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Post by mona on Oct 17, 2020 5:14:34 GMT
I know there are people out here, who grow grass at home. I am just getting started with that for my budgies. Fingers crossed. I hope they like it. I came across this video for growing wheatgrass at home, for beginners like me. I am doubtful about the amount of wheat grains he used for that. Do we need to fill every inch of the tray with the seeds? Wouldn't the seeds have to fight for nutrition and result in survival of the fittest? I saw some of seeds didn't grow in his tray as well... I haven't grown wheatgrass, so it might be a naive question! For general plantation, it's advisable to give adequate space to each plant. He advised using coco peat, which I have at home.. Any other special tricks or tips to remember? tweetiepiesmom Do you have any advice here? PS I am so excited! Can't wait for the grass to grow!! |
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Post by mona on Oct 17, 2020 5:29:43 GMT
How does flax seed go? Do we sprout it and then plant it..
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Oct 17, 2020 16:06:00 GMT
mona I grow my wheat grass very similar to the video. I have a smaller tray and it has drainage holes in the bottom. I don't soak the seeds before planting. I fill the tray with the coco growing medium and soak it, letting the excess water drain off. Then I spread the seeds on top. Yes, I use the same amount of seeds as he shows. Otherwise the grass looks very sparse and the blades fall over - I did try it. Then I spread some more coco growth medium on top of the seeds - just enough to cover them. I then put a paper towel on top of that and spray it with water to keep it wet. After about a day when you see the shoots, I remove the paper towel. I use a spray bottle to make sure they stay moist but don't over water because, like he said, you'll get mold. After about 3 days I will plant the grass in a pot outside. I just lift the growing grass out of the tray and place it on top of the hollowed out soil in the pot and make sure that the soil around the grass is the same level as the grass growing medium. It grows well outside. I was concerned that other birds and cats would chew on it but that didn't happen. Good luck! Yes, treat the flax seed the same as the wheat grass. I have a seed mixture that is wheat, oats, rye, flax and barley and I plant it all together.
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Post by mona on Oct 18, 2020 18:50:46 GMT
I am trying out with a few seeds first. I thought about giving it a try with sprouted wheat & yellow mustard. It has started growing the sprouts.. so I will plant it tomorrow morning in coco peat & cover with tissue paper. I am just giving it a try with a small disposable sweet container. Most of my experimental plantation goes ahead with the usage of plastic disposables!
Let's see how it goes..! I am hopeful that my buds would at least dare to nibble it once or twice, looking at the green color! Not trying to get my hopes high too, at the same time.. 🙈
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Oct 18, 2020 20:00:22 GMT
Good luck, I'm sure they'll love it once they give it a try.
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Post by mona on Oct 19, 2020 7:16:01 GMT
I have planted the wheat and yellow mustard sprouts today.. I was tempted to try out wheat sprouts with my birdies. But maybe another time! 🙈 Since the time they have been out of cage, they haven't been responding to their favorite sprout too 🤔 I was just thinking if they forgot it was their favorite! 🤦♀️ Still serving the same combo consistently!   The second image is the seedmix that we get here. I'm not sure which seeds are in there, except a few. Half of mine have sprouted in a day.. just giving it more time to sprout.. some might have high germination time. I see that people sprout their seed mix to grow, so I will give this a try too.. will be trying to feed them the sprouts from the seed mix for them.. Even thinking to try planting this existing one. Till now, I have got every sprout seed separately and had been sprouting them.. |
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Oct 19, 2020 15:02:51 GMT
My two guys vary their enthusiasm for foods. For example, they always enjoy their wheat grass but sometimes they devour it like the famine is coming and sometimes they nibble it in between eating other stuff. They are now giving me the stink eye because I've run out of seed heads for them.
