# plants



## aquaArachnid (Nov 24, 2011)

alright, so I have the substrate taken care of, now I'm thinking of plants i could put in the enclosure. suggestions? and what about lighting?


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## Hornets inverts (Nov 25, 2011)

What species of T will be living in there? How big is the viv? What substrate are you using? Cant give you anything with the info (or lack of) you have given us.


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## donniedark0 (Nov 25, 2011)

at the very bottom of the tank, put about 1 inch of big rocks / gravel. ( that is used for drainage , and you must have it )........
...... 
Then on top of the rocks, put a layer of vinyl cloth/net, something that will not corrode or rust, cant be metal. MUST be vinyl cloth. ( this is used to block the substrate from sinking to the bottom and interfering with the drainage layer.

Then you use whatever substrate you want on top of the vinyl net/cloth that will be used for the plants and the rest of the tank. I use the eco earth stuff that is used for the Tarantula enclosure. It is great for growing plants cause it has decent drainage and can also be misted and whatnot.

Use general common sense when planting. Dont hard pack and practice underwatering and letting the roots dry out MORE then overwatering and killing the plants...

Use low to medium light plants. Pothos / ivy plants / ferns ( go to home depot or lowes and they have all the low - medium level light house plants that are perfect )

Just use a 23 watt 6500k daylight flourescent spiral bulb ( $8 for 2 bulbs home depot / lowes) and let it shine into the enclosure at least 10 hours a day or something like that with a lamp fixture. The beauty of these bulbs is they barely give off any heat.

If theres anything else I can think of ill add it to this thread. I think thats pretty much the basics for now. GOODLUCK bud , have fun and enjoy 

---------- Post added 11-25-2011 at 09:30 AM ----------

oh yea, i forgot to add..........

any plants you buy are usually potted with some crap fertilizer or chemicals.

Any plant you want to put in the tank...............

Gently take the plant out of the pot and in your sink with room temperature water, gently wash off the soil and roots. ( this is to clean the plant of any fertilizer / chemicals ) Do it as much as you can without going nuts so you dont kill the plant.

Then you can plant it. You dont want to introduce fertilizer and chemicals into a terrarium that could possibly harm the living creature.


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## pavel (Nov 25, 2011)

Hornets inverts said:


> What species of T will be living in there? How big is the viv? What substrate are you using? Cant give you anything with the info (or lack of) you have given us.


+1



donniedark0 said:


> at the very bottom of the tank, put about 1 inch of big rocks / gravel. ( that is used for drainage , and you must have it )........
> ......
> Then on top of the rocks, put a layer of vinyl cloth/net, something that will not corrode or rust, cant be metal. MUST be vinyl cloth. ( this is used to block the substrate from sinking to the bottom and interfering with the drainage layer.


Actually neither a drainage layer nor the cloth are absolutely necessary depending upon what plants, media, and overall set up are used though they can be useful.



donniedark0 said:


> Use low to medium light plants. Pothos / ivy plants / ferns ( go to home depot or lowes and they have all the low - medium level light house plants that are perfect )
> 
> Just use a 23 watt 6500k daylight flourescent spiral bulb ( $8 for 2 bulbs home depot / lowes) and let it shine into the enclosure at least 10 hours a day ....


Lighting will depend on the size of the enclosure as well as the type of plants.  A 23W cfl will be insufficient for most medium light plants -- assuming you want the plant to do more than survive.  It may prove inadequate even for some low light plants.



donniedark0 said:


> Pothos / ivy plants / ferns ( go to home depot or lowes and they have all the low - medium level light house plants that are perfect )
> 
> flourescent spiral bulb...beauty of these bulbs is they barely give off any heat.


Pothos, as Donnie mentioned, is a good choice as they are very durable.  While ferns, in general, are indeed good options, there are those that require fairly high light.  One caveat to ferns is they can overwhelm a tank ... crowding out and smothering small plants.  So if you do use ferns, keep in mind that "weeding" will likely be needed every so often.  Also many of the ferns sold in BBS are actually young plants which upon maturing will produce fronds far larger than those it had when you bought it.  Not a fan of ivy, myself.  I find it too prone to spidermites.

Compared to incandescents, Donnie is right that cfls give off quite a bit less heat though "barely any" is a tad overly optimistic.  



donniedark0 said:


> any plants you buy are usually potted with some crap fertilizer or chemicals.
> 
> Any plant you want to put in the tank...............
> 
> ...


Very true.


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## donniedark0 (Nov 25, 2011)

hehe, i am very new to all this and defin still learning. Thanks for the extra tips. I use 2 23watt bulbs and the plants are doing great but im gonna start experimenting more with strip lights. If you have anything to add about strip lights, please do,

thanks and appreciate it!


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## gmrpnk21 (Nov 26, 2011)

I keep seeing people recommending the use of gravel for drainage, but for pothos it isn't really needed! As long as you have decent ventilation, the water shouldn't be stagnant, and will evaporate over time. I have several planted enclosures, and so does a good friend of mine, and there have been ZERO issues just planting golden pothos directly in peat without drainage set up. As for other plants, I couldn't tell you if they need drainage or not... As for light, I use the grow lights from walmart on a 12 hour cycle. Some of my tarantulas actually seem to enjoy basking in the light, while others hide during the day cycle. I have seen A LOT of new growth since I added the lamps, so I can say they definitely work if you use them as instructed!


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## Louise E. Rothstein (Dec 1, 2011)

There are LED strip lights now.
They produce very little heat-less than fluorescents do.


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## pavel (Dec 1, 2011)

Louise E. Rothstein said:


> There are LED strip lights now.
> They produce very little heat-less than fluorescents do.


Quite true.  However, the light intensity provided by those inexpensive strips is insufficient for plant growth.  There are some LED lights/lamps that are supposed to be usable for plants however currently:
1) Those particular LEDs are VERY expensive.  
2) The light emitted gives everything a completely unnatural cast -- purple if I recall correctly.  Normal colors like greens are not visible under said lights.


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## Hendersoniana (Dec 1, 2011)

I have a vivarium only for plants and here is how i do it.
1) i get 3 pots and a pump with a pipe and place them on the base level with no substrate or anything.
2) than i take egg crate and wrap netting around it.
3) I pour water until the pump can function.
4) I place sphagnum moss on top of the egg crate
5) I place my plants and other decorations
Seems to do well for me, if u need a picture i can provide one .


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## Louise E. Rothstein (Dec 6, 2011)

Some LEDs do produce more "natural" lighting than the "Cool Whites" do.
They're generally listed between "Cool Whites" and "Warm Whites."


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## donniedark0 (Dec 6, 2011)

Please show us Photos. Would love to see that set hp



Hendersoniana said:


> I have a vivarium only for plants and here is how i do it.
> 1) i get 3 pots and a pump with a pipe and place them on the base level with no substrate or anything.
> 2) than i take egg crate and wrap netting around it.
> 3) I pour water until the pump can function.
> ...


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