Growing California Native Grass as a Houseplant

I’m currently growing California Melic, Melica imperfecta, as a houseplant under some inexpensive grow lights.

It was slow to grow at first but it has really taken off lately.

The grow lights are on about 12-16 hours a day.

I’ll turn them on when I wake up and when I go to bed, but they’re not on for exact time each day.

I’ve been successfully growing the plants in 100% pumice in a glass jar with zero drainage.

The key to this is to only fill the jar with nutrient water to only 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the bottom.

This allows the plant to wick up the water through the pumice but still have plenty of airflow around the roots.

Every time I water I add some DG Foliage Pro.

My goal is to grow this as long as possible until I potentially need to plant it outside.

But this goes to show that you can plant California native plants inside to get them going as a houseplant.