# Creeping Fig aka Creeping Death



## claymore (Feb 24, 2010)

For the last couple of weeks the water in my tadpole film canisters has been getting unusually low...

I knew for sure I had at least 1 tad in the tank... Well when I went to retrieve the tad this past Saturday, I found him in a canister almost bone dry. He was lying on his side breathing hard.

The thing is, I filled all the canisters the morning prior. 

Luckily enough the tad is alive and ok! 

The culprit is the Creeping Fig, when I went to clean the other canisters I found ton of roots coming from the Creeping Fig and going into the canisters...

Now this is not the only problem I have been having with the Creeping Fig, It also has been strangling the rest of my plants and my tank...

So I ripped it all out of there... 

Needless to say I will not be putting Creeping Fig in any of my enclosures that are under 29 gallons.


Do any of you have similar issues with Creeping Fig?


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Even if you think you ripped it out, it will more than likely come back. It is definitely a bit of an invasive in tanks if it is let go. The other issue is it will actually grow on top of itself choking itself out.

Also, many people do not realize but its roots can actually get between silicone and glass and break the seal, or crawl out of the top of a tank with a glass top on it and prop up the glass top which could lead to escapee frogs.

Overall a horrible viv plant IMO, but no matter what, people still keep putting it in because it grows fast and will cover anything.


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Take it out, pot it, and put it on a bookshelf. I did that, plant is four feet in length after six months. started as a cutting. I dont want a plant growing in my terrarium if it needs a wheedwhacker to control!


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

Ahh... another creeping fig convert!
For all its negatives, creeping fig can be a wonderful plant if kept under control. Practice constant pruning or suffer the consequences...
Scott


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I find the oak leaf variety is slower growing than the others and therefore easier to control.


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

How fast does the variegated variety grow, compared with the regular and the oakleaf?


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

nonliteral said:


> How fast does the variegated variety grow, compared with the regular and the oakleaf?


My experience w/ the variagated is that its slower growing and portions tend to revert back to solid green.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

The variegated type seems to be a little more finicky than the nominal form, and has grown slower in the situations that I've used it in. My favorite is F. pumilia 'minima'. Looks just like the regular stuff, but it's half the size, and about half the growth rate.



nonliteral said:


> How fast does the variegated variety grow, compared with the regular and the oakleaf?


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

Thanks folks; I've just planted some of the variegated, and wasn't real sure what it would do.


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

In order of speed of growth:

Pumila
Radicans
Pumila variegated
Pumila 'Oak Leaf'
sp. Panama
Villosa


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

I've pretty much eliminated the use of standard Pumila, but I have several vivs with the backgrounds covered in Pumila "oak leaf", and it's permanent. If I tried to pull it off, the whole background would come with it. I have to cut it back occasionally and I've probably given away enough over the past year to fill a 5-gal bucket. But, it is an attractive plant and my wife loves it. It reminds me of a miniature English ivy.

I also have sp. Panama (aka lance leaf) in one viv and it probably grows at a rate 10 times more slowly than oak leaf. I've given away/sold several large cuttings so I have yet to get it started in any other vivs. But, it is my absolute favorite and I highly recommend it.



therizman2 said:


> In order of speed of growth:
> 
> Pumila
> Radicans
> ...


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Panama and Villosa are def. the slowest growers that are commonly used in terrariums. Villosa is def. the slowest, I am excited to put on two leaves in a month. Villosa from a small cutting takes 2-3 months to fill a 2.5" pot typically for me under ideal conditions. Oak Leaf I can fill a 2.5" pot in about two months typically. Pumila is about two weeks, maybe three and it is overflowing... really a pain to propagate because if it doesnt sell fast enough it gets into all the other pots and all over my propagation trays.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

After having dealt with it for a long time, any time a piece shows up in some cuttings or plants, it has gone right into the trash... I prefer as much as possible hands off approach to the frogs (since it reduces stress) and over the years I've seen too many things messed up by creeping fig... 

Ed


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Interesting, I've had faster growth from sp Panama than Oak leaf but that was in the greenhouse. 

