# Cissus discolor



## Leopardgeckos (Apr 23, 2010)

Help. Lol I ordered it from black jungle again. Sadly i ordered 5 things. One of the plants all of the leaves fell off of and this 1 is in OK shape. I have it planted in a pot thats up on my background. 

What Lightining conditions?
Soil conditions?
How often should i mist?
Would it grow better in my ABG on the ground part of my tank?


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

You're in luck, as _Cissus discolor_ is fairly tough...

I've grown the plant in a vivarium, with fairly low light (one pair of T-8's, 32w, 6700k). In this vivarium, I mist 4-5 times a day (automatic) for 5 seconds. There are PC fans for air circulation, so the leaves do dry between waterings. Substrate is my own, similar to ABG....

I also grow a couple of these plants in my garden. One is in a hanging basket, planted with the same mix that I use for my vivariums (mix of Fir Bark, milled sphagnum, peat, tree fern fiber, charcoal, coconut coir). This plant is hanging from an arbor that is beneath tree canopy, vines, and 70% shade cloth (so, in other words, VERY low light). This one gets watered about 4x a week by a hose. Humidity here in this part of FL ranges from 40% in the winter/spring, and above 80% during the summer and fall. The other plant in my garden is in a basket hanging in one of my Live Oak trees. The second plant is in the peat/pearlite mix that the plant was in when I purchased it, and a little Fafard 3B soil mix. It is in much brighter light (actually receives some direct sun mid-morning), and is watered about 1x a week.

The only two things that I've seen kill a _Cissus discolor_ is sitting in standing water for a long period of time, and the 14 consecutive nights below freezing last winter knocked mine down to the roots--but they did come back from the cold.

So, I think you're pretty safe with it in the background. I'd suggest watering at least 1x a day, give it plenty of room! Good luck!


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

My C. discolour has not done anything for about two months. It's got 3 small leaves, and is rooted very well in my epiweb background. Should I just give it time? Will uprooting it and moving it shock it more? I originally planted it much lower (as a cutting) and it started throwing out leaves and roots like crazy within the week. I rearranged my terrarium, now its not doing so well... 

(Sorry for the semi-hijack, I figured it would be more useful to have the information in one thread than to start a new one.)


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

it takes a while to grow once clipped


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## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

I bought my first 5 inch long cutting from a friend and did nothing for almost a year. One day I got fed up with it and threw it behind a cluster of broms where some live sphagnum moss was growing under bright light and fairly moist. 

Within 3 months I had a 4 foot fine - today it is my most prolific epiphyte as I'm always throwing away several feet of this vine....well vines at the end of the month. I've had folks take cutting who place them in the darkest spots in their vivs and they establish well.


try a little experimenting with it in the wet spots. I've thrown it on wet mediums such as rocks, driftwood, moss, even coconut fiber with unintended success.


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

this is a bullet proof plant, although it is very sensitive to dry air as a fresh cutting. I have left cuttings on the floor for about 10 minutes, and they were not salvagable.

Once established though, they are more hardy than ficus i'd almost say. It is almost annoying how fast this plant grows, although it is hard to hate it when it is so gorgeous. I grow most of mine in high light and they grow QUICK even from cuttings. Slow it down by putting it in shade. I think this plant would grow in pitch black conditions


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Mine I let grow all through my plant room, pretty cool to have it draping down from the ceiling and look up and see the bright red stems. Mine has had a rough life of being forgotten about many times and not watered for up to a month and is still going. Just keep it in light and watered, and I would bet it will come back as several others have suggested.

Be aware as well though, the leaves can get very large.


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks guys. What I'd really like to do is get another cutting and see where it does better... Its about 8 inches from the top of a 24 inch high terrarium, almost directly under a CFL, with a jungle dawn LED not that far away as well. So its getting a lot of light. After the comments about it growing in the dark, is it possible its getting too much light? My plan was to train it to cascade down the background, but would I be better off planting it lower down in or near the substrate and letting it ramble around?


