the ultimate (?) plant thread

[deranged chipmunk]

funny, i have been posting in forums for a LONG time, and this is my first sticky!!LOL Billy Begonia....LOL

[lucidremedy]

Hello all! Im new to the site, and new to making living terrariums.

I just wanted to say, the past couple of days I have been reading and looking over this thread and its helped me alot!

[deranged chipmunk]

glad we could help out we may get off the beaten path sometimes, but there are a few gems of info scattered around here i guess....LOL

[lucidremedy]

Dracaena deremensis, is that ok to put in a tank? Along with chlorophytum laxum?

I see a bunch of different Dracaena on here so I'm assuming the first is ok.

[deranged chipmunk]

sorry i'm a little behind on this. yes and yes

[lucidremedy]

Cool thank you!! I'm new to all this "live plant stuff". All my terrariums have reptiles that have no need for humidity/live plants.

I used Eco earth before I read on how it's nutritionally deficient...I mixed peat moss in there...and I plan on getting springtails...Is their any way to make the soil have more nutrients?

[deranged chipmunk]

Yup, there are many ways. You can add earthworm castings, bat guano, fish bone meal, laterite, clay, tons of stuff. If you have a fish tank, old tank water is very high in nitrogen and your plants would love it, provided it gets regular water changes. It all depends on your setup as well as your budget.

[lucidremedy]

Ohhh I didn't even think about tank water...that makes alot of sense and luckily, I do have a small tank. Thank you!

[lucidremedy]

I went into the field to collect some different species of moss. I collected pillow moss, a shag/fern moss, and some shade moss, and this weird moss that was growing on he rocks of a small waterfall. I put them in Tupperware containers with a plastic wrap top in about an inch of substrate from my tank ill be putting them. It's my understanding to let them acclimate for at least a couple weeks? Is their anything else I need to do to make sure their "safe" to put in the tank?

[deranged chipmunk]

They don't really need to acclimate. But what you are doing is quarantining it so you don't "infect" your viv with creepy crawlies from outside. The main thing you need to do wash the moss thoroughly. Rinse it under running water to clean off any excess debris and then rinse some more. When it looks clean, rinse some more. After you rinse it off, store it in a sealed tupperware container and set it on the windowsill that gets some sunlight. No need for airholes in the tupperware, you want to keep humidity in. Let it grow out for about a month or so, removing any bugs you may encounter along the way.

[missginger2177]

They don't really need to acclimate. But what you are doing is quarantining it so you don't "infect" your viv with creepy crawlies from outside. The main thing you need to do wash the moss thoroughly. Rinse it under running water to clean off any excess debris and then rinse some more. When it looks clean, rinse some more. After you rinse it off, store it in a sealed tupperware container and set it on the windowsill that gets some sunlight. No need for airholes in the tupperware, you want to keep humidity in. Let it grow out for about a month or so, removing any bugs you may encounter along the way.

And here I keep thinking this is stuff is much more complicated than that. Now I just gotta find some moss ... *insert evil chuckle here* The bf won't know what hit him.

[deranged chipmunk]

Yup, it's that simple. A lot of the plant stuff is extremely easy. Mostly just common sense. Quite a bit gets completely over-thought and procedures tend to become overly cautious, not that it's a bad thing. Just unnecessary is all.

[lucidremedy]

Ohhh, ok simple enough lol. Thanks for all you help (: when I get home I'll go scrub 'em and get them cleaned up.

[lucidremedy]

Yeah when I figured out you could go out and collect moss and how easy it was I was thinking....why the heck didn't I do this before?!

[deranged chipmunk]

Lol.... see that? Pretty soon, you guys will be answering all the questions

[missginger2177]

OK so all you plant gurus inspired me. Took the dog out for his normal PetCo/Lowes run and ended up cruising through and writing down a bunch of plant names to research. Then we ran over (on a whim) to HD and happened to find an absolutely gorgeous little plant in their "tropical assorted" section that I simply couldn't resist. So here it is since I have absolutely no clue what it may actually be, only that I figured I'd probably be able to eventually use it as something other than a houseplant, if I manage to keep it alive that long.



Thoughts?

[deranged chipmunk]

OK so all you plant gurus inspired me. Took the dog out for his normal PetCo/Lowes run and ended up cruising through and writing down a bunch of plant names to research. Then we ran over (on a whim) to HD and happened to find an absolutely gorgeous little plant in their "tropical assorted" section that I simply couldn't resist. So here it is since I have absolutely no clue what itthat may actually be, only that I figured I'd probably be able to eventually use it as something other than a houseplant, if I manage to keep it alive t


Thoughts?

that would be a nice little calathea species.
Nice find it will do well in a viv

[Heatheranne]

Hey Bill! Guess where I went today?

Picked up some viv plants and some baby perennial starters for fun too .

[deranged chipmunk]

Hey Bill! Guess where I went today?

Picked up some viv plants and some baby perennial starters for fun too .

nice heather! You have serious plant jones going on huh? Lol

[missginger2177]

Those are gorgeous Heather!