# Plants that will grow directly in LECA



## patm

So I'm looking to have a go at setting up for a couple groups of treefrogs this spring. I've got a group of red eyes and a group of clowns in quarantine at the moment. It is something I've wanted to do for years, and have been racking my brain to figure out the best setup. Catch is, I don't want separate enclosures used strictly for rain chambers. 

The plan I'd like to try is using large pots (8-12") filled with LECA (or similar) where I could grow the plants, that would act as islands when it came time to simulate rain. I was wondering what large leaved plants would grow strictly in this substrate. I figure pothos would have no problem, but how about philodendron? Alocasia? Spathiphyllum? Anything else?

Thanks in advance,

-Pat


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## ICS523

Anubias is another good option. you should look at riparium setups, they also use pots sitting in water, and you may be a ble to get some good Ideas.


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## patm

ICS523 said:


> Anubias is another good option. you should look at riparium setups, they also use pots sitting in water, and you may be a ble to get some good Ideas.


Thanks, I was thinking about using anubias for the clowns. But I think I need to clarify that there will only be water in the tank briefly to induce breeding. I plan to have these pots tall enough so the water level doesn't actually raise up to the root level. Hopefully this will widen my options a bit.

Thanks again,

-Pat


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## Ray

I am convince that pretty much any plant can be grown in straight LECA, as long as the rest of the conditions - and how they interact with the LECA root zone environment - meet the needs of the plant.

Usually, the primary problem is evaporative cooling from the open medium overchilling the root system, but in the enclosed environment of a viv, that certainly won't be an issue.


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## Spaff

I agree with Ray. Maybe you could use the tall semi-hydro pots permanently in the viv and match your water level to the level of the holes in the pot. That way, your plants would be permanently acclimated to the level of inundation instead of the fluctuation that a flood and drain system would cause. If you went with this, I'd imagine just about any aroid would be suitable.


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## lincolnerickson

I am currently growing several things in LECA only. One good canidate with large leaves is Scindapsus Lance Leaf from Black Jungle. It grows like a weed in my tanks and I put the trimmings in LECA. 

For the LECA container, I keep them in 32oz deli cups with a drain hole about an inch from the bottom. That way there will be standing water in the bottom to keep the LECA moist and the roots can grow into that if they wish. 

As others have said, just about any plant should be able to grow like this. Just put a drain hole an inch or so from the bottom of your container and the pot will essentially self water. I also have some Rhipsalis, Dendrobium and Schefflera growing well in LECA this way.


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## Ed

patm said:


> So I'm looking to have a go at setting up for a couple groups of treefrogs this spring. I've got a group of red eyes and a group of clowns in quarantine at the moment. It is something I've wanted to do for years, and have been racking my brain to figure out the best setup. Catch is, I don't want separate enclosures used strictly for rain chambers.


Keep in mind that clown treefrogs want leaves close to the surface of the water..... That is going to affect not only the choice of the plants but how tall you make the pots... 

One of the things your going to find as an issue is that crickets and other feeders get trapped in the water and drown with the result of clumps of fungus in nooks and cracks. This can impact egg and tadpole survivial since it increases the exposure to fungal pathogens. Also insects can often get down into the leca and die with the same results. 

Some comments 


Ed


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## patm

Thanks everyone, that's exactly what I was hoping for. Since the frogs will be in quarantine for some time, I think I'm going to experiment with a few things. Picked up some pothos, philodendron and alocasia that I'll rinse out and try.

Thanks again,

-Pat


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## patm

Ed said:


> Keep in mind that clown treefrogs want leaves close to the surface of the water..... That is going to affect not only the choice of the plants but how tall you make the pots...
> 
> One of the things your going to find as an issue is that crickets and other feeders get trapped in the water and drown with the result of clumps of fungus in nooks and cracks. This can impact egg and tadpole survivial since it increases the exposure to fungal pathogens. Also insects can often get down into the leca and die with the same results.
> 
> Some comments
> 
> 
> Ed



Admittedly, I've found it fairly difficult to find good information not only on the breeding of, but the keeping of clowns in general. 