F. villosa actually grows quite quickly when grown in a greenhouse as well. I had a few cuttings overflow an 8" basket in a single Summer. Definitely slow in the viv tho. Maybe it needs more light and less humidity to really take off. I'll admit, mine was well fed with ferts too so I'm sure that helped.


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## claymore (Feb 24, 2010)

therizman2 said:


> Even if you think you ripped it out, it will more than likely come back. It is definitely a bit of an invasive in tanks if it is let go. The other issue is it will actually grow on top of itself choking itself out.
> 
> Also, many people do not realize but its roots can actually get between silicone and glass and break the seal, or crawl out of the top of a tank with a glass top on it and prop up the glass top which could lead to escapee frogs.
> 
> Overall a horrible viv plant IMO, but no matter what, people still keep putting it in because it grows fast and will cover anything.


I completely agree with you... I pulled out as many of the roots as possible. So If it does come back it won't be anything like it has been.

It's funny, a couple of years ago when I first started building vives I could not find any creeping fig. Now I wnat nothing to deal with it lol.



SMenigoz said:


> Ahh... another creeping fig convert!
> For all its negatives, creeping fig can be a wonderful plant if kept under control. Practice constant pruning or suffer the consequences...
> Scott


I shouldn't have to prune the whole tank every other week though.



Ed said:


> After having dealt with it for a long time, any time a piece shows up in some cuttings or plants, it has gone right into the trash... I prefer as much as possible hands off approach to the frogs (since it reduces stress) and over the years I've seen too many things messed up by creeping fig...
> 
> Ed


Could not have said it better myself! I would rather them not be stressed and not have to stick my hands in there every other week to prune and mess up their routine.


Plus every frogger and they're bother have Creeping Fig in their vives... There is tons more rare and less evasive vine type plants that we can stick in our vives!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Ever wonder why they call it "Creeping" fig? Shouldn't it be Rampaging Fig?


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## SNAKEMANVET (Dec 14, 2011)

The way you guys are talking I am about ready to pull my ficus pumilo out.It is starting to grow pretty quick now.What really scares my is the roots going through the silicone and causeing leaks.


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## Windrider (Dec 22, 2010)

Pumilo said:


> Ever wonder why they call it "Creeping" fig? Shouldn't it be Rampaging Fig?


I am a lurker just soaking up info on this site before attempting my first build, but this brought back memories.

Ages ago, I took my first botany class at Santa Monica College and the professor always called _Ficus pumila_ "Galloping Fig" instead of Creeping Fig. He liked to tell the story about when the campus library was new, pretty much a three story concrete block of a building. The campus bigwigs were arguing about what color to paint it, but the botany prof knew that it was a moot point because they had planted _Ficus pumila_ all around the foundation, hoping for the Los Angeles version of a nice lacy "ivy" covering like the a big league East Coast school. But he was right, by the time they had decided what color to paint the building, it was a solid green block with no concrete showing at all.

Here in So Cal _Ficus pumila_ grows at a tremendous rate, quickly becoming "adult" with three to four inch leaves and great thick vines that assert that it truly is a member of the Ficus genus, just like those that strangle temples in South East Asia. I can't imagine putting a plant like that in a viv.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

yup i have a fence in my property with creeping fig all over it. sometimes the leaves get to almost as big as a golden pothos leaf. it's a great supply of creeping fig, but i dont like the look of it and now dislike it even more after hearing it will ruin the seal on your viv.


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## Brotherly Monkey (Jul 20, 2010)

Frogtofall said:


> Interesting, I've had faster growth from sp Panama than Oak leaf but that was in the greenhouse.
> 
> F. villosa actually grows quite quickly when grown in a greenhouse as well. I had a few cuttings overflow an 8" basket in a single Summer. Definitely slow in the viv tho. Maybe it needs more light and less humidity to really take off. I'll admit, mine was well fed with ferts too so I'm sure that helped.


cold also be a lack of carbon dioxide, if your vivs are relatively closed


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

What's funny is this is also why I'd never want Ivy in a viv, or on a building for that matter... it can also take a building apart! Most of these really aggressive vines people use to "cover" a surface will do that. I grow some of it still but I only let it grow up tank furniture like driftwood - and then only in decently large tanks. 

