Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

GRASS/SOD/TURF GROWING- ‘SOIL’ FALLING APART IN TRANSPORT

dianewyy.ngdianewyy.ng Posts: 3
in Plants

Hello everyone


I am based in Hong Kong (where it is around 34 C all year round) and am trying to hydroponically grow some hot weather grass (fescue, Bermuda) in a tray and plan to use it for my dog’s pottying purposes. My sister also has a dog and has asked me to send her a tray as well. 


I have managed to grow grass (being a newbie gardener), however my problem is that the hydroponic growing medium I am using or the ‘soil’ won’t stick together / falls apart whenever I try to take the grass out of the tray. Can’t imagine it would ever survive transport via post/delivery in a cardboard box… would make a huge mess


Any ideas on how to make the ‘soil’ stick together better so that it is like a piece of carpet when I pull it out? Have researched and found stuff about soil stabilisers but not sure these are readily available in small quantities as they are used for industrial purposes. Have thought about bird netting but this is mostly made out of plastic and I want to use only biodegradable materials. 


Are there certain grass varieties that would grow a thicker root mat that would hold the ‘soil’ together, by any chance?


Thank you!


Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited September 2022
    Is the hydroponic material large-ish granules or pellets? If so I think it would be hard to make it stay together whatever grass you used. You'd probably have more success changing the growing medium to ordinary multipurpose compost (or even garden soil if you can get it - if I remember rightly most people in Hong Kong live in apartments, but I never got out into the New Territories, just the main island, Kowloon and a bit of Lantau). Or send your sister a packet of the seeds to grow her own.

    PS welcome to the forum :)
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2022
    Possibly use a multipurpose type compost layered with loosely woven hessian as a growing medium?  

    I’ve never tried it but I think it’d be worth trying. 

    What are the measurements of the area you want to grow?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Jute mesh netting may help hold it together, but whatever you use the grass will need to have a good root structure to hold it all together and that will take time.
    Something fibrous like coir may work as a growing medium for your hydro setup.

    Just a couple of thoughts

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • dianewyy.ngdianewyy.ng Posts: 3
    Thanks everyone for your thoughts and the welcome!

    growing medium - am using coco coir (the powdery, soil-looking type), and have noticed it doesnt seem to hold together even if i grow the grass for weeks

    interesting re multipurpose compost - do you think this would hold together better…? TBH it looked/felt like what I’m currently using so didnt think it would be better…

    mesh netting - yes, thought about this, but proving difficult to get the right type with the right sized holes. Holes either seem too large (15cm x 15cm) or too tightly knit i dont think the grass can grow through. 

    Re measurements - am thinking 60 inch x 40 inch or round thereabouts!

    thank you
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    How long are you letting the grass grow before trying to take it out of the tray? I've never tried growing it that way but with coir or compost it ought eventually to make a mat of roots. The only I assumed when you said hydroponics you were using the clay granule type material. The only time I've grown grass from seed in a container is in small pots for our indoor cat to chew on, and the roots fill the pot in maybe six or eight weeks.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • dianewyy.ngdianewyy.ng Posts: 3
    I let it grow for about 2-3 weeks, and by that point the grass is very thick and healthy, and I’m worried that if i dont take it out it will all start wilting soon. So thats the point at whcih i try to take it out and have experienced the coir falling out :(…
Sign In or Register to comment.