Make my own potting soil

[irishshake]

I was planning on making my own potting soil with the below ingredients. I want to grow my own wild flowers and weeds for a Western Hermann's Tortoise. Two questions.

1. Can my tortoise live in this substrate if I bake everything first?
2. Will the flowers grow after it has been baked?


Ingredients
1 Part Aged Compost (locally sourced or homemade)* or 1/2 Aged Compost, 1/2 Aged Manure
1 Part Coconut Coir
1 Part Pumice (a volcanic rock) or Perlite (a volcanic glass)
1 Part Sand

 

[ascott]

Ingredients
1 Part Aged Compost (locally sourced or homemade)* or 1/2 Aged Compost, 1/2 Aged Manure
1 Part Coconut Coir
1 Part Pumice (a volcanic rock) or Perlite (a volcanic glass)
1 Part Sand

1. If the compost is clean compost (no pesticide/herbicide/fertilier used in the material deposited into the compost heap.

2. Coco Coir is really good.

3. I would not use either of these, especially the Perlite.

4. Sand, this is one of my least favorite substrates, especially for an indoor enclosure...just to high of a risk for impaction, yes, a tortoise can ingest just about any substrate and it can cause an issue...but sand just does not move through their system the same as the soil type substrates do.

I would do the ratios a bit more like this if you must use the compost
;
Compost 20 %
Coco Coir 50 %
Peat Moss 30 % (the finely processed soil type, not the stringy)

Just what I would do...actually, I would totally skip the compost all together...and just use the coco coir and peat moss 50/50...

---

1. Can my tortoise live in this substrate if I bake everything first?
2. Will the flowers grow after it has been baked?

Oh yeah...why would you want to bake everything? I do not know the answer to the second question here...perhaps others will (I don't bake the substrate so I can not answer this question first hand)

 

[Edna]

When I am growing specifically for my torts, I use their substrate, poo and all, as the potting soil. My substrate is a blend of organic potting soil, coconut coir, and cypress mulch. Holds moisture well and has plenty of fertilizer!

 

[Jacqui]

I use my old substrate for potting soil outside and inside within their enclosures. I use the coir and children's playsand as the base, with some also having cypress mulch and/or old leaves added too. Like Edna said, old substrate is a wonderful potting soil.

 

[jaizei]

I would use fine vermiculite instead of the pumice/perlite, and probably use a sandy loam instead of straight sand.

 

[irishshake]

Thank you everyone, I will try and use coco coir and peat moss 50/50 and see if I can get my flowers to grow .

 

[Edna]

At that ratio, the peat might make your soil too acidic for some plants. Most of my plants prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil.

 

[irishshake]

At that ratio, the peat might make your soil too acidic for some plants. Most of my plants prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil.

I'm afraid organic potting soil will have some sort of additive I'm not aware of :s maybe I can use just coco and mulch?

 

[Edna]

My mom raises seedlings in straight coco coir, so I bet a coco/mulch mix would be fine.

 

[irishshake]

Ok i bought some planter pots, and some perlite ( will not be placed in enclosure) , and this coco hut/ peat moss soil. Now time for my first attempt of growing flowers. ( viola and forget-me-nots) I am assuming plants can grow in perlite. Then I will dig out full plant and re plant it in enclosure for tortoise gracing correct? God stressful day for this new time gardener :s I did not get mulch though maybe tomorrow there is only really thick Cedar mulch would that work?


Pictures:

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View attachment 22711

 

[Edna]

I appreciate the measures you are taking to secure a healthy food source for your torts!
2 things:
First, mulch that will be in tort enclosure can't be cedar. Cedar has aromatic properties that would be irritating to your torts. Use cypress mulch. Fine cypress mulch from the pet store is my choice; I think some others are using the coarser stuff from the garden center.
Second, and this is very important: Removing a grown plant from the perlite and replanting it in your enclosure will be so stressful for the plant that you might as well just feed it without replanting. Even just moving a plant with a root ball in soil breaks off its hair roots and it then requires a recovery period before it can begin growing again.

This is what I would do: Use tortoise-safe soil and plant your violas and whatever else (I've used just plain wild bird seed with great results). Let the plants grow up as big as you want them to get and then place the whole planter or tray or whatever in the enclosure and let the torts have at it. If you use the organic potting mix, by the time you place it in the enclosure it will no longer smell like potting mix. It will smell and look like good garden soil. If you do staggered plantings in several planters or trays you can have another tray of plants ready to pop in when the first one is exhausted.

This summer by torts are spending their days in an outdoor enclosure that I planted last year. They are chowing down on established red clover and chicory that I planted, as well as wild aster and grasses that volunteer in the enclosure. The hard work was last year; the fun stuff is now!

 

[irishshake]

I appreciate the measures you are taking to secure a healthy food source for your torts!
2 things:
First, mulch that will be in tort enclosure can't be cedar. Cedar has aromatic properties that would be irritating to your torts. Use cypress mulch. Fine cypress mulch from the pet store is my choice; I think some others are using the coarser stuff from the garden center.
Second, and this is very important: Removing a grown plant from the perlite and replanting it in your enclosure will be so stressful for the plant that you might as well just feed it without replanting. Even just moving a plant with a root ball in soil breaks off its hair roots and it then requires a recovery period before it can begin growing again.

This is what I would do: Use tortoise-safe soil and plant your violas and whatever else (I've used just plain wild bird seed with great results). Let the plants grow up as big as you want them to get and then place the whole planter or tray or whatever in the enclosure and let the torts have at it. If you use the organic potting mix, by the time you place it in the enclosure it will no longer smell like potting mix. It will smell and look like good garden soil. If you do staggered plantings in several planters or trays you can have another tray of plants ready to pop in when the first one is exhausted.

This summer by torts are spending their days in an outdoor enclosure that I planted last year. They are chowing down on established red clover and chicory that I planted, as well as wild aster and grasses that volunteer in the enclosure. The hard work was last year; the fun stuff is now!

Thank you, I will do my best.
-Carl