Feeding plants?

[Jslawinowski]

i have a hibiscus tree for my chameleon and it says I have to feed it... what would be a safe thing to use to my Cham won’t get sick?

 

[Carlton]

Find a liquid form of the fertilizer the tree tag recommends. Dilute it with water. Try to get a type that is more "organic" instead of full of artificially derived chemicals. Naturally-derived plant foods won't hurt your cham once the plant has absorbed it. I like liquids instead of granules...the cham is less likely to pick one up on its tongue.

 

[NickTide]

Osmocote plus (time release) is aquarium safe and used by many people. I use it with fish and inverts mixed into the substrate or in the pot. If you buried it under some soil and stones, I can't imagine how it would hurt a cham. Not sure that the plant would get all that it needs from it but maybe... remove the stones, add liquid fertilzer as per Carlton, dig a little trench around the plant, ad osmocote, cover it with dirt then put stones back.

I've been told that hibiscus don't do well do to lack of light. I've never tried them because of this. Always wanted to but stuck to easier plants. On a side note the flowers and leaves are supposed to be pretty good insect feed. I think it was flowers for gut load, leaves in the regular diet.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Osmocote plus (time release) is aquarium safe and used by many people. I use it with fish and inverts mixed into the substrate or in the pot. If you buried it under some soil and stones, I can't imagine how it would hurt a cham. Not sure that the plant would get all that it needs from it but maybe... remove the stones, add liquid fertilzer as per Carlton, dig a little trench around the plant, ad osmocote, cover it with dirt then put stones back.

I've been told that hibiscus don't do well do to lack of light. I've never tried them because of this. Always wanted to but stuck to easier plants. On a side note the flowers and leaves are supposed to be pretty good insect feed. I think it was flowers for gut load, leaves in the regular diet.

That is very true. Hibiscus plants need a lot of natural light. We had a big one in our yard but when a tree grew more over top of it, the hibiscus just stopped growing back because of the lack of light. So yes, that is true.

 

[jamest0o0]

I find a big problem with plants that need a lot of light is pests. When the plant is weakened they tend to get covered in aphids, mealybugs, and others. Ladybugs have worked great for restoring plants though, but of course wouldn't put them in my chameleon cage.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

It definitely hard to add rich variety in plants because each one needs something different. For example, one plant that doesn't need light cannot be paired up with a plant that does need light. It's hard because different plants, when mixed in a small space, have conflicting desires, which can end up killing one or both.

 

[NickTide]

So from what I've been reading, it may be a light thing instead. If the plant isn't receiving enough light, it wont use up much nutrients in the soil. How long have you had it in that pot? Do you have an outdoor cage for the summer? The Hibiscus would get more light in the shade outside than if you had say two t-5 bulbs (guestimate) on it and if it gets a little morning sun, even better. In the winter, a south facing window might be enough... especially if you add a daylight (5000-7000 k) LED bulb to it.

 

[JacksJill]

My biggest concern about fertilizing the plants regardless of source it that the chameleon not have access to the run off water. If they drank the water from the first few waterings after fertilizing it could at the very least upset their digestion or at worst do permanent harm. My plants are raised and do drip in the cage. Mine don't generally drink near the bottom of their cages but anything is possible. My solution is to fertilize the plants outside the cage and replace them after a couple of good waterings.

 

[raven1139]

My hybiscus has been doing well for a couple years and flowers annually. I use liquid fertilizer one a month and water it well. Also use 3 cfl plant lights.