# substrate for growing plants?



## Descartes (Mar 20, 2013)

I just started thinking about putting some live plants into my pacman frog terrarium; what would be the best substrate for this? I read that the basic coconut fibre wont work... Also, for plants I was thinking of growing some "sweet baby peppers" from seed, would that be safe?


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## Bugmom (Mar 20, 2013)

Organic peat moss? I bought a 2.2 cu ft bag for $15. It's what most of my terrestrial tarantulas are on.


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## freedumbdclxvi (Mar 20, 2013)

Organic peat moss.  My planted enclosures have it as the sub, and the plants and spiders do fine.  (In fact, it is pretty much what I use now, though with some other stuff mixed in.)


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## hamhock 74 (Mar 20, 2013)

I use a mixture of organic poting soil and peat moss for planted enclosures


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## Tarac (Mar 21, 2013)

I think you will find some nice natural clay added for rooting and minerals will do wonders for the plants and will stay out of the pacman frogs mouth better as well.  I also use a layer of expanded clay aggregate on the bottom for drainage.  I started using it in my planted aquarium (fish aquarium) and now I use it for most planted terraria too, makes a huge difference.  There are a whole bunch of commercial varieties available and if you can get stuff from a wild area that you are confident enough is not contaminated with anything bad that works great too.


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## freedumbdclxvi (Mar 21, 2013)

Tarac said:


> I think you will find some nice natural clay added for rooting and minerals will do wonders for the plants and will stay out of the pacman frogs mouth better as well.  I also use a layer of expanded clay aggregate on the bottom for drainage.  I started using it in my planted aquarium (fish aquarium) and now I use it for most planted terraria too, makes a huge difference.  There are a whole bunch of commercial varieties available and if you can get stuff from a wild area that you are confident enough is not contaminated with anything bad that works great too.


interesting.  Next time I set up a planted enclosure, I will try this.  Do you lay down a layer of clay then overlay it with the top soil, or do you just do the clay?


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## 3skulls (Mar 21, 2013)

Look up ABG recipe. 
Lots of the Dart Frog guys use it.


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## Descartes (Mar 21, 2013)

wow, these are all great suggestions, thanks guys!


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## Cavedweller (Mar 21, 2013)

I used my millipede substrate recipe (33% coco fiber, 33% rotten leaves, 33% rotten wood) for some pilea cuttings, and was _astonished_ that it actually worked (100% survival rate for my cuttings). I'm not sure if that could be an impaction risk though. 

Also, I think a frog tank might be too humid for peppers?


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## Descartes (Mar 21, 2013)

thats an interesting idea. you are probably right about the pepper since theyre generally desert plants. Im not quite ready to settle for pothos yet, so I may possibly put luminescent mushrooms, which would be cool


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## Cavedweller (Mar 22, 2013)

They do sound pretty dang cool, but they may need some sort of plant roots to attach to? I'm growing fond of the baby tears pilea in my tanks. I've also got some varieties of ficus ivy in the humid millipede tanks, but they don't grow nearly as fast.


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## Descartes (Mar 22, 2013)

not sure about the mushrooms, I have to do more research yet. Ive never heard of the pilea, they would look pretty cool in a well furnished tank...where do you buy your plants?


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## Cavedweller (Mar 22, 2013)

I ordered mine from one of the tree frog sites like Black Jungle or JoshsFrogs (don't remember which one). I got a few pieces of pilea from them, along with two creeping figs. The creeping fig has been much slower growing, but the pilea's taken off like crazy and I've been having a ton of success with cuttings. I also ordered some sheet moss but it died right away. The Planted Tank forum is a good one for asking about plants, even though it's heavily aquarium-focused.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Daniel1 (Mar 24, 2013)

Normal old coco fiber works great. Also depends on the type of plant. 
http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii600/poison619/P1020467.jpg

http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii600/poison619/P1040144_zpsa808e495.jpg


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## DreamWeaver8 (Mar 24, 2013)

I've used 100% coco fiber and it worked just fine.


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## Tarac (Mar 28, 2013)

freedumbdclxvi said:


> interesting.  Next time I set up a planted enclosure, I will try this.  Do you lay down a layer of clay then overlay it with the top soil, or do you just do the clay?


It depends on the application.  I use it in aquariums and terrariums and sometimes overlay with soil depending on the kinds of plants I am trying to grow (I actually use it in my greenhouse too).  In aquaria I just put it down, sometimes add sand or small gravel for appearance but it's not functional.  In terraria you can just add it without dressing if you are growing things that like to anchor themselves well and don't mind moisture without a tone of drainage- Aroids come to mind but also a number of smaller, lesser known orchids and similar plants.  On the other hand, some plants like that loose humus on top so then just use a sprinkling of composted leaves to get a nice airy mix on top.  I don't really do much full blown terrarium work anymore but I do still use the concepts for cultivating plants in the greenhouse that are too picky for a pot.  Or also if you want to keep them in the house for better temp control (Masdevallia and a lot of other Pleurothallid orchids, for example, resent the heat in a Florida greenhouse and are small enough that a nice clay-based terrarium suits them well indoors).


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## Louise E. Rothstein (Apr 11, 2013)

Peppers need LOTS of light to grow at all well,and,if they do,they soon need AMPLE SPACE.
Although it might be possible to start seeds in a vivarium I wouldn't recommend trying to mature usable peppers there...
if your weather doesn't permit your new pepper seedlings to go right outside I'd line them up on windowsills.


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