If you have a cat that tends to nibble on plants, one of the best ways to stop your cat from chewing on plants is by growing cat grass to give your cat an acceptable alternative to munch on. Even if your cat doesn’t harass your plants, it can be a great enrichment activity or way to reduce stress for your cat.
Even if you don’t have a green thumb, it’s easier to grow cat grass than you’d think. I’ll teach you how to do every step from germination to letting your cat go to town!
Get The Right Supplies
The first step is starting with the right supplies. You can buy cat grass kits that come with everything you need, but make sure you read the reviews first. Some of the premade kits come with old seeds that won’t sprout so the problem may not be you.
I’ve found either the Cat Ladies Cat Grass Growing Kit works when my clients ordered it and haven’t had any reports of a bad batch so far. Plus, it comes with a cat mug to grow your cat grass in. If you’d like something a bit more rustic, this cute wooden kit comes with tiny tools and all you need to get growing.
If You Want To DIY IT
Instead of getting a kit, you can assemble your own supplies. Some of them you might have on hand already. You’ll need:
- High quality cat grass seed
- An inexpensive growing medium. I find coconut coir works best for growing cat grass. It retains enough moisture to allow the grass to grow, but not enough that the grass will mold. Whatever type of soil you use, make sure it doesn’t have fertilizer mixed in as some fertilizers are dangerous for cats if they consume it.
- A watering can (or a watering cat) or a spray bottle. No, the spray bottle is not for your cats.
- An appropriate growing vessel with drainage holes. Planting cat grass in a heavier container can prevent your cat from knocking over the pot. If you have multiple cats, a wide shallow planter like this cat shaped planter allows you to grow a lot of cat grass at once.
- Optional: consider a heavy cache pot to hold cat grass grown in a plastic nursery pot. The cache pot doesn’t need holes because you can remove the inner nursery pot.
You can also get a refill kit from the Cat Ladies and plant it in whichever pot speaks to you if you want to go the easy route.
Where To Plant Cat Grass
Cat grass can be grown indoors or outdoors. Most people who grow it for their cats do so indoors, but a sunny spot outdoors can also work well. Cat grass likes bright light so if you don’t have a great spot, grow lights work will. I have a few umbrella shaped ones with LEDs that don’t use a ton of electricity so are perfect for cat grass.
If you have a nice sunny window where your cat likes to hang out, consider a small window mounted planter. The planter can be placed via a suction cup at the right height that your cat can munch but won’t be tempted to knock it over.
Growing Outdoors
If you try growing cat grass outdoors, be cautious with making sure it is not grown near any plants that could be toxic to your cat or anywhere that may get sprayed with chemicals. Wait to plant the cat grass until after there isn’t a chance of frost or you’ll likely need to replant it. You may want to try your hand at growing a bit of catnip or valerian, too, for some extra planty goodness for your kitty!
Planting Cat Grass
Plant your cat grass indoors in a location that gets bright light away from any cold, drafty windows by filling your planter with your planting medium and adding seeds on top. You can then put a small layer (1/8″ works for me) of planting medium over it. A few extra tips:
- Start a few separate plantings of grass a week apart from each other and rotate them out as your cat goes through the grass. Nursery pots makes it easy for you to swap fresh grass out from a cache pot will prevent your cat from knocking the pot over.
- The soil should remain damp but not soggy. Letting it dry out slightly is better than over watering.
- Seeds will usually germinate within a week so be patient if they haven’t sprouted within a day or two.
- Keep the freshly planted cat grass away from your cats until it’s a few inches high so they don’t decide to snack on it too early.
Watering Without Worry
It can be tempting to overwater your cat grass. Depending on the humidity in your home and the soil you use, watering needs vary. The more humid, the less frequently you need to water. While I don’t recommend using spray bottles on your cat as there are much better ways of addressing unwanted behaviors, they are a great tool for watering cat grass seeds.
While the freshly planted seeds are sprouting, get the top layer of the soil and seeds just wet enough that the seeds germinate, but not enough that mold grows. Over watering is one of the biggest reasons people are not successful when growing cat grass.
Once the seeds germinate, I usually water them every other day. I don’t water again until the soil has gotten slightly dry. You may need to water more or less so experiment a bit until you find what works. Cat grass seeds aren’t super expensive and you can reuse the soil so if the first trial doesn’t work, no big deal. Try again!
How To Grow Cat Grass And Keep It Alive
Cat grass won’t live forever, but if you keep it well maintained, you can usually keep it alive for a few weeks to a month. In other words, don’t feel bad if your cat grass fades after a few weeks. When the grass starts to fade, dispose of the wilting stuff, grab some additional seeds, and plant more cat grass.
Once it’s ready for munching, you can either keep it in the pot and give it to your cat or cut off some of it and put it in a dish. Most cats seem to prefer the grass intact in the pot, but I have had a few clients whose cats want it chopped up a bit.
If You Can’t Keep It Alive
If you try growing cat grass a few times and you just can’t make it work, there are two solutions to try:
- Some people find growing cat grass using a hydroponic cat grass kit easier to maintain as it takes watering out of the equation, but you do need to replace the water regularly.
- Pre-grown cat grass. Many pet stores sell cat grass that you don’t have to worry about it germinating. If you can’t find some locally, you can also order it online. You’ll pay a bit more for the convenience, but who can put a price on your cat’s happiness?
