Caution using Chia seeds

[Tanina]

I decided to experiment with chia seeds (yes the ones that grow on chia pets) in my planted vivarium. I sprinkled lightly and rubbed some on the fern panels...
I did NOT expect them to grow like weeds! I had to remove a portion that actually turned into a mini grass lawn. I would leave these alone as ground cover however two thoughts occured to me...
1) How tall will these suckers grows...don't want to have to constantly "mow" my tank
and
2) I would rather the soil nutrients go into my tropical plants rather than the terrestrial "weeds"

So to sum things up....
Yes, chia seeds WILL grow in your vivariums however they REALLY grow!

[Spankenstyne]

Good to know, might be good to grow in my tort enclosure? Nice having 3 resident full time lawnmowers.

I had thought of growing square trays of them to put in once in a while for variety but wasn't sure if they would grow very well or just die right away in the viv. Might have to give it a try.

[Tanina]

Your tortoises would love them. They are safe for human consumption and actually quite healthy. I imagine they would benefit certain reptiles as well. They actually smell a lot like alfalfa sprouts...I'm considering trying them on a salad :P

[Spankenstyne]

A good little article on Chia, to note it says the calcium content of the seeds is 5x that of milk.

http://permaculture.org.au/2009/04/06/chia-crop-potential-and-uses/

[FrogO_Oeyes]

Since "Chia" are not a plant, and the items in question smell like alfalfa sprouts...they probably ARE alfalfa sprouts. Alfalfa is a legume [bean], which means it fixes nitrogen in the soil and can thus be helpful for other plants to grow. However, it usually lives in environments sunnier and drier than most terraria. In any case, they would probably e improving the growth of most terrarium plants. Perhaps sweet pea or sweep pea vine would be worth trying? I'm trying the latter in some cages at work, as the coconut husk and other mulches don't actually support much plant life beyond moss.

[mandie]

I thought this was an interesting thread, and a quick google search leads to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica

[FrogO_Oeyes]

Interesting. So Chia pets use a species of sage [which is a mint]. I find that mints often make interesting potential additions to boggy environments...but they lack the nitrogen-fixing of legumes. That means this particular plant likely won't add anything to your terrarium.

[Spankenstyne]

Clearly you couldn't be bothered to check the link I provided as well lol

[FrogO_Oeyes]

Nope. But your post did inspire me to look up Chia pets. It was always my understanding that Chia pets were basically a decorative sprout-grower [and apparently they DID sell multiple kinds at one point. I rarely look at links. Too many are just not useful or interesting enough [or a complete waste of bandwidth, especially if they're videos]. All too often, an entire thread is dedicated to "Look at this: ***videolink***", and I can only think "Why? What would I be looking at and why do I want to?" Obviously, you identified the value of the link...but...I still rarely look unless it's actually of interest to me ;)

[Michael Roth]

I could almost (but not quite, mind you) hear Dr. Sheldon Cooper's voice there...

:>

[tegu_man]

I could almost (but not quite, mind you) hear Dr. Sheldon Cooper's voice there...

:>

hahaha bazinga!