Indoor tortoise food cultivation is an easy and nutritional way to expand the diet of your tortoise pet. All it requires is natural substrate, some healthy plants and an abundance of weeds!
Indoor tortoises usually experience less disease issues than their outdoor counterparts; nonetheless, taking some preventative steps is still worthwhile.
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Aloe Vera
Aloe vera makes an excellent indoor plant to grow for tortoise food, since these creatures tend to become dehydrated quickly and require constant moisture in their diet.
Grow it easily using the Pro Rep Tortoise Life seed kit, featuring a propagator, soil mixture and specially blended mix of seeds tailored specifically for your tortoise species.
Tortoise tortoises love feeding on this heat tolerant plant that, much like in its native outdoor habitat, goes into summer dormancy – making it an excellent food choice all year long! However, its timing can change, meaning your tortoise might benefit more from feeding it at different times of the year.
Cacti
Opuntia Cactus Pads make great indoor plants to feed tortoises! Not only can you plant them anywhere indoors but they are a favourite tortoise treat and completely safe to feed. Optimally placed near bright light sources but still thrive without them; other suitable options include Boston Ferns, Prayer Plants, Clovers (as long as they contain Nitrates) and Tradescantia.
Geraniums make an ideal tortoise-feeding plant because they can be grown both indoors and outdoors and both the flowers and leaves are eaten by tortoises. Plus, these early bloomers give you access to consistent supply throughout the year!
Gazanias
Gazanias are beautiful drought-tolerant flowers that require little care or maintenance. Not only can they look stunning in any garden setting, they’re an essential source of nectar for bees and butterflies as well. Best suited to sunny locations with dry soil but should be protected against excess rainfall.
They can be propagated either from seeds or cuttings. You should start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks prior to the last frost date or direct sow outdoors once all threat of frost has passed.
These plants thrive in hot and sunny locations and make a fantastic addition to rock gardens or seaside gardens, or containers. However, these species are susceptible to fungal diseases like Botrytis cinerea and must be protected against this fungus by removing affected parts and spraying with fungicide.
Nasturtium
Nasturtium plants are large, bold plants with many varieties. Their flowers are edible and many tortoises enjoy eating them; some find the peppery taste very appealing while others find it unpleasant.
Indoor growing of Nasturtium flowers is relatively straightforward. Simply begin with a seed starting pot and add seeds of different species: mounding types serve as perfect flower bed fillers while trailing and climbing varieties work great in window boxes.
Spray your foliage with an OMRI-listed horticultural oil from Arbico Organics for effective insect control on Nasturtium flowers, available both as ready-to-spray and concentrated solutions.
Rose Petals
Rose petals make an excellent indoor plant to add to the diet of tortoises, being easy to grow and producing an eye-catching bloom that is completely safe to consume by tortoises.
Boston Ferns are an easy and beautiful addition to your tortoise’s enclosure, but they should be placed in an area without direct sunlight as this would damage their leaves and caudex.
Clover plants can be grown indoors to provide your tortoise with essential nitrates found in them, making a healthy addition to their diet. A starter kit featuring propagator and soil suitable for tortoises should make this easy.
Hosta
Hostas are often thought of as reliable shade plants, but this hardy plant can thrive indoors under certain circumstances. The key is knowing your growing conditions well enough.
Soil needs to remain consistently moist but not waterlogged for optimal germination, while temperature should also remain stable – rapid temperature changes could interfere with this process and block germination altogether.
Pot sizes will depend on the variety of plant you select; dwarf varieties such as Sum and Substance, Frosted Mouse Ears and Gold-Edged Plantain Lilies tend to flourish into mature heights of nine to 24 inches at maturity. When inspecting for insect problems it is also essential that an effective plan be put in place and treatment administered accordingly.
Osteospermum
Osteospermums are easy to cultivate as summer flowers, with numerous colours and cultivars to choose from. They go great with other warm-weather annuals like geraniums and marigolds; plant them either alone or mixed in groups framed with other blooms like annual verbena, dusty miller or ageratum for added contrast. Best in sunny spots but may struggle in extreme heat; require well-draining soil with regular light fertilisation and should be protected against downy mildew with copper fungicidal spray fungicidal spray regularly fungicidally coated against this disease threat.
