My leo laid eggs in the water dish. 3 days later i read that it would kill them and filled the dish with vermiculite. did the eggs die before i filled it with vermiculite, or do they still have a chance?
Earthworm castings but they are also a bit expensive because you need a very large amount. The cheaper way is to put a 6-12 deep pile of organic material like yard clippings onto the planting area, then cover with black plastic such as trash bags or better yet a tarp. Keep the material moist but not soaking wet. Leave it like this during the winter. Then earthworms will eat the plant material and give you lots of castings for free. You still need a fertilizer for major nutrients on top of this; any generic brand balanced organic fertilizer will do. Or you can use sterilized chicken manure, bone meal and a little kelp. Vermiculite is basically rock foam to help get air to the roots. Loosening the soil with tilling and materials like earthworm castings provides air too. Lighting will be extremely expensive no matter what you do. The power consumption will be much more than the fixture cost. Instead you might try a greenhouse. Or for herbs since they take up only a small space you can light them artificially so they are convenient and in reach. That's more reasonable but it still isn't cheap. If you have a sunny window that would be better. Most easy to grow summer vegetables are vines so they will do well on a trellis. Pick up however many you need.
