# Planting is hard...



## WeeNe858 (Sep 13, 2010)

Planting a tank is quite difficult especially when your first tank is over 100 gallons... I also hate the awkward-bare-tank-with-straggly-plants stage. 

So how do you go about planting? Any tips or tricks on getting your tank looking like a jungle faster? What plants do better where? 

Help me out!


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Do a little research on the max size of the plants you are choosing, then place them accordingly. Mix it up with plants already near full size, and fill spaces with plants that will continue to grow, creep, vine and otherwise fill all the empty spaces.


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## B-NICE (Jul 15, 2011)

You should just give it time. If you are using pots in your BG, just make sure they have a hole for drainage. Make sure you have a daylight bulb with 6500k
(I have 5k's). When the humidity is up the plants grow wild faster. Mist twice a day and the viv will establish quickly. Some plants will grow faster than you expect.


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## john253 (May 8, 2011)

If you want your viv to look "grown in" quickly just go to the store and buy a wondering jew, pothos, and same large pupping broms. Cut the wondering jew and pothos up into 6'' to 12'' pieces and place these clippings throughout your viv and withing a couple weeks they will start rooting like crazy and growing over everything giving you that nice grown in look within a month or so...rinse and bare root the broms and wedge them into drift wood pieces or rocks making sure to keep there roots away from places were water will collect. Hope this helps!


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## john253 (May 8, 2011)

forgot to mention you might need to do some future trimming to keep the broms from getting overgrown with the wondering jew and pothos..


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

The only advice I can give is to plant sparingly and wait...

You can use the option above but beware that you will be trimming constantly. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do, but in the long run it's more work IMO.


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## B-NICE (Jul 15, 2011)

You can all was go with some type of creeping fig. Creeping fig might be one of the hardest plants to kill.


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

IMO there are many very attractive faster growing plants that you can use. If you do use these (creeping fig, pothos, wandering jew varieties, creeping charlie, etc) just be aware that they will need to be trimmed or removed so as not to take over your tank. They are capable of taking over a tank faster than you may think.

Most of my tanks looks very very sparce when I plant them, but within 2-4 months they usually look pretty full and the frogs have plenty of hiding spots. And when you think about how long you will probably have the tank setup, this really isnt much time to let it grow in, several of my tanks are now to the point of needing to be torn apart and have the substrate replaced because they have been setup for so long.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

Here's some shots of a few my tanks. They're okay and most have less than 10 plants in them. I like using wood pieces. If gives the tank some depth, adds extra climbing space and hides for the frogs.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/me.../72257-recent-shots-vivs-frogs-pic-heavy.html


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## WeeNe858 (Sep 13, 2010)

Those tanks look pretty grown in and a lot better than just ok. How long have they been set up?

I'll try and post up my tank and my placement so far and maybe you guys can help me. Won't be any time soon since I have a grip a papers to write......


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Here is a build I did about a year ago. 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/61126-so-begins-125gallon-saga.html

Planting is my favorite part of the process. I spend months selecting, establishing, purchasing, etc plants for a particular build. I recommend looking for plants ahead of time, using grow out bins to get them going. I rarely put potted plants into a viv, only cuttings, new growths, etc. A few small tupperwares work great for growing out plants. 

As mentioned, time or plenty of plants is all you really need for a viv to look good. Most of my vivs look very bare when I first set them up. A few months down the road, they look fabulous!

Good Luck!


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## Raf (Feb 20, 2010)

Planting is hard (almost impossible) if you want your viv looks grown in from the start.
Don't use too many species and use more than one of every type you have.
It looks very unrealistic if you have a lot of species and only one of each type it in your viv. 
Don't plant too much and wait, wait and wait.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

WeeNe858 said:


> How long have they been set up?


The Leuc tank is been going for just under 3 years and needs a trimming. The others are between 1-2.5 years.


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## WeeNe858 (Sep 13, 2010)

So seeing as how I started this thread does that mean I can derail it? 

Here's my build thread. I had second guesses with each and every plant placement... advice is more than welcomed and answers will all be questioned, err, the other way around.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/76146-my-first-tank-125-gallon.html


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## Hgeckos (Dec 14, 2020)

one of my favourite plant plants to use as a ground cover that growa unbelievably fast is, Brazillian pennywort. it sort of appears like small lilly pads and it grows very very fast and can take over a viv if not careful!


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