Wheat Grass Root Weaving

Wheatgrass is fast growing and a grass that Zena Holloway mentioned using for her root weaving. I used wheatgrass seeds to create a larger root system and ascertain whether I could produce a patterned texture grown around a template. I used an upside-down garage mat with a hexagonal pattern and another with a line pattern. The idea is that the roots would grow around the extruding pattern. The mat is like a negative, and the root system is like a print.

The wheatgrass seed germinated quickly, and within 7 days, the root system established itself quickly around the mat, where the growth was more prominent. For some reason, there were some quite sparse patches despite a relatively even seed spread and consistent watering. I added some purple light to try to promote growth in those areas. The root system is a lot heavier than the turf root system, so hopefully, it will be more substantial and present a few more options if I were to create a specific form with or without the bioplastic.

The wheatgrass is 11 days old at the time of this post, and I will leave it another 10 days before I harvest it (around 24 March), unless it is looking like the crop is failing.