My friend, Man, told me that after her cat, Mao Chu, sniffed around and examined the wheatgrass for a while, it just left the pot of grass behind without giving it another look.

Janet’s kitties love their snacks. Janet said she doesn’t think she can ever grow a second batch of wheatgrass since her cats just keep eating whatever they find growing out from the soil…

Instead of letting her cat eat out from the pot, Christina feeds her cat on a plate separately.

These photos are taken on the 5th day after I planted the seeds. And since my friend, Janet, is planning to buy a house in the next few months, I added a tiny house in the garden as a little decor. When I gave this catgrass tabletop garden to my friend on the 8th day, the grass was around 6-7 inches tall, just about right for harvesting

While mold is a common problem when growing grass in container, it is preventable. Here are several ways to prevent mold from growing on grass.

• Create air circulation

This is important especially when the temperature and humidity is high. Mold tends to grow best when it is hot and humid (above 80 degree F, 25 degree C). If you cannot grow your grass outdoor, use a fan to increase air circulation. I am glad that I have put my bowl of wheatgrass in the balcony once I have found mold on the grass. The mold problem has eased after a while. Even though it has been humid and rainy in these few days, the strong gusts of wind have provided very good air circulation.

• Use only clean growing container and sterile soil
• Plant less densely

Lay out the seeds in the tray densely, but only in one layer, so to give enough breathing space for each sprout and improve air circulation. I think I may have planted my wheatgrass a bit too densely.

Apparently, moving my bowl of catgrass out to the balcony is the right decision to make.  After a week of time, the mold near the root of the wheatgrass has more or less gone!   Despite of the improved air circulation, the damp and rainy weather in the past week had made me wondered whether the high humidity would worsen the mold problem.  Hence, I had not watered the grass since Day 14. And when I checked the wheatgrass again a week later, I was very happy to find that the mold was gone.  Even though it has been humid and rainy in these few days, the strong gusts of wind have provided very good air circulation

There was no mold on Day 8.

My cat grass has grown as tall as the ruler now, and I probably won’t let it grow any taller than this.

After a trim, my cat grass is looking good again (but only that it has mold…)

After more research, I have learned that the term “cat grass” is quite a loose term. In many websites, cat grass actually includes a large number of young grass species. Common oat, flax, barley, and even catnip (Nepeta cataria) which is not even a grass at all, are called cat grass in many websites.

Moreover, the differences in culture and language have made this even more confusing. While gardening shops in Hong Kong sell wheatgrass as cat grass, which is what I have bought, many online gardening shops of the western countries sell wheatgrass as wheatgrass, and cat grass as other grass species (this is a good example to show the advantage of using botanical names).

In conclusion, what I have bought is wheatgrass. And just like other grass species such as orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), barley grass, oat grass, and other variety of grasses, wheatgrass makes a good snack for our cats and other pets to munch on.

Here is an informative article explaining the good and bad of cat grass, written by a veterinarian and exotic plant lover, which many cat lovers and pet owners may find helpful.

As the shop owner said, cat grass is really easy to grow! And the grasses grow very fast too, growing about an inch every day! I think cat grass will make a good present for my friend who keeps telling me how much she loves plant yet always kills whatever she tries to grow

Oops! Maybe this Japanese rice bowl is too small for the cat grasses huh…

Last morning, I found some cat grass seeds had started germinating.

And in this morning, I can finally see some greens! Since the seedlings keep stretching and bending themselves in search of light, I have kept rotating my cat grass from time to time in order to keep them growing straight.

So, a few days ago, I went to the flower market hoping to find some cat grass. And with my luck, I found a store that sold cat grass seeds.

The shop owner told me that it is very easy to grow cat grass. All one has to do is cover the soil mix with cat grass seeds, and water them. There is no need to soak the seeds in advance. And with minimal sun exposure, the grass will start growing and thrive within days. In fact, according to the shop owner, the pot of cat grass in the shop (as seen in the photo above) had just been seeded 4 days ago.

I was a bit skeptical. It’s just too good to be true! But I gave it a try anyways, and did exactly as what I was told.  So, let’s see how it will turn out to be. And as for the pot, I am using my new Japanese rice bowl which I have just drilled a drainage hole especially for my cat grass.  I love the kitty on the bowl.  It’s just so cute!