Catnip
Always fresh grass for your indoor cat, easy to sow at home.
About the variety. Fast-growing mix that reaches around 10 cm, ideal for pots, balconies and indoors.
Itinerário técnico
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
Sow very thickly, broadcast, in a pot or tray with ten centimetres of compost, and cover with half a centimetre to one centimetre of soil. Germination takes five to seven days at 15 °C to 22 °C. Keep the compost moist until it emerges. Sow a fresh pot every two weeks so there is always young grass available. If you sow outdoors, choose a corner in part shade and sow the same way, thickly, so the animal has a patch of tender grass.
Any general purpose compost works as long as it drains, at a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. A pot with drainage holes is essential, because standing water rots the roots and the grass yellows within days. Do not use garden soil, which compacts in the pot and brings weed seed with it.
It grows well indoors all year round, between 15 °C and 22 °C, near a window with light but out of strong direct sun, which scorches the blades. Turn the pot every other day, because the grass leans towards the light and grows crooked. Above 25 °C indoors the grass stretches, yellows and toughens fast: in summer move the pot away from the hot window or put it on a shaded balcony. It also grows outdoors in any temperate climate and takes light frost. In southern Europe the pot can stay outside most of the year, avoiding the peak of summer; in northern France and Germany it grows outside from spring to autumn and indoors in winter. In every region the rule is the same: sow a fresh pot every two weeks.
It asks for little and an over rich soil works against it. Fresh general purpose compost in each pot is all it needs. Do not feed: the grass is harvested at two or three weeks and the compost has more than enough; feeding only gives soft bitter blades, which the animal rejects.
Water lightly every day or every other day, keeping the compost moist but never sodden. Overwatering is the commonest mistake and rots the base of the grass.
In a pot of fresh compost there are no weeds: the only care is not to use garden soil, which brings weed seed with it. If some odd plant appears among the grass, pull it by hand while it is small. Outdoors, sow thickly and the grass itself closes over the soil within days, leaving room for nothing else; hand pull whatever comes up in the first two weeks.
Indoors there are practically no pests. If fungus gnats appear, let the surface dry between waterings. Do not apply any plant protection product, because the grass is eaten directly by the animal. If the cat knocks the pot over, use a low wide clay pot, heavier and more stable, or stand it inside a bowl. If the grass stays in the pot for more than three weeks, aphids can appear: in that case throw it out and sow again, rather than spraying.
The only usual problem is mould on the compost surface from too much water and poor ventilation. Cut back watering, air the room and, if the grass goes limp and yellow, sow a fresh pot rather than trying to save the old one. Reused compost brings mould and rot: use fresh compost for every sowing and wash the pot in hot water between uses.
It is ready five to seven days after emerging, at ten to fifteen centimetres tall, which is when it is most tender and appealing. Leave the pot within the animal's reach and replace it after two or three weeks, once the grass begins to toughen and yellow. Allow about 10 to 14 days from sowing to the first harvest of this variety. The reference colour is green, and that is what tells you it is ready.
