance my tort's diet. I also wanted to have a big enough grow area in which my tort can freely graze and eat at his liking!!! (talk about spoiled :D) So, i turned one of my closet's into a greenroom. i bought 2 types of tortoise seed mix online from Carolinapetsupply.com. One was a grazing tortoise mix and the other was a broadleaf mix (the mixes are great). I also purchased an 130W L.E.D growing light since i will be growing indoors with no sunlight. The light seems to work great!! I gutted the closet, put a 4ft x 2ft tub with a stand and hung the light. Last week, I filled the tub with potting soil and spread the seed mix around.

I have uploaded a few pics.
The first is of Zeus!:tort::tort::tort:
The other 2 pictures are taken today, 4 days after i planted the seed mix! The progress is great.

I will keep posting pics with updates!! Feel free to ask questions.
cheers!:tort:
 

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Barista5261

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That's really cool! I wanted to do something like this (I live in an apartment until next fall) and wanted to bring the outside in to my torts since j don't really have anywhere to let them graze. I put a small patch of sod into their closed chamber, but I would love to grow a patch of something big enough I could turn them loose in.

Handsome fella ya got there!
 

DevilsLettuce

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I'm interested to see your results. I haven't jumped aboard the LED train yet and tend to stick with t5s, Metal halides, and high pressure sodium bulbs.

Do you have a link to the LED fixture? Are they the 1w bulbs? What's the color ratio? Sorry for all the questions
 

Tom

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130 LED watts ??? Are you sure about that? I have giant LED units mounted on tall poles that light up a whole acre and each one only uses 39 watts. Each unit looks to be about the size of the one you have hanging there.

Anyway, this is a terrific idea, and thanks for posting.

Welcome to the forum too.
 

NolanFeinberg

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DevilsLettuce said:
I'm interested to see your results. I haven't jumped aboard the LED train yet and tend to stick with t5s, Metal halides, and high pressure sodium bulbs.

Do you have a link to the LED fixture? Are they the 1w bulbs? What's the color ratio? Sorry for all the questions

All great questions, i was as curious as you are so i did my research on the net and found a local LED supplier in Ontario (i live in Montreal, nearby). The supplier's name is GreenLamp (www.Greenlamp.ca). i called them up and spoke directly to the owner. He was very nice and informative. I purchased the 130W diamondbrite4 LED panel and it arrived a few days later. Here are all the specifications of the light
Power: 130 Watts
Number of LEDs: 60 x 3W chips

Operating temperature: -20 º C ~ +40 º C
Voltage: 85 ~ 264V AC Adaptive
No configuration or installation! - The Plug-N-Play
Weight: 3.65 kg
Dimensions: 270 x 283 x 85mm
Indicators (color):
24 maroon LEDs (660nm)
12 Red LEDs (630nm)
8 Blue LEDs (470nm)
4 Blue LEDs (430nm)
4 Orange LEDs (615nm)
4 Green LEDs (520nm)
4 White LEDs (3000K)

The diamondbrite4 covers an area of 0.8 square meters so this size panel would be a sufficient amount of light to grow in my closet. The panels range in all different sizes. As you can see on the site, the diamondbrite LED panel has a bunch of different colours as opposed to a tradition 'red and blue' LED board. The diamondbrite technology is supposed to be far superior than other led panels and so far, i am having great results with it!:)
 

sibi

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That's really cool! Where did you get your L.E.D. growing light? Will all the weeds really grow without sunlight? When will it be transferred into the yard/outside?
NolanFeinberg said:
Hello everyone!
My greek tort named Zeus is a little over a year old. Since a baby, he was fed various store-bought lettuces and weeds along with some fruit, vegetables and a hibiscus flowers from time to time. I always follow Tortoisetable.com's plant database to know what is okay and not okay for him to eat. This database is legit!
After reading various threads own growing your own vegetation, i decided to start growing my own plants and weeds, such as various grasses, hay, clovers, plantain, mach, in order to enhance my tort's diet. I also wanted to have a big enough grow area in which my tort can freely graze and eat at his liking!!! (talk about spoiled :D) So, i turned one of my closet's into a greenroom. i bought 2 types of tortoise seed mix online from Carolinapetsupply.com. One was a grazing tortoise mix and the other was a broadleaf mix (the mixes are great). I also purchased an 130W L.E.D growing light since i will be growing indoors with no sunlight. The light seems to work great!! I gutted the closet, put a 4ft x 2ft tub with a stand and hung the light. Last week, I filled the tub with potting soil and spread the seed mix around.

I have uploaded a few pics.
The first is of Zeus!:tort::tort::tort:
The other 2 pictures are taken today, 4 days after i planted the seed mix! The progress is great.

I will keep posting pics with updates!! Feel free to ask questions.
cheers!:tort:
 

DevilsLettuce

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Tom said:
130 LED watts ??? Are you sure about that? I have giant LED units mounted on tall poles that light up a whole acre and each one only uses 39 watts. Each unit looks to be about the size of the one you have hanging there.

Anyway, this is a terrific idea, and thanks for posting.

Welcome to the forum too.

Yes it's likely 130watts Tom. The LEDs that are used for horticulture are usually at least a 1 watt a piece. I had a 90 watt UFO led type set up and it had 90 1watt led bulbs. I only used it for a little bit and concluded it was mediocre and went back to what I know works good. That was years ago tho, I'm sure LEDs have had a few improvements.
 

