Need Advice On Live Plants

[frogdad]

The more I research the more interested I'm getting in using live plants for my RETFs. I have several questions, some that may have already been answered in other threads. If so, please provide a link.


1. Which plants are best and which should I avoid?
2. Should I plant in the substrate of pots? I'm thinking pots.
3. What type of soil for the plants?
4. Where is the best place to buy the plants? Lowes, Home Depot, online?
5. Will a 6500k CFL provide enough light?
6. Anything else I should know?


Thanks in advance for any help!

[Shade38]

Hi Brian! I love plants so much, even more than frogs in fact. (hard to believe!)

I will try to answer your questions, but hopefully someone else will come along with more info. Here we go:

1. There are many lists on which plants are "best" meaning safest and most loved by frogs. My RETFS love their Split Leaf Philodendron the best, and sleep on it every day. They also SEEM to like the Pothos (the regular cream/green kind) and Dwarf Dracena.
Two important criteria for RETF friendly plant is: large strong broad leaves so they can sleep on the underside without flopping around too much, and plants that can handle high humidity.

2. Some people like to plant directly in the substrate. I don't, because my paper towel is substrate. I use pots so they're easy to take out, move around, and swap out if they're not doing well. Planted terrariums look AWESOME though. Look at the members' gallery and private msg people to ask questions about their particular designs.

3. I use EcoEarth (aka coir, coconut husk) for my potted plants with lava rocks on the bottom for drainage and ventilation for the roots. There are special frog-safe soils that you can buy like Plantation Soil. I don't use those because the EcoEarth is safest in case the frogs swallow it accidentally.

4. The best place in my opinion, is a local nursery (not a chain store) because they often have great growing information and can answer your questions. Also, they are usually willing to order specific plants for you if there's one you can't find at Lowe's or wherever.

5. Lights are not my area of expertise so I'll move on to #6.

6. Thanks to my awesome frog-loving pals here, I've learned that you have to wash ALL the soil off a store-bought plant because they contain fertilizers, pesticides, etc plus small rocks that can be swallowed accidentally. Then re-pot the plant in your chosen potting mix (Eco-earth, plantation soil etc) and give the plants several weeks to "flush out" any residual fertilizers, pesticides, hormones.

Also, I tried a few other plants WITHOUT success:
Croton (this plant didn't like the eco-earth for some reason)
Spathiphyllum/Peace Lily (too floppy for the frogs, they avoided it)
Peperomia (everyone raves about this plant but my frogs turned their little snouts up at it.)

I took an Indoor Plant class last semester so if you're curious about a specific plant, I can give you my notes on it if you want. Good luck!!!

Shade

[frogdad]

WOW! Thanks for the info, I didn't expect that much. The only thing I'm kind of unclear on is giving the plants time to flush out. Are you meaning to give the plants several weeks to grow outside of the tank?
Thanks again.

[Shade38]

Yes, exactly. Just in case the leaves and roots have chemicals on them. I don't know for certain if frogs are THAT sensitive, but yeah I give it a couple weeks at least. Have fun