small/ground cover plants

[SamuraiSid]

I'm looking to build a fancy enclosure and I want to incorporate live plants. I've got the GS/silicone/peat thing done with some bark for a hide, but overall the entire thing is looking pretty drab and boring. Adding to that, I have been reading a lot about incorporating live plants and I'm in no rush to get this thing completed The look I'm going for is a natural display. The part I'm having trouble with is keeping things to scale. I had the revelation that all the frog paludariums I drool over are 20, 50, 100 gallons in size. I dont want to scale down ideas to fit 5 gallons. So small plants will work best.
Im thinking about some lighting. The enclosure is for a MF P. irminia and I know she wont tolerate any direct light; indirect will have to be pretty dim, so Im thinking low light plants. That probably narrows down the list. But maybe some blue or red lighting would benefit the plants without bothering the T? I dont know if that makes any sence from the little I know about lights with T's and plants.
I also know next to nothing about moss. Are any sp. plausible for this set-up?

If ya'll could throw some names at me, Id love to play with the search function Tips and feedback would be appreciated too. I've got plenty of pothos lying around but Im wanting more variety and smaller leaves.

 

[MarkmD]

Im not sure ware to start but it sounds like a really good idea i hope it works for you.

Good luck.

 

[zonbonzovi]

Sid, how 'bout jewel orchids? Many will thrive with indirect light and you could angle the light(or strategically place mesh/other plants) to highlight only the part of the enclosure that you want in full range of the light bulb. Here's a quick ref page on lighting: http://everything-orchids.com/growing-orchids-indoors/artificial-plant-light

Your irminia is going to wait for nighttime to come out(for the most part), so you could easily use a cheap timer to control cycles.

The downside to jewels is $15-25 per depending on where you get them.

 

[SamuraiSid]

I've been thinking alot about using light to highlight, but then I start over thinking the situation by wondering if red light would benefit some "medium light requirement" plants without bothering the T? I could use some low watt spot white light for general lighting 10-12hrs per day.

I looked at the link, and the jewel orchid is beautiful. i was entertaining the idea of using an orchid, but have since opted for a bromeliad. But now Im thinking its going to depend on the requirements of the overall enclosure. Hopefully Ill be able to add either a brom or orchid, though.

I went to one garden store today and the employee wasnt any help. I wrote down a bunch of names, and after some vague research the only two I think might be vaiable for a T enclosure are a dwarf hosta "blue mouse ears" and Horwathia fasciata. I really like the look of succulents, and a small one would look great in an enclosure. Ill be doing more research myself, but if anyone has anything to say about these to species, Id love to here it.

So tomorrow Im going to a different garden store. I called before hand to ask some stupid questions, and the lady on the other end was very pleasant and easy to talk too. So I told her Im going to stop by tomorrow to harass some of the employees, and she let me know thats what they are there for. Great attitude, so Im hoping to make some purchases tomorrow, get some pictures up, and maybe just start with a planted terrarium and put the Tarantula display on the back burner for the time being. The wood in the tank is temperate, so Im a little worried how it will look with tropical plants. All the same though, I have been throwing around ideas of incorporating a large amount of faux roots, but I guess this would best be saved for the viv. forum.
Researching a ton of different species, and then having to match each plant species substrate/ humidity/ lighting requirements with each other, and adding a Tarantula on top of that is taking me more than the few hours I normally thought it would:sarcasm:

Quick question: Mold? Currently I get a bit of mold, but I never stress and pick it out. Not really a problem, but Im wondering if that will change with live plants? Also, if/when I get into isopods (Just another thing to add to the list of things I need to research) will they be beneficial or detrimental to the plants?

 

[Tarac]

Red light will most likely have little to no benefit to the plant. What if you provide a shaded shelter for the suntiger and just use low light (with the appropriate spectra available)?

