Two years ago, Coworker D bought me a Mickey Mouse Chia pet for Christmas. I tried twice to get it to grow and failed. And then work got REALLY busy (the Big!Work!Project! that I will never stop mentioning!) and I put it away for a while.
Now that things settled down, it was now or never.
Finally, we had success! Here are some chia pet tips that I learned the hard way.
> These suckers are THIRSTY. The pots are hollow and you keep them watered by keeping them filled up. Anything more than a 3 day weekend without water dries them out, especially before they sprout. That is what killed our first round of seeds.
> BTW, WM wants you to know that he is awesome. This has nothing to do with the post, but hey. Content is content.
> The instructions suggest to keep a plastic bag over top of the plant to keep the moisture in. Great! I used a gallon-size Ziploc bag with the sides slit a bit so I can easily lower it over the plant after watering.
> But don’t bag it more than 4 nights, because when the sprouts grow their baby leaves will cling to the plastic bag. And when you take the bag off the water the planter, you’ll tear off all of the plants. Think of a Brazilian Wax. That is what killed our second rounds of seeds.
> Some of the water will seep out of the bottom of the pot, so it’s advisable to put the pot in a bowl. NOT a paper plate. And drain the bowl once in a while or you’ll attract gnats/fruit flies. Sorry, coworkers.
I don’t know what the lifespan is for a chia pet, but I think I’ll buy more chia seeds.
