How to grow an awesome Chia Pet Kung Fu Panda plant in handmade clay planter

Chi, chi, chi, chia! Chia pet song is now familiar to most, but until this year I resisted buying one of this clay containers. This year, Chia Pet came up with a Chia Head our family could not pass up: Chia Pet Kung Fu Panda 2. Good-natured panda bear name Po have become a really familiar face to me, since my kids adore him and watch Kung Fu Panda movies all the time. Kung Fu Panda "legends of awesomeness" song have been stuck in my head for weeks. Chia Pet makers combined several popular cartoon characters with a simple gardening project to produce a sure winner among young children.

Kung Fu Panda character is our favorite Chia Pet planter, but others include SpongeBob Square Pants Chia Pet, Donkey Chia Pet and Shrek Chia Pet. There are also generic Chia Pets: cat, sheep, dog, cat, etc. Perhaps somewhat controversial creation from Chia makers is President Barack Obama Chia Head.

• Carefully take the Chia Pet planter out of the box. Place seeds and tray from the Chia Pet box aside. Place the clay figurine planter in a large bowl filled with water. Press it down so all air bubbles would rise to the surface and the whole planter is submerged. Soak the Chia Planter for about an hour.
• In a small separate container, mix 2 teaspoons of seeds (provided) and 1/3 cup of water. Allow the mixture to sit for about one hour. Many seeds will be floating on top, so stir them in every 10-15 minutes during this hour to make sure all of them are moistened and ready to grow.
• The seeds and water mixture will become mucous-like gross paste. While disgusting to handle, this paste will stick to Chia Planter very well.
• After one our has passed, take out Chia Pet from the large bowl and place in the upright position in drip tray provided. (I did not care how flimsy the tray was, so we ended up switching it to a sturdier plastic tray soon after.)
• Fill Chia Pet with water.
• Apply mucous-like paste to the grooved surfaces of the Chia Pet planter. You could use your fingers to spread the seeds. However, we so did not care how it felt (just like snot) that we ended up using a butter knife and a spoon to do the spreading. Make sure not to clump the seeds. The depth of one seed is best. This means you might have some extra seed mixture. If you have another planter around, place it there. (Or toss it away, since the seeds have been moisturized and could not be stored.)

• After spreading the seeds on the Chia Pet planter, find a good spot for it. The perfect place for a Chia Pet would be with good, but not harsh sunlight exposure. Extreme heat or extreme cold will probably kill it, just like any other plant.
• Fill Chia Planter with water everyday. In our climate, which is very dry, I found it also helpful to mist the planter. The directions for the planter we bought also suggested putting a plastic bag over it for the first few days, while waiting for the first seeds to sprout. This is only an option if you don't have small children around, as a plastic bag could become dangerous toy to a toddler.
• As you water and spray light mist the Chia Plant, water will accumulate at the bottom of the drip tray. Reuse it or dump it out daily. This water has a tendency to go murky and gross fast.
• In 3-5 days, a few green sprouts will show up. For my kids, finding the first few sprouts was very exciting. Only a few days after that, a lush coat of greenery should cover most of the Chia Pet. To keep coat even on all sides, make sure all sides get some sunlight.
• Chia Pet plant has a lifespan of about 4 weeks.
• Chia Pet Planter is durable enough to be washed and reused many times over for other plants.