Bargain plants

[sandy]

Now is the time to look for bargain plants in Homebase and B&Q. I went to Homebase and got six campanula plants for 99p, and three alpine campanula for £1-25. All suitable plants for tortoise. I also got six fushias from B&Q for 99p and one pot fushia for 50p.
This time of the year they both have clear outs of what are classed as Summer plants, a lot are perrenials so live for years.

[tortoise lover]

Hi sandy, how long do you leave your plants for before you give them to your torts? People have so many different ideas but with your experience i would go along with what you did. i bought some winter pansys for my horsfield the other day and not sure exactly how long to leave them for,thanks kim

[sandy]

To be honest, I dont ever put plants in my enclosures, I pot them up outside somewhere and leave them for a few months, then feed bits of the plants to the torotises as and when. Over the years I have collected lots of cheap plants that are now thriving, so along with the weeds they get a more varied diet.
My adults when they come out of hibernation are left for the first few months feeding on the weeds in the garden ( I sow seeds around the garden in the Autumn) then the adults graze the grass and get fed from plants around the garden too. I also have weeds growing in the front garden which I feed to the smaller ones, along with bits of the potted plants.

[tortoise lover]

thanks for that,i also pot a lot of my plants up as they are mostly indoors and just go out on warm sunny days which are a bit numbered now arnt they,i just pick out a good selection for them each daily,can you tell me if they can eat the leaves off the pansys or is it just the flowers?

[sandy]

They can eat the whole plant which is why I dont put them in the enclosures
They can pick and choose too much in my opinion if edible plants are put in enclosures, or just have one plant. I prefer a mixed diet for mine.

[stusads]

sounds like a good idea to me
would it be possible to find a list of plants which would be purchaseable in a garden centre that are edible for torts?

its just i can imagine me walking in and seeing loads of reduced plants and not having any idea which ones would be edible haha

thanks in advance

[Henry-flash]

Lots of plants at Focus are now 50% off, just to add to this thread.

There is a good weed/plant list at www.thetortoisehouse.com

[sandy]

Pansies, campanula, are about this time of the year. In a couple of weeks if not before they could have Hibiscus/and lavertas reduced.

[70ridgeway]

i got a load of plants from focus all 49p bargain lots of alpines and fushias 2 grasses which looked a bit weathered but next year will be perfect