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Post by mona on Oct 19, 2020 21:22:53 GMT
My two guys vary their enthusiasm for foods. For example, they always enjoy their wheat grass but sometimes they devour it like the famine is coming and sometimes they nibble it in between eating other stuff. They are now giving me the stink eye because I've run out of seed heads for them. That was hilarious! 😂 |
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Post by mona on Oct 30, 2020 7:46:32 GMT
The neighbor pigeons decided to taste my test batch of wheatgrass! They told me that it tastes yummy!
I ended up moving it inside. 😅 There are no seed heads yet in the left over. But, I decided to let my birdies taste the grass a bit, to check on their enthusiasm. They showed a love and hate kind of expression - taste it, run away, come back to taste it and repeat. So, I'm hopeful and have sprouted more wheat to grow! Fingers crossed!
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Oct 30, 2020 16:49:52 GMT
Lol - that's so funny mona! I was concerned that cats that wander the neighborhood might get at my grass but thankfully they have left it alone and no other birds have been eating on it. I cut back the grass that I got the seed heads from and the grass started growing again. Normally, I would have pulled it up and replanted but I'll let it grow to see what happens. I had some wheat grass in the frig that I bought at the grocery store and was feeding to my guys while I waited for my seeds to grow. I planted it beside the other clump tht I cut back. Its doing pretty good.  I have an idea that I'll grow grass at different stages so I'll always have mature grass and hopefully seed heads for them. I'm starting a pot where I'll stage the grasses. My guys like the more mature wider blades of grass but they eat all the grass!  |
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Post by mona on Oct 30, 2020 18:42:27 GMT
tweetiepiesmom That's a good idea. I'll keep it on rotation too. I didn't think about the grass cutting and regrowth! That's what they do at the garden, though! It should keep growing! You have planted your grass so well! It looks so graceful.. Mine looks like a jungle! 😄
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Post by Hezz on Oct 31, 2020 0:21:18 GMT
Well, if nothing else, at least you know the pigeons appreciate your efforts.  Wheatgrass is quite tough to chew, so don't be surprised if the budgies aren't too keen, initially. They may come round -it is great for liver function but can cause nausea as well. |
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Post by mona on Oct 31, 2020 2:51:46 GMT
Well, if nothing else, at least you know the pigeons appreciate your efforts. Wheatgrass is quite tough to chew, so don't be surprised if the budgies aren't too keen, initially. They may come round -it is great for liver function but can cause nausea as well. Oh, I didn't know that! I am planning to mix the grass with coriander, that they are crazy about. Would that spoil their love for coriander too? Should I keep the two separate? 🤔 Also, would it be okay to grow the left overs from the sprout and seeds mixed. Yesterday, I was about to throw away the leftover, when I thought about adding it to the coco peat container. Mostly, if the seeds and sprouts are safe, so should the plants... Apart from wheat, it has got moong, fenugreek, yellow mustard and their seed mix has a lot of other things.. |
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Post by Hezz on Oct 31, 2020 10:33:13 GMT
No, mix up whatever you feel like; if it doesn't work, don't do it again.  Try everything. There are no hard and fast rules with this sort of thing and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. Throw all the left overs into a pot and watch and wait. I have pots that in my mind have not come into contact with the birds' grasses but up beside the potted plant grow all these added extras. Sometimes the added extras do better than the potted plant! |
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Oct 31, 2020 15:40:45 GMT
My grass seed is a mixture of wheat, oats, rye and barley. One of the grasses has a broader blade that they chew on a bit so I'm guessing that must be the wheat. The other blades they nip off pieces to eat. Anyway, I'm having fun with it!
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Wheatgrass is quite tough to chew, so don't be surprised if the budgies aren't too keen, initially. They may come round -it is great for liver function but can cause nausea as well.
Try everything. There are no hard and fast rules with this sort of thing and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. Throw all the left overs into a pot and watch and wait. I have pots that in my mind have not come into contact with the birds' grasses but up beside the potted plant grow all these added extras. Sometimes the added extras do better than the potted plant!