Back to the original film canister issue, people don't realize that the semi-aquatic mosses and the liverworts will do this too. Actually... anything into the film canister will do it. This is why lower humidity can help, less aerial roots running around to invade your film canisters and bromeliads...


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

Its funny, I had the HARDEST time finding any oak leaf ficus. To the point that I gave up, and gave into to purchasing a couple 3" pots of regular ficus pumila (creeping). I hadnt gottent my large Exo Terra quite ready to plant the ficus (the last plant to go in), but the ficus was outgrowing their small 3 inch pots in a matter of 3 weeks, so I put the two of them in a 12 inch hanging basket in my bedroom window to await their planting. They've only been in their about a month, and have added almost a foot of growth. NO WAY is that going in my Exo Terra. On the flip side, I got some oak leaf about a week after the regular, it was about 1-1/2 inches long when I got it, and its only about 2-1/2 now. It was growing so slowly, that I had to mount it just inches from the T5 lights, now its starting to grow a little. I'll stick to the oak leaf. The regular is staying in a hanging pot, not in my vivs.


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## ICS523 (Mar 10, 2012)

does anyone have any experiences with ficus _pumilia var. minima_ mine grows pretty slowly , I have some and it has only covered about half a piece of small driftwood in 5 months, is this consistent with other peoples plants. if it is i would recomend it to peoplle who whant creeping fig but not the horrible wave of death and destruction that it brings! i never knew how awful that stuff was!


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## claymore (Feb 24, 2010)

Is pumilia var. minima similar in leaf shape as regular pumilia?

I never run into any other varieties of Pumilia, sucks.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

i believe var. minima is oak leaf creeping fig


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

goof901 said:


> i believe var. minima is oak leaf creeping fig


Oakleaf is "var. quercifolia"...minima is just a small-leaved variety


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

One of these days I swear I'm going to collect the whole damn set just to figure out how to tell them apart LOL. I don't think I've ever actually had the minima in hand, but oak leaf is tiny too... but it's shape gives it away. I'd love to see it climb and get some larger leaves with that shape!


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

Hey Corey,
Check out some of the growth in Stu and Shaz's thread...pay special attention to the background of one of the pics of the summersi viv: 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/61018-da-dart-room-slow-thread-20.html
There are other pics that show a solid wall of oakleaf, just can't find them right now. Amazing growth in some of the tanks.


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## ICS523 (Mar 10, 2012)

_pumilia var. minima _ has got the exact same leaves as the regular, exept they only get about 1/2 an inch long. it grows fast... but not too fast, at least for me.


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## claymore (Feb 24, 2010)

I think i'll stay with the Oak leaf variety. If any of the Pumilia family.


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## d-prime (Sep 29, 2008)

I had some ficus quercifolia in one of my tanks and within one year it consumed every other plant in its way, even formed a 3 inch THICK mat along the un-backgrounded glass side of the tank. I ended up ripping it all out restarting. Ficus seems to be an appealing species for beginners who are in a hurry to see their backgrounds green but now I prefer using moss and more delicate less invasive species.


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## jpstod (Sep 8, 2005)

Sorry wrong Topic


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Yeah I've seen solid back walls of creeping fig a lot over the past decade - it's a favorite thing to try. I don't see much done with minima, but with the other F. pumila varieties I've got pics of different tanks like that. It's a species that branches often and it's main goal isn't to get as high as it can as fast as it can (like most tropical species), but rather to cover a surface as much as it can. 

The nicely covered green wall is much like a mass lawn idea. A lot of people like it in the beginning, but often gets abandoned over time since it's not that easy unless all you have is a green wall and a moss lawn! Creeping fig walls are ok if you only want creeping fig - otherwise you either mow the tank a lot or you end up getting everything smothered.


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## lincolnerickson (Oct 7, 2011)

*Creeping fig var. minima*

I planted several rooted cuttings from Black Jungle in my 120g Mayan Temple tank. They have been growing for a about three months now. They have gained 3.5 - 4 inches in that time. I have attached a picture to show what the leaves look like and their size in relation to a penny. I am not sure if they will get much bigger as it gets older.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

unless you constantly trim it, it will eventually cover your temple.


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