Growing your own Millet?

[MaryG1959]

I've lost the thread where someone posted pics of their home grown millet. I would be interested in learning how you plant and grow your own millet. Does it turn the brown color after it is dried??

Thanks!!

[Peanutbutter]

It was me, I think...


Millet is easy..... I just dumped out the loose seeds from the bottom of a regular bag of millet sprays (from the pet store)..... right into a potted plant container & watered.... a week later I had what looked like grass.... and its been almost 2months now and its at least a foot tall w/ sprays.

Watered it once in a while since its in a container... I've read Holly can eat the green sprays, but I"ll probably dry all of it & store it.

(Any seed intended to feed a bird SHOULD sprout & grow... if they don't sprout then they are dead and provide no nutrition for your fids!)

Here is the guide I used for millet:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4623342_grow...paign=yssp_art

Once it starts to turn brown I'm gonna cut it off at the stalk and hang upside down to dry all of it.

[Ashling]

Oh wow thanks for that, I'm going to do that for my budgie and tiels :) They usually just get grass seed from the backyard hehe

[mmr]

Not the best thing I know for my U2 but she loves millet. I give it to her on occasions. If I were to grow the millet like above can I give it to her fresh and green????

[chapala]

Millet has an undeserving reputation in some people's minds - it is a low fat grain, high in carbs though so you don't want to overdo it especially for sedentary birds.

I am definitely going to try growing some in my little vegetable garden! Thanks for the photo of yours - it looks great!

For Budgies and 'Tiels it is quite healthy to give the semi-ripe grains, and is how they eat many of the grains in the wild diet. So, I'll be cutting some future stalks to give to my P'let and Budgie before they are ripe, as well as drying the mature stalks for later use.

[Maegen Sue Persing]

Thats fantastic...i just planted my garden and I will surely plant some millet! I have a bunch of seeds that have dropped off the spray. I am so excited because it will save me a lot of money. I hope the wild birds dont get to it first!

[Peanutbutter]

the article said wild birds dont mess w/ it because its not part of a natural diet or something like that.... I haven't had any problems w/ wild birds, but mine is just on my patio.

I was just experimenting... and I have another empty pot that I might throw some of Hollys seed mix in just to see what comes up.... :)

[rowdy]

I was wondering about growing millet just the other day when I was planting other stuff. Im sure glad I ran across this site...

[chapala]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter

the article said wild birds dont mess w/ it because its not part of a natural diet or something like that.... I haven't had any problems w/ wild birds, but mine is just on my patio.

I was just experimenting... and I have another empty pot that I might throw some of Hollys seed mix in just to see what comes up.... :)

Well, I'll test out that theory! The wild birds here love to eat the kale and collard greens in my vegetable garden (mainly house finches), and I'll check out how I do with millet and if there's any left to be harvested!

[MaryG1959]

Thank you for posting! I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier but was out of town for an urgent family matter.

Thanks and I'll definately try it!