# Low light plants.



## Mojo288 (Jan 5, 2018)

I was hoping some seasoned botanists would be able to recommend some plants for my T enclosures of various sizes.

Ideally they would all need to have low light needs, with low medium and high water needs.

I'm sure i'm using the wrong terminology, but i'm hoping i got the point across lol.

Thank you for any and all input, it is much appreciated


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## schmiggle (Jan 5, 2018)

I understand everything you mean except "low medium" needs. However, my usual suggestion is pothos--almost unkillable, easy to trim, not to big if you don't want it to be. Will you have pots or are you planning on putting these directly into the substrate? Also, are you planning on supplementing light at all? If not, where is the light coming from? Even plants that grow in low light conditions need some light, and if your terrarium is only lit by a weak lightbulb you're unlikely to be able to grow anything.


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## Mojo288 (Jan 5, 2018)

schmiggle said:


> I understand everything you mean except "low medium" needs. However, my usual suggestion is pothos--almost unkillable, easy to trim, not to big if you don't want it to be. Will you have pots or are you planning on putting these directly into the substrate? Also, are you planning on supplementing light at all? If not, where is the light coming from? Even plants that grow in low light conditions need some light, and if your terrarium is only lit by a weak lightbulb you're unlikely to be able to grow anything.


I should have said  low  -   medium    -   high water needs, as in all 3, i have different T's that thrive at different humidity levels.

As for lighting, all planted vivariums would be lit by natural light in the room, but i don't leave my enclosures in direct sunlight ever so ideally plants that prefer shade or ones that would do well with minimal artificial lighting.

Currently Pothos is also my go to, but i was hoping for a few more suggestions for some diversity, and maybe some low light succulents for my "arid" tanks.

Also, the plants would go directly into the substrate, and the minimum base size for the enclosures would be at least 16x16, so i can accommodate some "larger" vivarium plants in some of the enclosures.


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## Storm1028 (Jan 5, 2018)

If you got the Josh's Frogs Website and go to "plants for pets", you can choose what type of plants you want and each type of plants have their own description about requirements and hardiness zones.
Link here: https://www.joshsfrogs.com/plants-for-pets/plants-a-z.html


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## Mojo288 (Jan 5, 2018)

Storm1028 said:


> If you got the Josh's Frogs Website and go to "plants for pets", you can choose what type of plants you want and each type of plants have their own description about requirements and hardiness zones.
> Link here: https://www.joshsfrogs.com/plants-for-pets/plants-a-z.html


I have checked Josh's frogs before, and regularly use them for isopods and springtails, but most (if not all) of the plants have been higher humidity plants (not surprising since they are intended for PDF's) with rather vague descriptions/parameters. After following the care instructions for their African violet with poor results, as well as needing ARID biome plants , i came here to hopefully get some first hand information from people that have experience growing said plants.


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## schmiggle (Jan 5, 2018)

Mojo288 said:


> I should have said  low  -   medium    -   high water needs, as in all 3, i have different T's that thrive at different humidity levels.
> 
> As for lighting, all planted vivariums would be lit by natural light in the room, but i don't leave my enclosures in direct sunlight ever so ideally plants that prefer shade or ones that would do well with minimal artificial lighting.
> 
> ...


In that case, substrate depth is important to think about, and also whether a tarantula will uproot the plants you want to put in.

There are very few succulents that actually prefer lower light conditions, but you might be able fit zz plants in an enclosure. The issue with many plants is less about spread and more about height, so how high are you planning on making your terraria? Haworthia margaritifera should do ok for you either way, but it may develop an odd shape with your suggested lighting. 

For a medium humidity enclosure, you might try christmas cactus.

Are you already growing pothos? If you're successfully growing pothos in one of your terraria, that should give me at least a little information to give further suggestions. The main problem I'm running into is that many of the most common houseplants--which are most of what you're looking for--either need higher light conditions than you're likely to provide (in the case of succulents) or will be too big to fit in a terrarium (two foot leaves).

Reactions: Helpful 1


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## Mojo288 (Jan 5, 2018)

schmiggle said:


> In that case, substrate depth is important to think about, and also whether a tarantula will uproot the plants you want to put in.
> 
> There are very few succulents that actually prefer lower light conditions, but you might be able fit zz plants in an enclosure. The issue with many plants is less about spread and more about height, so how high are you planning on making your terraria? Haworthia margaritifera should do ok for you either way, but it may develop an odd shape with your suggested lighting.
> 
> ...


most of the vivaria will be arboreal (poecilotheria in mind) minimum size is 16x16x20 inches, most will be 18x18x24 with a few at 20x20x30 for my biggest girls. And yes pothos grows fine. Iv also got snake's tongue(?) plant and English ivy doing ok as well.

For the arid vivarium i think it will be 20x16x16 (glass panes i have access to are 20x16, which dictates my DIY enclosure sizes)


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## Storm1028 (Jan 5, 2018)

I'm currently using a _Portulacaria afra_ in my _M. balfouri _setup for the past year now and it's doing well. That's one possibility if you are interested in an arid succulent like that. The only concern is overwatering. They don't do well when water gets stagnant and they have "wet-feet". They do well when they get trimmed or when you pluck leaves off because it's a stimulus to grow more foliage, therefore you have healthier leaves. Hope this helps.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Storm1028 (Jan 5, 2018)

Storm1028 said:


> I'm currently using a _Portulacaria afra_ in my _M. balfouri _setup for the past year now and it's doing well. That's one possibility if you are interested in an arid succulent like that. The only concern is overwatering. They don't do well when water gets stagnant and they have "wet-feet". They do well when they get trimmed or when you pluck leaves off because it's a stimulus to grow more foliage, therefore you have healthier leaves. Hope this helps.


Edit: The only concerns I see is light requirements and fertilizing (_P. afra_ are heavy feeders). For fertilizer, I use dubia frass and molt. I use some type of strainer and run water through it, using that strained water to feed the plants.


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## The Snark (Jan 5, 2018)

I just made a mistake of replacing a fluorescent light, 36 watt, with a full spectrum 24 watt LED. Life under an arc welder? Think of those ultra bright LED flashlights. Now think of 80 LEDs.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## schmiggle (Jan 6, 2018)

My new suggestions:

Zz plant
Cast iron plant (although it might eventually get too big in spread)
Some smaller species of Chinese evergreen (the houseplants, not trees)
Haworthia margaritifera
Smaller kalanchoe species (many of these prefer high light but will do ok in lower light conditions)
Paper cactus (similar to kalanchoe in terms of care)
Those last two are borderline, but I was surprised to find a friend of mine growing paper cactus on the other side of his room from a window, so I guess it must do ok in relatively low light.

Reactions: Helpful 1


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