How to sow Timothy Grass to grow as pet food for tortoises rabbits guinea pigs gerbils hamsters mice 

Thank you! 🙂 We're filming little clips throughout the spring and summer this year so that the update video should show the growth and development of the grass though the seasons, and will upload it later in the year when it has enough to show! Good luck with doing it for your guinea pigs and we'd love to see how you get on! 🌱😊

Awesome! So after I've watered it initially. Do I let it sit for 7-10 days before I water it again? How often should I water

@@ismaelrebeccapulido8604 How exciting! How often you water it really depends on the weather. You should keep the soil always moist and never let it dry out, so if there's a long dry spell, like we're having in the UK at the moment, you'll need to keep adding water every day. Our first shoots started to show after 14 days and though some are now an inch tall, there's still quite a lot to germinate (it's now 28 days). The watering principle is the same even when the grass is growing tall - basically make sure the soil is always moist because it's a very shallow-rooted plant so the roots only develop in the top inch or two of the soil, which is the first area to dry out in warm dry weather. Hope this helps! 🙂

@@naturesgoodies1 beli benih nya di kirim ke Indonesia apa bisa

@@cahaya234nur2 Hi, thank you for your question. Sorry, it's not possible to send seeds to Indonesia from UK due to customs restrictions (international legislation which is designed to protect native wildlife against invasive species).

Ooh no, I haven't tried oat grass. An inch per day sounds impressive! Thanks for the heads up! I wonder what the weather was like for you at that time. I do think that the time of the year i.e. good soil and air moisture levels, warmth and plenty of sun will improve the rate of growth, so sunny summers with intermittent rain should produce the best and fastest growth. I think that's probably the case for most plants to be honest, even in a temperate climate. So it's no wonder the tropical rain forests have the densest foliage! 🙂

Hi Mamadou, thank you for your kind comments! What a shame that your first attempt didn't work. The main issue for grass of any species in perpetually high temperatures are soil moisture levels and access to some shade. The method I would recommend for you depends mainly on how and where you want to plant it. If you are growing in containers, then firstly I would sow the seeds as early in the growing season as you can to try to get them quite firm before the high temperatures arrive. Also try to place the containers in areas which receive some shade at the height of the sun to reduce scorch and always always always keep the soil moist!! I would recommend a gentle watering every morning and evening. Plus a spritz with a water mister in the evening will also help to keep the leaves lush. However, if you are sowing the seed directly into the soil to create a grassed area, then supplying shade can be a bit more tricky if there are no complimentary shrubs or trees that you'd like to grow amongst or alongside them. Certainly, I would recommend sowing the seeds as early in the year as possible when the temperatures are low, so that they germinate early and have a chance to grow into reasonably strong plants before the high temps hit. You could even sow them in the autumn, before any frosts, as they will simply lay dormant in the soil in the winter (even through a freeze) and spark up as soon as they can in the spring - this then stops you worrying about how early to sow! Whether you can provide shade or not, the most important thing is keeping it well watered. Another thing I would consider is if your soil is highly permeable. Very sandy and rocky soils can lose water much faster than soils which have a fairly high clay content and good levels of organic matter. So if you have sandy soil, then do mulch the soil with organic matter (bunny litter tray contents work perfectly as organic matter if you use hay substrate in the litter tray like I do) or home-made compost will work equally well as it also has high organic content. This high humic content will increase the soil's ability to hold onto moisture without it permeating down and out of the reach of the shallow roots of the grass. With either method (containers or ground-sowing), try not to water at the height of the sun, because even though the roots will be able to draw water up to the leaves, the leaves will continue to transpire and so in high temperatures they end up losing more water than they can take in from the roots. Morning and evening is preferable, but if you can only water once a day, I would recommend watering in the evening, after temperatures have dropped, because the plant will not only have a lower transpiration rate but also as the light fades, so too does photosynthesis (which demands energy), so can then it can make the most of the soil water and nutrients. Sorry if I have waffled there, but I hope that this advice helps you Mamadou! :) With kind regards, Marion, Nature's Goodies

@@naturesgoodies1 Thank you so much for your useful advice. Now I know why the first attempt didn t work and most importantly what to do to make it work. I used the ground-sowing method but because I was missing shade, I am going to switch to the containers. Do you think with the container method the seeds will grow to reach hay stage? Thank you again and like others I cn t wait to see the update on this video!!

@@fitini1 Hi, I think it definitely could, but you'd probably want a wider container than just 30cm so that there is greater bulk to protect the stems from the effects of wind, and also give it a season or two to establish firmly and become dense so that it can fully flower each season.