I need plant help please -___-

[SomeRandomPerson]

So it's been 3 months since I had my chameleon and I STILL don't have a real plant yet..... I'm have a problem lookin for places with healthy plants. I can't trust myself because I keep thinking that I might pick the wrong plant :/ when I search for plants all of them look really dirty and very dry when I look at them. And I really need help with the soil. I don't know what kind of soil I need .-. I'm not really good with these plant stuff so can anyone please tell me the best place to buy plants/soil? Oh and can someone teach me how to clean a plant properly? And what's the best type of plant to buy? Thanks in advance guys.

 

[carol5208]

I would go with a arboricola(aka shefflera, dwarf umbrella) pothos or ficus. Lowes and home depot have some nice ones. When you get the plant home fill up a bucket with soapy water(I use dish soap) and turn the plant upside down in to the bucet and let it soak best you can. Rinse off well so all soap is gone. Repot with a soil that does NOT container any fertilizer. Organic is best. Then cover with some LARGE river rocks. Rocks should be large enough that your chameleon cannot injest them.

 

[meleondollars]

Also I can add that for the soil, make sure that it does not have anything in it for moisture retention ie. Those little styrofoam balls. They are usually white. Organic bag soil should be free of those.

 

[SomeRandomPerson]

I bought a weeping fig??? Is that a good plant? Oh and do I have to keep changing the soil once every few months?

 

[heartben]

a weeping fig is a ficus benjamina or benjamin ficus. from what i've seen it is extremely popular so - if you picked out that plant at random, good job! i personally dont have one but i keep seeing people say if the leaves are broken they can ooze a sort of white sap that can irritate your chameleon - but a lot of people still use them.

i dont know about the soil thing yet, i am curious as well as im still in the preparing stages but it has been inching to the top of my list of things to ask about.

 

[Picasso123]

Depending where you are Ficus doesn't exist on the East Coast. Home Depots have med size Hibiscus for $15. Though hurry mine only had 5 left when orginally they had a 100. Hose it off both on top and under the leaves. Hose the soil down real good too to the point it's dripping out for like a week. Then hose it off again before coming in to get rid of any mite or other eggs. Get some nice flat rocks either outside or from a home garden store to cover the soil in case ur cham wants to see if it's food.

Poof your all set.

Hibiscus love water too need to water it everyday but your misting with take care of that for ya and you get some color too. If you have a veiled/horned cham I've seen them eat the flower for a snack too.