# New to live plants



## Christianb96 (Jan 30, 2017)

Hey everyone, I'm very interested in adding some live plants to some of my terrariums  (even though I know it's only for my benefit) but I've read a few horror stories on parasites ( nematodes) coming in on the plants or soil. Although I heard it is very rare in deeply concerned by it. Is there any proper way to clean and treat a plant before adding it into the terrarium? I'd also love some recommendations on plants that do good with high humidity, heat, and low sunlight.


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## The Snark (Jan 31, 2017)

Christianb96 said:


> but I've read a few horror stories on parasites ( nematodes) coming in on the plants or soil. Although I heard it is very rare in deeply concerned by it. Is there any proper way to clean and treat a plant before adding it into the terrarium?


In a word, no. Go out in any garden and pick up a fist full of dirt. Chances are there are nematodes in it.
But you are worrying yourself unduly. It's pretty unlikely you will get a load of seriously problematic nematodes and if you did it is unlikely you would know it. If you are keeping animals, say Ts in the terrarium and one died and was determined to be infested, you wouldn't know if it was from the plants or they came with the animal.

I'll correct myself. You can fumigate a terrarium and eradicate all nematodes along with any other organisms if you have access to EO (or similar) and know how to properly and safely use it. If you have to ask what EO is, forget I mentioned it.


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## Christianb96 (Jan 31, 2017)

Thanks for the information, maybe I'll just stick with fake plants because I don't want to risk it (I do have Ts that would be in the terrariums) or just get seeds maybe


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## schmiggle (Jan 31, 2017)

First of all, thank you thank you thank you for giving some parameters!

ZZ plants, chinese evergreen, and snake tongue should all do well for you, depending on the size of the terrarium. And growing from seed is always fun and would not, I imagine, be too hard with those.

Snark--wouldn't it be hard to fumigate something as small as a terrarium? Not that I've ever tried...


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## Christianb96 (Jan 31, 2017)

schmiggle said:


> First of all, thank you thank you thank you for giving some parameters!
> 
> ZZ plants, chinese evergreen, and snake tongue should all do well for you, depending on the size of the terrarium. And growing from seed is always fun and would not, I imagine, be too hard with those.
> 
> Snark--wouldn't it be hard to fumigate something as small as a terrarium? Not that I've ever tried...


Thank you that's very helpful!

Reactions: Like 1


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## The Snark (Jan 31, 2017)

schmiggle said:


> Snark--wouldn't it be hard to fumigate something as small as a terrarium? Not that I've ever tried...


Hard question to answer. It isn't just flooding an area with a biocide. Permeability of the materials enclosed has to be taken into account, time duration of the exposure and maintaining a concentration of the fumigant to produce 100% kill.
Barring exceptionally lethal fumigants like those used in shipping containers which are entirely unavailable to the general public we have to resort to the slightly more available chemicals like EO. EO has outstanding predictable properties and can readily penetrate just about any permeable material given sufficient time. For example, medical equipment that would get destroyed in an autoclave gets the EO chamber. The gas is time released and with thick permeable materials, overkill exposure of 48 hours is often used.
So it can be done but.......
How many average persons who keep critters are capable of having this little 3-4-3 

	
	
		
		
	


	








F+ 

	
	
		
		
	


	




T bomb contained safely for 48 to 72 hours?


I agree with you on seeds. That is the way to go. Take your substrate material, wet it thoroughly and let the microwave chew on it for a half hour to get a solid 99% kill then plant seeds. Over plant and remove or trim what you don't want.


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## MetalMan2004 (Feb 1, 2017)

I'd be curious to hear from someone that has grown zz plant or snake plant from seed.  From what I've read they grow at an amazingly slow pace.  I imagine from seed to the size plant you are wanting would take years.

I don't know though because I don't own any.  I'd love to hear if its actually doable.


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## schmiggle (Feb 1, 2017)

MetalMan2004 said:


> I'd be curious to hear from someone that has grown zz plant or snake plant from seed.  From what I've read they grow at an amazingly slow pace.  I imagine from seed to the size plant you are wanting would take years.


I'm sure that's true, I've read even cuttings of a zz plant take several months to grow a tuber. This could be an advantage, though, because it will keep the plant from overgrowing the terrarium. 

I will say that, for the most part, any tropical plant that is easy to grow in low light will also grow slowly. These plants tend to be adapted to growing on the floor of a tropical rainforest, which is one of the most shaded habitats in the world. They simply don't have much energy to grow.

I forgot to mention above--you might also try pothos.

Also, if you definitely want to propagate from seed and definitely don't want the plant to grow slowly, you could add some supplemental lighting and go for something like mimosa or ivy, which both grow like weeds.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## MetalMan2004 (Feb 1, 2017)

My only point is that if you want a zz plant or snake plant to go in your terrarium in the next few years it probably won't be from seed


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