ID on grasses

[wildbill]

any-one care to Id this seeding grass i have grown in the back yard. about 1.5 metres high and covered with very large quantity of small green seeds which change colour as they ripen.

all my finches appear to like this type of grass seed

.

[Misso]

I know it as Guinea Grass, my gouldians love it!!

[wildbill]

thanks - greatly appreciated for the info

[finchbreeder]

Best finch food on the planet. But I wish mine looked as good as yours. Hot dry climate slows it down a bit.
LML

[BrettB]

Sounds like this stuff is a serious weed in Qld and NT, we don't seem to have too much around Perth.

Can anyone tell me the difference between Guinea grass and "Green Panic" which I have growing in a pot in my back yard.

Comparing it to Wildbills plant, the green panic seems to have more slender leaves, not growing as tall and sparser in habit, but the seed heads look very similar.

Cheers
Brett

[Craig52]

There are many different varieties of Guinea grass with the seed heads ranging in colour from purple to green and being the largest of the panic family (pannican maximum)
The smaller of the family,green pannic veldt grass is the southern variety which my birds prefer to Guinea grass.I don't know botanic names but i do know by trail and error which one the birds prefer and that's green pannic veldt seed. Craig

[wildbill]

last night we got a pretty solid downpour of rain and the the grass is now flat on its back. tomorrow i might have to see if i can still salvage the grass for the finches and try staking and tieing it up

[Pete Sara]

Wild bill , just a few star pickets or tomato stakes with wire or rope between to hold it up , that's the only issue I find with it . Its a pain if its for nesting sites and it gets wet . But I have clumps that free stand to 1m no problem I have some that s over 2.4 m tall poking out the aviary roof . every plant has a mind of its own . Brett all my plants vary from seed colour , all the seed heads are the same size. Growing them in pots seems to bonsai the plant except for the one in the pot in the softbill cage , once those roots escape and get a good water source they go nuts... pete

[Redwing]

How do you encourage seeding? I've 3 plants but only 1 is seeding even though conditions are fairly similar for all of them.

[Pete Sara]

Mine are just starting to seed again now , that hot weather knocked them about . I don't do anything special just a bit of water , but then again mine a got a dose of dynamic lifter a month or so ago to see if the smell would repel the roos ... It did for a couple of days , but some do better than others. .pete