Cleaning plant

[jamest0o0]

I have some home depot plants, i was going to use one for showering my cham today, but i haven't repotted or cleaned it yet. Could i just put the plant in the shower and spray dishwashing soap all over it or something else? For the soil, does it need replaced or could i just cover the top of it with sand and rocks?

 

[ChamLB]

For a shower you can probably just rinse the plant well and use rocks/sand to prevent contact with the soil. You don't want to have him drink the runoff from the plant either. Since you have to watch him the whole time you shower him that will be easy to prevent.

 

[jamest0o0]

Does soil need to be changed for when i put them in his cage?

 

[Shuladog]

Does soil need to be changed for when i put them in his cage?

I would definitely recommend changing the soil. It's fairly inexpensive and could save the life of your cham. I changed the soil to organic and still covered it with rocks...but I'll be darned if that little bugger didn't still find his way to the dirt! Better safe than sorry!

 

[jamest0o0]

Okay then i definitely will, the plants i need to clean are pretty large and rooted in. i was thinking of somehow getting them out, soaking them in water for an hour or so to loosen the dirt, and then using dawn to clean the roots and leaves in a garbage can. Any problems with any of this?

 

[Shuladog]

I'm not a plant expert but I think that just rinsing the roots and leaves with water is good enough unless you have some reason to believe that the leaves have recently been treated with some sort of insecticide. Soap on the roots may be quite a shock to the plant.

 

[ChamLB]

When you put the plants in the cage you just need to rinse the plant and replace the soil. The idea is to not have the insecticides or fertilizer leak out in the cage or have him eat soil. As you know you need to cover the soil with rocks larger than his head.

 

[jamest0o0]

All this time i thought scrubbing down with soap, bleach, or some other cleaner was required to get rid of pesticides... So all i'd need is to rinse in water? I got the plants from home depot and i have no idea what they use on their plants, i'd assume a lot of chemicals.

 

[Shuladog]

All this time i thought scrubbing down with soap, bleach, or some other cleaner was required to get rid of pesticides... So all i'd need is to rinse in water? I got the plants from home depot and i have no idea what they use on their plants, i'd assume a lot of chemicals.

Don't you love it when you find out that something is going to be way easier than you thought!!!