Planting, and growing question?

[kme3388]

I’ve been trying to introduce my parrots to flowers, and plants they can eat. My Eclectus parrot surprisingly likes dandelions. My neighbors would be more than happy to donate the ones in their yard but I live in a city, and we all spray, and fertilize. I have to drive 20 minutes to a local park that doesn’t spray, or fertilize.

So… I am hoping to grow some parrot edible flowers, or plants.

Problem is, I kill every plant/flower in existence. I even killed a fern. Planting, and growing is not my strong suit.

Does anyone have ideas on flowers, and plants that I can grow for my parrots? With instructions for people that kill plants, and knows nothing about them.

Also if anyone knows of plants, flowers, and such that I can find in my local area that I can feed my parrots please list them below.

Thank you in advance!

 

[GivemeSeedsorgivemeFlesh]

I am learning how to sprout edible greens. Alfalfa seems to be pretty easy. Quinoa, millet, and others are on the menu. It seems like leaving a few planted to grow should produce flowers eventually?

 

[kme3388]

I am learning how to sprout edible greens. Alfalfa seems to be pretty easy. Quinoa, millet, and others are on the menu. It seems like leaving a few planted to grow should produce flowers eventually?

How do you sprout stuff? Is it hard?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I’ve been trying to introduce my parrots to flowers, and plants they can eat. My Eclectus parrot surprisingly likes dandelions. My neighbors would be more than happy to donate the ones in their yard but I live in a city, and we all spray, and fertilize. I have to drive 20 minutes to a local park that doesn’t spray, or fertilize.

So… I am hoping to grow some parrot edible flowers, or plants.

Problem is, I kill every plant/flower in existence. I even killed a fern. Planting, and growing is not my strong suit.

Does anyone have ideas on flowers, and plants that I can grow for my parrots? With instructions for people that kill plants, and knows nothing about them.

Also if anyone knows of plants, flowers, and such that I can find in my local area that I can feed my parrots please list them below.

Thank you in advance!

The essential things all plants need to grow are water with good drainage (holes in the pot if potted) and sunlight. Its very hard to overwater outdoor plants. Lack of sunlight will stunt many plants and prevent flowering.

Nastertiums are great edible flowers that are easy to grow from seed. Pansies are also edible.

 

[kme3388]

The essential things all plants need to grow are water with good drainage (holes in the pot if potted) and sunlight. Its very hard to overwater outdoor plants. Lack of sunlight will stunt many plants and prevent flowering.

Nastertiums are great edible flowers that are easy to grow from seed. Pansies are also edible.

Do you know what kind of dirt to use? I don’t think miracle grow dirt is great for flowers meant to be consumed by my parrots, unless I’m assuming wrong

 

[DonnaBudgie]

If you're growing in containers you should use any bagged soil labeled "organic potting soil". Miracle gro makes an organic one. If you're growing in raised beds use "raised bed soil". In the ground you would use "garden soil" mixed with the soil already in the ground. You can get good bagged soils at He Depot, Lowes, Walmart or any other garden store.
Use containers big enough to accommodate growing plants. Tiny pots (less than 10 inches across) meant for tiny houseplants won't work. They dry out very fast and don't hold enough soil.

Make sure you keep your plants from drying out especially when the plants are first getting established (developing root systems). In the hot summer sun plants in containers dry out quickly but most flowering plants need at least six hours a day of direct sunlight, so water them every day when it's sunny. As long as the containers have holes in the bottom for excess water to drain out it's hard to overwater them unless the pot is sitting in water.

 

[rheashard2]

Have you heard of Aerogarden or similar product. You use it in place of a kitchen or window garden.

Indoor Hydroponic Gardening Systems | AeroGarden

Indoor hydroponic gardening systems make growing fresh veggies year-round fun and easy. Get growing with your AeroGarden today!

aerogarden.com

They last for years. Have one that's nearly 15 yrs old. Growing is inside, so no worries about pesticides etc. These are great for people with little space, time or infamous 'refuse to grow' fingers and thumbs. With minimal experience you can start your own organic seeds; edible herbs, flowers and more.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I love these little indoor gardening systems for herbs and greens but I'm not sure how well they would work for edible flowers. You have to grow quite a few plants to get enough flowers to give treats to your birds. With herbs there's no need to wait for flowers to form- the entire plant is the edible treat. You could try both.