At the moment, I have them feeding out of a dish, to keep the crickets in a single location. It would be my plan to continue this with the permanent tank to minimize dead crickets around the enclosure. Also, I'm thinking of putting a thin layer of sphagnum over the top of each pot of LECA to create a more solid surface for the frogs, preventing (to some extent) crickets penetrating the LECA. 

As for low plants, The only breeding information I could find claimed they would only lay on floating plants. The only commonly available ones I could think of would be water lettuce and hyacinth. Do you think they would also use philo or pothos leaves if they hung over low to the water?

I planned to open up a thread with some further questions in the treefrog section, but hopefully these are on topic enough to leave here.

Thanks Ed!

-Pat


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## Ed

patm said:


> Admittedly, I've found it fairly difficult to find good information not only on the breeding of, but the keeping of clowns in general.


They are not difficult to breed or to house... As with hourglass treefrogs, they do well with a day night drop and if housed in a ventilated enclosure, can use surprisingly high temperatures during the day via choice (I've had hourglass "bask" in temperatures well over 90 F).... Having access to temperatures over 80 F as part of a gradient can help encourage males to call... 
Time the misting/raining to a thunderstorm front and you will have the best chance to get a successful reproduction of the clowns. They are pretty easy to breed.... 

The idea on reducing cricket deaths can be effective but I would suggest still checking on them to see if there are ones in the water. 



patm said:


> As for low plants, The only breeding information I could find claimed they would only lay on floating plants. The only commonly available ones I could think of would be water lettuce and hyacinth. Do you think they would also use philo or pothos leaves if they hung over low to the water?


The leaves need to be withing a couple of inches of the surface. Higher up leaves will probably be ignored. Ideally you should have leaves that are slightly tilted from horizontal to some that are vertical as well as leaf choice can be affected by temperature and humidity. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## patm

Thanks again Ed, that definitely clears some things up for me. I greatly appreciate it.

-Pat


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## Judy S

I don't know whether it would help you or not...but "Hydrophyte" has a set up with plants inserted into a piece of plastic with the pots sort of suspended...you may want to check it out...I'm not explaining it very well...


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## hypnoticaquatic

you should look into what type of plants you want then depending on the layout or method you choose, you may have to add a bubble stone under the plants if there not used to that type of watering, sounds like your looking into a flood and drain type system or a dwc deep water culture. i say this as if your growing the plant like a aeroponically and go to flood it it can drown the plant as it isnt adapted to that method just something to think about also the plant choice will play a large roll.


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## Splash&Dash

in theory you should be able to grow almost any plant in LECA. The trick is being able to provide the right conditions at the root zone. But if you have pots of Leca sitting in water then it's going to act as a passive hydroponics system by continually pulling up that moisture. Which means very wet conditions for the plant


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## epiphytes etc.

You should be able to root philodendron and similar plants in blocks of filter foam, and bypass the leca.


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## patm

I'm still in planning, but the reason I was thinking leca was because I have tons of it not being used, and I thought that if I kept it at least a couple inches above the water surface, it wouldn't saturate the roots in the short amount of time (couple weeks) that the rain chamber would be in use.

I am mainly thinking pothos, and I also have several philodendron I could use. Like I said, while the base layer of leca may be slightly submerged, I was thinking I'd be able to root the plants well above where there would be any standing water.

-Pat


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## Splash&Dash

patm said:


> I'm still in planning, but the reason I was thinking leca was because I have tons of it not being used, and I thought that if I kept it at least a couple inches above the water surface, it wouldn't saturate the roots in the short amount of time (couple weeks) that the rain chamber would be in use.
> 
> I am mainly thinking pothos, and I also have several philodendron I could use. Like I said, while the base layer of leca may be slightly submerged, I was thinking I'd be able to root the plants well above where there would be any standing water.
> 
> -Pat


the passive hydroponic systems I've been people McGuyer out of 5 gallon buckets only have a reservoir 2-3 inches deep (maybe a bit more), yet it's able to keep most of the Leca Moist looking.


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