# what does well with wet roots



## MA70Snowman (May 18, 2010)

Well I built a mosaic wall with a constant drip feature. I created two spots with cork rounds for planting, but after observing the fall, the spots are VERY wet. 

Looking for recommendations of what would thrive in those spots and how to plant them (i.e. pack in sphag moss, or grave, etc)

also what would be good for placing on the mosaic wall to add some extra foliage thanks for any input.

attached two pictures so you can get an idea of where they are.

the bottom spot has an orhid still mounted just placed there temporarily


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

Once the leaves acclimate to out of water growth and the air stays humid, anubias does great.


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Anubias (lots of species), Java Fern (lots of species again), Syngonium rayii or Black Velvet, a few of my Philos dont seem to care much, Selaginella erythropus seems to like wet roots, Pep. Costa Rica doesnt seem to mind much either


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## oldlady25715 (Nov 17, 2007)

I like the look of that background. Do you mind telling me what material you used?


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## MA70Snowman (May 18, 2010)

oldlady25715 said:


> I like the look of that background. Do you mind telling me what material you used?


here's the build thread regarding this tank before I had to tear down for my move.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/71437-4-weeks-later-finished-my-18x18x24-exo.html


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

So you have 2 cork bark pots, filled with some sort of substrate, and you are afraid the substrate will be too wet?
1) Could you remove the substrate from the pots, add more drainage holes to the pots (if necessary), and fill it with LECA, expanded glass, or even just gravel to plant in? It would be so well drained that the roots would still get plenty of oxygen. It basically be a hydroponics system at that point.

OR
2) Remove all the substrate from the pots and just attach plants directly to cork bark pots, either inside them or outside them. Just let them be pieces of cork bark, rather than pots.


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## MA70Snowman (May 18, 2010)

Pumilo said:


> So you have 2 cork bark pots, filled with some sort of substrate, and you are afraid the substrate will be too wet?
> 1) Could you remove the substrate from the pots, add more drainage holes to the pots (if necessary), and fill it with LECA, expanded glass, or even just gravel to plant in? It would be so well drained that the roots would still get plenty of oxygen. It basically be a hydroponics system at that point.
> 
> OR
> 2) Remove all the substrate from the pots and just attach plants directly to cork bark pots, either inside them or outside them. Just let them be pieces of cork bark, rather than pots.


Doug your assessment is correct. However they have no substrate in them. I like option one.I was just worried that the constant exposure to water would lead to the roots rotting. I drilled out the bottom of the pots to aid in draining the water, but the nature of thedrip wall is that anything over there is going to get wet and stay wet. 

I will probably be stuffing some anubis along the wall itself; thats what I had before and they did good, i'm just entertaining other options that would thrive in those spots.


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## clifford (Oct 17, 2008)

Most "aquarium" plants will thrive in those conditions-- things that are commonly sold as being fully aquatic, because they can tolerate being submersed, are much happier growing up out of the water or just being consistently wet.

Crypts, glossostigma, hair grass, or many kinds of mosses would all look great. I would avoid java fern, but only because it grows fast and gets to large for most medium sized vivs. It makes a great background plant in a viv your size or larger, but as you already have a great background, I'm not sure you gain anything from it. Watersprite is another invasive (but pretty) possibility. Common, cheap and easy to grow, and likes to be wet all the time. Dwarf anubias is an aquarium favorite of mine, but for some reason I've never been able to move it into my terrariums successfully (although I know many people that have).


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## lando (Sep 10, 2010)

Bacopa aff. monnieri.

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums...4-1741-47b5-9410-654882d99c4e_zps47a379ce.jpg

Sorry the pic sucks, camera phones. I bought mine from Black Jungle. It's growing epiphytically on a ledge beside a waterfall so it's constantly soaked. Cascades nicely and gets neat little white flowers. Mine hangs about 7-8 inches off of the ledge. Likes a lot of light also.


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## MA70Snowman (May 18, 2010)

clifford said:


> Crypts, glossostigma, hair grass, or many kinds of mosses would all look great. I would avoid java fern, but only because it grows fast and gets to large for most medium sized vivs. It makes a great background plant in a viv your size or larger, but as you already have a great background, I'm not sure you gain anything from it. Watersprite is another invasive (but pretty) possibility. Common, cheap and easy to grow, and likes to be wet all the time. Dwarf anubias is an aquarium favorite of mine, but for some reason I've never been able to move it into my terrariums successfully (although I know many people that have).


Thanks for the caution on the java fern. I'll look into the watersprite. I've tried anubias in the past but at best I managed to keep it alive but not thrive. I'll probably it again just to give it a go. 



lando said:


> Bacopa aff. monnieri.
> 
> http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums...4-1741-47b5-9410-654882d99c4e_zps47a379ce.jpg
> 
> Sorry the pic sucks, camera phones. I bought mine from Black Jungle. It's growing epiphytically on a ledge beside a waterfall so it's constantly soaked. Cascades nicely and gets neat little white flowers. Mine hangs about 7-8 inches off of the ledge. Likes a lot of light also.


actually that's pretty neat! I'll have to track me one down really like the look of it. do your roots just stay wet? or does the whole plant tolerate being wet? i'm thinking of tossing that into one of the cork pots on the waterfall would like to see that start cascading down the fall.


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## lando (Sep 10, 2010)

I just took the clump and shoved it in a little nook. It kinda took off from there. At one point it got a bad case of cyanobacteria (sp) so i had to pull it all out and trashed a lot of it. I kept a few small strands in some water on a window sill until it recovered and then "replanted" it again. That was about 4-5 months ago. The roots attached to the faux rock bg and stay completely saturated.


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## lando (Sep 10, 2010)

Black jungle is the only place I've seen it. It's listed under aquatics and marginals. I kept some submersed in my planted aquarium, it did ok until I realized it wasn't getting enough light. It should be ok under constant water flow.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Utricularia is tailor made for wet planting spots like those!


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## hypnoticaquatic (Dec 19, 2012)

most aquatic plants will work quite well in that situation but what u need to ask yourself is, do u want fast growing/slow?, height of plant(short,med,tall.) color. riccia,anubius,bucephalandra,lobelia cardinalis, etc. look on tpt.net for pics but they do very from sub to immersed. 

most of the stem plants will grow faster than the rhiozome like anubius/buce's,


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

I have a Selaginella flabellata growing in wet sphagnum, by a water feature. It seems to be doing well, and has started new growth in several areas.


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