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Most of my vine is now concentrated around growing hanging onto chains I have that hold up my lights, so some of the leaves are almost right under the lights. Plants adapt their leaves to the conditions they start to grow in so as to optimize photosynthesis. Thus why if you look at a tree, the leaves in the center may be lighter/darker thicker/thinner depending on the species because they are more shaded in the center vs. on the outside where they get more light. Cissus discolor seems to do fine for me in both lighted areas or a bit dimmer areas as long as I dont forget to water it.

Not sure if you plan on hitting Repticon in Baltimore this weekend but I have a few with me, otherwise can always ship some to you... either a plant or cuttings.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

This is a type of plant that may do a lot better if you let it get established in the substrate of the tank and then let it ramble. It's not really a true epiphyte which is why it has a really hard time getting established on backgrounds. If you plant it at the base of what you want it to climb though, once it gets really established it can be truly weedy! This is pretty typical of plants with tendrils... they grow out from a spot where they have very established root systems (so they have consistent source of water which they don't when they are an epiphyte - most epiphytes have a way to hold water for a reason!) and use their tendrils and modified little roots to grab on and hold things to climb. When it's roots are established it's really easy to train and trim the plant to grow how you like.


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

therizman2 said:


> Not sure if you plan on hitting Repticon in Baltimore this weekend but I have a few with me, otherwise can always ship some to you... either a plant or cuttings.


My wife will shoot me if I buy more plants anytime soon  But thanks for the offer, I will keep it in mind.





KeroKero said:


> This is a type of plant that may do a lot better if you let it get established in the substrate of the tank and then let it ramble. It's not really a true epiphyte which is why it has a really hard time getting established on backgrounds. If you plant it at the base of what you want it to climb though, once it gets really established it can be truly weedy! This is pretty typical of plants with tendrils... they grow out from a spot where they have very established root systems (so they have consistent source of water which they don't when they are an epiphyte - most epiphytes have a way to hold water for a reason!) and use their tendrils and modified little roots to grab on and hold things to climb. When it's roots are established it's really easy to train and trim the plant to grow how you like.


Aha. So, I did it right first time, then second guessed myself... How typical 

The problem is that the area of the substrate I had it in is being overtaken (intentionally, to give frogs more cover) with Philodendron micans. I guess I can plant them together, see what happens, and trim them to keep them from strangling each other...


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Pffffffffft.... the Cissus will win. It will actually use the Philodendron as something to climb (it's actually _Philodendron hederaceum _- see this great article about it if you feel the need to nerd out). What I'd do is plant it (you can just sit the root ball on the substrate) and then lightly support/pin the vine up against the background so the leaves are above the leaves of the philo. If there are too many philo leaves in that area but lots on the plant as a whole, just pull off some of the leaves in that area. Once established the Cissus will actually grow faster and the competition won't be too bad. They have different growth styles so the philo will cling to the background and the Cissus will use the philo as a ladder. Both take trimming well when established


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## jacobi (Dec 15, 2010)

I've been nerded  

That was very interesting. I wonder how much height they need to produce the mature leaves and inflorescences. I'm planning a green house (although currently its more of a fantasy house, coz there's no way its happening until I'm finished with school and move the hell out of NYC) and it'd be fascinating to see the change in the plants development occur.

Sidebar, but the plan for my current terrarium was going to be a "survival of the fittest" kind of thing. Dump everything together, let the ones most suitable to the environment take over, and remove the ones that dont do well. It's been said before, but many of the plants that are commonly terrarium plants could easily take over a large tank all by itself... But there's something addictive about cramming as many plants in as possible!


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

That whole website is plant-nerdtastic! It's nice because the articles are based on information from people who know, not the same BS over and over like you typically find on the internet.

Maturity wise you'd need a number of feet of climbing to start getting the mature shape on them. I don't have an exact height since it depends on how big the leaves were to begin with, but usually about 5-6 feet I'd imagine you'd have the different leaf shape. You'd probably need a tree to see full sized leaves.


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