Jewel orchids are nice- I am guessing you saw Ludisia discolor as that is the typical common jewel orchid. There are many genera called jewel orchids, most of which will take low light- Goodyera, Anoectochilus, Dossinia, Macodes, etc. In orchids, related genera are organized into "alliances" so these would all fall into the jewel orchid alliance. There are other alliances with diminutive members that might suit your needs as well- some genera like Pleurothallis, Masdevallia (generally fairly cool growing though), Bulbophyllum and so on will have species you can use. There are well over 25K species of orchids growing in the full range of conditions from cold to hot, shady to bright, humid to arid, terrestrial to epiphytic to aquatic. Search the internet for other people growing orchids in small terraria, it's not an uncommon practice at all.

 

[SamuraiSid]

Im definitely going to be getting some orchids for a terrarium display in a few weeks and when Im experienced enough Ill make the call if it will work with a T. Im not overly experienced with adult arboreals, so Im thinking about setting one up for an Avicularia sp. because plant maintenance will go along smoothly if the T is generally docile. No poeci's and the Sun Tiger is questionable, but I know my girl is partial to threat displays instead of any skiddish/bolting behaviour so thats a plus. What species of Avic would be best? Im thinking large (for an avic), but most important is being docile like the common pink toe, but out in the open. All my A. avics just comfortably sit in their tubes, and only come to the entrance to ring the dinner bell.


The Garden store was great and the staff very pleasant. They only got their first order of tropicals and indoor plants 2 weeks ago so the selection wasnt great, but closer to winter they will be getting in broms and the like.
Im gonna do some more research on all those beautiful orchids, and towards the end of september Ill be placing an order to make sure they get some in with their tropical order. Along with spike moss and a couple smaller broms and general epiphytes. This will give me plenty of time to pick the species I think will work best for a T, and probably a few more with higher light requirement plants to grow general experience.


Sold as Club moss, Cryptanthus, 2" tropical plant.



Would love some help with the name for this one.

 

[Tarac]

The one you can't ID I can't see all that well, but it's gestalt suggests Ficus pumila (juvenile form). If you can take a more clear picture of the leaf form and arrangement I can probably get you an ID. It looks like a vine, is that correct? Try to capture some of the plants characters in the picture- opposite or alternate leaves, pubescent surfaces, pellucid dots, tendrils or other climbing structures, milky sap, anything that will help narrow it down a bit is good.

The "earth star" Bromeliad (Cryptanthus) that you have wants surprisingly higher light than you would expect, if you didn't know. Sellaginella (the moss) is likely going to be very demanding in terms of humidity. They are beautiful but might want it a little more wet than you can easily provide and still keep up with the circulation and such for the T. Good for dart frog tanks, for example. But that does depend a bit on the species, do you know which one you have?

I highly recommend finding a local exotic plant society sale or orchid society sale. They typically have a nice assortment of unusual orchids of small stature, knowledgeable people vending them and also an assortment of orchid companion plants that would work well for your purposes.

All in all you got some really nice plants, you're definitely off to a good start.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Isopods do eat mold...and they tend to thrive wherever there is sufficient moisture to support mold...
but these omnivorous feeders may also nibble some kinds of plants.

You do not want them to overcrowd...with that in mind...but I wonder whether your tarantula would eat the "extras?"
Since tarantulas sometimes accept a prey item that they don't go looking for you might test your tarantula's taste(or lack thereof) for an "extra" isopod or two before you install a possible breeding group of active isopods in your vivarium.

 

[Charlottesweb17]

When putting fresh ground in your inverts terrarium what is best to use?
Live plants? What are best? Am not wanting to put anything in that will make invert sick. Also read false plants are better because they do not require frequent watering and will not spoil.
Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[The Snark]

I'm wondering if it would be possible to dwarf a Rock Rose, Cistaceae to terrarium size. An attractive ornamental that's got a root mass that would defy the most industrious T wielding a pick and shovel. And it's a survivalist for good measure that grows under all light and moisture circumstances.

 

[schmiggle]

Plus you could grow truffles at the same time.

But honestly, I'm sure you could, but if it's anything like a bonsai, care would be hard. On the other hand, maybe they're just super resilient no matter what you do.