Tom

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DevilsLettuce said:
Yes it's likely 130watts Tom. The LEDs that are used for horticulture are usually at least a 1 watt a piece. I had a 90 watt UFO led type set up and it had 90 1watt led bulbs. I only used it for a little bit and concluded it was mediocre and went back to what I know works good. That was years ago tho, I'm sure LEDs have had a few improvements.

WOW! That has got to be throwing out some serious lumens!

Good to know. Thanks.
 

Jacqui

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So what amount of money do you have invested in his "field"?
 

SunnySideUp

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Your tortoise is very handsome. What a gorgeous shell! I wish I could assemble something to grow plants indoors. My windowsill is all I've got, haha. :D
 

NolanFeinberg

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Jacqui said:
So what amount of money do you have invested in his "field"?

Hello Jacqui!

I can definitely break it down for you in terms of what i have spent on this project.

L.E.D Diamondbrite4 130W growing light: $400
1/2 pound of Seeds from Carolina Pet Supply: $30
Potting soil: $20
Plastic 3 Mil lining: $15

The growing tray i use is actually the base of a rabbit cage. The rabbit cage was used as a pen for my tort. I recently upgraded his pen to a larger rabbit cage so i had this extra one to spare. i took off the actual cage and used the base to grow in. Luckily, it fit perfectly in the closet!

Basically, the expensive part is the L.E.D growing light. The light i bought comes with a LIFETIME guarantee and the technology in it is supposed to be far more advanced then a typical LED grow light. However, a cheaper and more simple way to grow plants indoors is to use a CFL lightbulb. It obviously won't provide as much light as a typical "grow light" but it will do the trick.
It is obviously not necessary to go out and spend 400 bucks like i did. However, a light like i have is the most beneficial for plant growth, but someone who's trying to work with a budget can use cheaper lights like CFLs to grow indoors. In my case living in Canada, the climate is not always suitable for growing plants outdoors so i am stuck growing indoors with artificial light.
The main point i want to stress is that it is very easy and beneficial to grow your own weeds and grasses for your tortoise. All you need, is some potting soil, a few seeds, a light source and your good to go!:cool:


I have attached some more pictures
The first is of my my tort's pen. (My tort Zeus is happily chompin' on some fresh greens in the pic)

The other picture is of the plants today (Day 5 since planting the seeds)
 

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DevilsLettuce

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NolanFeinberg said:
Jacqui said:
So what amount of money do you have invested in his "field"?

Hello Jacqui!

I can definitely break it down for you in terms of what i have spent on this project.

L.E.D Diamondbrite4 130W growing light: $400
1/2 pound of Seeds from Carolina Pet Supply: $30
Potting soil: $20
Plastic 3 Mil lining: $15

The growing tray i use is actually the base of a rabbit cage. The rabbit cage was used as a pen for my tort. I recently upgraded his pen to a larger rabbit cage so i had this extra one to spare. i took off the actual cage and used the base to grow in. Luckily, it fit perfectly in the closet!

Basically, the expensive part is the L.E.D growing light. The light i bought comes with a LIFETIME guarantee and the technology in it is supposed to be far more advanced then a typical LED grow light. However, a cheaper and more simple way to grow plants indoors is to use a CFL lightbulb. It obviously won't provide as much light as a typical "grow light" but it will do the trick.
It is obviously not necessary to go out and spend 400 bucks like i did. However, a light like i have is the most beneficial for plant growth, but someone who's trying to work with a budget can use cheaper lights like CFLs to grow indoors. In my case living in Canada, the climate is not always suitable for growing plants outdoors so i am stuck growing indoors with artificial light.
The main point i want to stress is that it is very easy and beneficial to grow your own weeds and grasses for your tortoise. All you need, is some potting soil, a few seeds, a light source and your good to go!:cool:


I have attached some more pictures
The first is of my my tort's pen. (My tort Zeus is happily chompin' on some fresh greens in the pic)

The other picture is of the plants today (Day 5 since planting the seeds)

You say it is the most beneficial grow light, where's the facts and trials to back that up? Just curious as everyone I know that grows plants indoors is against using LED lights. I personally had better luck using a couple 2700k + 6500k CFLs over LEDs...
Metal Halide and HPS is still best in my opinion and that's with +10 years of experience of growing plants indoors every which way possible.


Also do you have any ventilation goin on in your closet? I know most LEDs don't put off much heat but what are the temps like in there? What light cycle are you using?
 

NolanFeinberg

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Hey Devilslettuce!

Sorry for the misunderstanding, what i mean to say is: the most beneficial L.E.D growing light. There is no question that MH and HPS are better for growing than L.E.D, so i agree with you on that. However, my goal was to find the best L.E.D light on the market! An LED light emits little to no heat compared to MH and HPS, and uses a lot less energy!
Out of all the L.E.D lights, i really think this Diamondbrite L.E.D panel is far superior ad the most efficient.
The diamondbrite's light combination spectrums (colors) are scientifically proven to maximize plant growth. On the diamondbrite4 130W i am using, there are 8 unique colours each representing different light spectrums. Most L.E.D growing lights have 1-4 colours, this one has 8!

Anyways, time will tell if this L.E.D light was actually worth it. For now, it seems to be providing the plants with a sufficient amount of light.

One question i ask is that i have the LED light running 24/7 but should i switch to a 20/4, even a 16/8 cycle?
Thanks!
 

gtc

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Very cool. Looking forward to seeing the results.

Btw...my Helios has the same shell pattern as your Zeus. Our torts are also the same age :) do you know what kind of Greek Zeus is?
 

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