Chubbs the tegu
Well-Known Member
Ordered some testudo broadleaf seed mix from tortoise supply to get some weeds for the winter months. Planning on growing it in an extra aquarium i have laying around.. any pointers are welcome!
No? I figured it would grow good with the humidityYes. Don’t grow it an aquarium. ?
True. I was thinking misting it daily.. the humidity would help keep it moist.with aquarium would have to be careful about overwatering/water standing at bottom without drainage
I grew sulcata food seed mix outside last summer and it grew like crazy! No fertilizer.. just threw the seeds down in the outdoor enclosure and threw some peat over the seeds to cover them. And im the blackest thumb ull ever meet lolI have my first bag of this seed mix too. I’m planning to plant in the enclosure. Due to my hay fever, I’m trying it out in 4” clay pots in the enclosure to remove if necessary. If no reaction, I’ll add more pots or plant the whole enclosure excluding decor si Illar to the pics on their website. I plan to let Matteo eat as he wishes.
My only concern other than that is the substrate. I’m switching to solely fine coir from a mix of Reptisoil and coir, so I expect to need organic garden soil in pots to grow the mix.
I’m new at this so take it for what it’s worth.
Whats the worse that can happen? The weeds die... or i boot the aquarium and cut a major artery and die hahaI started some of this in a planter box in my garage in about November under some 6500k T5 fluorescent grow lights. The mix sprouted well. I then bought some LED strip lights from amazon (supposedly for growing stuff) and placed the box under these, since I wanted to use the HO lights for some other flowers and things. The testudo mix basically stopped growing and started to die. After a few weeks of trying this, I just put the box outside and called it quits. I think the amazon strip lights were way too weak. It would probably take a good 6 weeks to get a decent sized leaf unless you have some strong lighting.
It would probably be easier to go to the store and buy some radish and dandelion greens. There's also clover, parsley, and cilantro in the mix.
Good to know. I think I have 6500K lights for a fish tank I could try. Will this bother the tort? Are the Arcadia 12% light and the basking light for tort unsuitable for the plants if I want to try inside the enclosure? And the CHE?I started some of this in a planter box in my garage in about November under some 6500k T5 fluorescent grow lights. The mix sprouted well. I then bought some LED strip lights from amazon (supposedly for growing stuff) and placed the box under these, since I wanted to use the HO lights for some other flowers and things. The testudo mix basically stopped growing and started to die.
Thank you.IIt might be a safer bet to grow it separately.
I don't think it's a good idea to run a fluorescent (UVA heavy) and UVB bulb with the tortoise in there to try to grow stuff. It seems like too much UV and would contribute to pyramiding due to the shell drying out.
I believe they sell LED grow lights that fit in a T5 fixture; something like that would help stuff grow and wouldn't have the detrimental UV effects. The brightness of those bulbs is high, however. One that I just looked up, the AgroMax 4 puts out about 4600 lumens, which is a lot. @Markw84 shoots for around 330 lumens per 3 sq ft in a closed chamber, so the AgroMax 4 translates to about 1700 lumens per 3 square feet if the enclosure size is 4x2 feet. This may cause the tortoise to spend more time hiding.
Honestly, I have not looked much into growing stuff in an enclosure. I know that @turtlesteve uses a 6500k grow lamp for grass in his chaco enclosure, but I do not know if he mentioned what brightness he used.
It might be a safer bet to grow it separately.