# Are the tropical plants from lowes or homedepot safe for frogs?



## viv4life

I went to my local lowes toay and they had a bunch of these really cool tropical plants, and i wanted to know if they are safe to use. I dont know the names of them though.


----------



## kawickstrom

I prefer Home Depot so I get all my plants from there. I use them all the time. Just be sure to rinse the foliage real good and rinse off all the dirt as these home improvement stores do use chemicals on the plants. But I have never had any problems.


----------



## SS7

I wash them really well and submerge them for a while in hopes of removing pests. I haven't had any issues, either.

SS


----------



## james67

there are many ways to sanitize plants....
the most common is a dip in water and bleach with a dilution of either 10/1 or 20/1
i personally use potassium permanganate SOLUTION, however from previous responses i have been made aware that others disagree with me sharing this technique since as others have noted there are serious risks involved (but that's another story) 
either way you should remove as much of the soil mixture as possible. this can be accomplished by working your fingers through the roots and massaging the dirt out under an outside faucet.

i believe that most people keep their plants submerged in the bleach solution (after the roots have been rinsed out) from between 10 and 30 minutes (however i can not confirm this since as i stated above i personally use a different technique)

hope this helps
james


----------



## viv4life

thanks guys, is there any plants that i should not get, that ARE harmfull to frogs? and what are the best plants for a 30 gallon long aquarium? i prob. have about 10-11 inches of head room.


----------



## Jason

viv4life said:


> thanks guys, is there any plants that i should not get, that ARE harmfull to frogs? and what are the best plants for a 30 gallon long aquarium? i prob. have about 10-11 inches of head room.


There really not any plants that will be harmful to your frogs, unless they have sharp spikes. Since your vivarium will/should maintain a high humidity, you will need plants that can withstand this. 

Home Depot may have cheap plants, but you will not get the quality and help from them like you will with some of the sponsors of this board. Take a look and support them, they are here because they are froggers just like you.

Dendroboard.com - Sponsors


----------



## viv4life

sorry i meant 20 gallon long


----------



## Lucky

I have a 20 long and I have pothos, ivy, and rabbits foot fern in mine, they all do great, but the pothos will quickly take over your tank if you let it. It requires constant trimming.


----------



## viv4life

hey lucky, atleast im not the only one that has a 20 long lol, how did you set yours up? i have a false bottom with a little pond on the corner and i was wondering how you keep ur plants from getting to wet? like the roots, i have a false bottom made from egg crate with nylon window screen on top of it. did you get the plants from lowes/home depot?


----------



## vivariman

So you are saying that your substrate is too soggy even when you have a false bottom? What substrate are you using? If it is a well draining substrate, there might be too much water in the false bottom. 

But some plant choices:
Spikemoss
Lemon button fern
E.T. Fern
Pepperomia sp.

Good luck
Caden

P.S..... I have a 20 gallon long in progress but because of the lack of head room I set it up a little differently, I'll put it in the vivariums section later.


----------



## markbudde

I recommend getting a small African violet if you are going to a big box store. They are easy to overlook, but make wonderful vivarium plants that are always in bloom.


----------



## cindre2000

Depending on where you are located you might want to try and find a true exotic plant store or nursery with a green house. Definitely a step up from the big box stores when it comes to knowledge and variety. But then again, you might have to revert to the internet for broms and a number of other less common plants.


----------



## harrywitmore

cindre2000 said:


> Depending on where you are located you might want to try and find a true exotic plant store or nursery with a green house. Definitely a step up from the big box stores when it comes to knowledge and variety. But then again, you might have to revert to the internet for broms and a number of other less common plants.


This is a very good point. If you live near a larger city there are usually some nice greenhouses to visit. From my experience they don;t normally carry rare things but you just never know what might pop in. But, they may also buy from the very same places that Lowes and Home Depot do. I don;t have animals so I really don't have to worry much about where plants come from. But, I still rinse anything I get and put in a terrarium. I also almost never put an entire pot in a terrarium and almost always use cuttings.

I have also found that trading is the best way to get cool plants.


----------



## viv4life

vivariaman, ya there is no headroom for me so im gtting another 20 long and taking the top and botttom trim off and taking the front glass pain off and making that a door ill put acyrilic hinges and a latch to make a door and ill silicone it to the top of the tank so there is double the height. is there any plants toxic to poison dart frogs? so i no what to look out for.


----------



## susan_heydler

We did it, and had no problems. If you buy bromeliads there just make sure they don't have spiny leaves...make sure you feel them to be sure, some of the teeth can be really small, but still potentially hurt your frogs. We've found much more interesting plants online though. If you want to do orchids, I recommend Andy's Orchids (Andy's Orchids - Orchid Species - Orchids - Species Specialist - Orchids on a stick I think is the URL). They have lots of mini orchids that will fit well in a viv, should be happy as long as they don't get too wet (orchids like mist, not actual water) and may even flower for you- we've had good luck with that!


----------



## Frogtofall

susan_heydler said:


> We did it, and had no problems. If you buy bromeliads there just make sure they don't have spiny leaves...make sure you feel them to be sure, some of the teeth can be really small, but still potentially hurt your frogs. We've found much more interesting plants online though. If you want to do orchids, I recommend Andy's Orchids (Andy's Orchids - Orchid Species - Orchids - Species Specialist - Orchids on a stick I think is the URL). They have lots of mini orchids that will fit well in a viv, should be happy as long as they don't get too wet* (orchids like mist, not actual water) *and may even flower for you- we've had good luck with that!


That is a very dangerous generalization and could be misleading. Care to reiterate?


----------



## harrywitmore

I agree. I don't think you can say anything general about orchids. They are found in almost every environment. If you get any orchid or any other plant for that matter you really need to know what it is (try to find the proper name) and then learn what it likes just like animals. Many can take a wide range of conditions and many will not.


----------



## vivariman

The spines are perfectly fine. Most bromeliads from the genus neoregalia sport them.

Caden


----------



## roxrgneiss

I think if you have enough of a green thumb to grow orchids in a terrarium already or will ever, the statement is not that dangerous and probably would be intuitive. To me, it means that in a humid terrarium, a heavy dose of water will take longer to evaporate - so most orchids will rot or not do well in a tank unless lightly watered. Watering orchids on the bench of a greenhouse or window sill is a totally different way or grow, especially watering-wise.

However, I agree that a number of orchids, like some Lepanthes and some jewel orchids are serious exceptions. 

Having said that, I think having fans for internal circulation helps dry things off a bit more quickly, and even more so in the upper areas of a tank - so in a 'breezy' tank, orchids (especially those dry mounted) can take a little more water.

I think there is much more to say about the subject, but I also think the generalization fits for growing most orchids in sealed up/humid tanks.

Lets lighten up guys! 

Mike


----------



## iridebmx

i ended up with whiteworms from a venus fly trap from lowes.....it was cheap but i regret buying it,i did clean it well before putting it in the viv(dont know if it will live long in there but its doing fine now)


----------



## harrywitmore

Well, this brings up another good point that should be made. Everyone should have some type of quarantine process for new plants and animals for that matter. No matter who you get your plants and animals from it's possible they have some problem that they do not know of.

Hold anything you get for a few weeks and after some observation then decide whether to introduce them into you environment.


----------