 

[rheashard2]

I love these little indoor gardening systems for herbs and greens but I'm not sure how well they would work for edible flowers. You have to grow quite a few plants to get enough flowers to give treats to your birds. With herbs there's no need to wait for flowers to form- the entire plant is the edible treat. You could try both.

True, but there's lots of edible flowering plants that don't grow tall. Others where the majority of nutrients are in the leaves.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Would pansies and nasturiums grow in one? They don't get tall. Pansies only get 6 or 8 inches max. Nasturtium is more viney. I just don't know if they are big enough to grow flowering plants like that but they're terrific for herbs and greens.

 

[kme3388]

These are the planters I’m using for the flowers. I just wanted to find flowers for my parrots to eat, and safely. I have about 8 of them. This winter I’ll have to figure out what I can grow inside. There’s something about driving 20 minutes to pick dandelions that gets the best of me. I spray my yard to get rid of them. I’d prefer not to have to look for them without chemicals.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

We sell those at the Lowes where I work.

 

[kme3388]

We sell those at the Lowes where I work.

We drilled holes in the bottom for drainage, and then it works great. Here in Minnesota we get a lot of rain, and it wasn’t pretty one of the weeks we got a torrential downpour non stop. Lesson learned!

 

[Gemma Sarracenia]

I grow dandelion, wild violet, clover, henbit, and chickweed. Not as pretty as pansy and nasturtium, but good for variety.
Whatever you grow, some things may not grow well indoors or under lights. Not an issue! My dandelions get moldy after a couple of months, so I harvest them (they can eat the leaves, not just the flowers!) right before. Same with clover, it draws in spider mites. The roots of both of those will produce more leaves for a while, when it seems too worn out to keep that up, just plant more. Wild violets do better indoors. All of the above plants will grow from rhizome or root cuttings, so in a city, you can dig it up, remove all the leaves, and grow it from a rhizome cutting in fresh soil to avoid urban pollution. I also love to gather dandelion seeds when they're in a field, stick them in a jar to have on hand.
Recently found out deadnettle and henbit are safe as well, google those for ID, I'll grab seeds from those when I see them and throw them in the dandelion/chickweed jar. Oh, chickweed is in seed right now! Great for good eggs, google that (It's also delicious, if you like a hint of earthy flavor in a mild green). This seed mix I just throw them all in together.
If you find a 4 leaf clover, get that root. I love my lucky clover so much, I found a patch with high mutation, about 30% of my clover are 4 leaf and maybe 5% are FIVE leaved . Much fun. Clover is high in nitrogen, so I only feed them a few flowers or toss in a mutated leaf to give them luck, lol. It's a nitrogen fixer that pulls in nitrogen from the air and turns it into a form the plant can use with a symbiotic bacterial relationship, it feeds bacteria sugar in little root nodes. Then when it dies off, fertilizer.
I have mutated henbit too, found some white flowers, they're usually purple, I also have pink dandelions from Asia, a sub species rather than a mutation, but I don't let the birds eat those, I'm still trying to get them to flower. I'm oddly attatched to my weird weeds.
I also grow plantain, but I'm not sure on if it's safe for birds, so I only keep it on hand as emergency band aid. I don't like the flavor, but the sap is styptic and antibacterial. I am also harvesting and drying it, the violets, the dandelions, and the chickweed for skin salve experiments this year. In the meantime, booboos get plantain sap on them.

 

[Jcas]

Lots of good advice here. Fay Wray would just like to add that she thinks baby lettuce grown in a pot indoors is delicious . Best of luck with your gardening endeavors; in my experience it’s totally worth it to know EXACTLY where your birds’ fresh food is coming from!

 

[bug_n_flock]

I've fed out plantain with no ill effect. Also purslane is another good one. High in oxalic acid so not every day. But it's rich in omegas and has a pleasant lemony taste. I eat all these weeds myself, and feed to my livestock n parrots as well.

Peas are another good one. Sprout easy, grow fast n indoors, tasty, good stuff. Whole plant is good to go.

With all things, variety variety variety, reduces the impact of feeding too much of any one thing.