Tips for keeping plants alive?

[spookylizards]

Hi there everyone!

I took all the advice I got on my last thread and fully upgraded Yoshi into a 2x2x4 cage, with plenty of branches to climb around and live plants for foliage! (Btw, took Yoshi to the vet after my first thread and found that he is in great health! a little small for his age, but his grip, bones, eyes and everything else is in good condition!)

After adding the live plants to my cage, I am finding that they’re starting to droop and yellow/brown. They are potted in organic soil and I water them when the soil feels dry an inch or two down. I do have drainage holes at the bottom of each pot, so i usually water until it starts dripping out the bottom. there’s also drainage holes at the bottom of the enclosure into a drip pan that ive been emptying and cleaning every so often to reduce any chance of bacteria growing in the water. (picture attached is from when i had first set up his enclosure, before adding the drainage to the bottom which is why you see that measly little paper towel at the bottom xD)

As far as temps go, I’m currently at 70 ambient, 81 basking and humidity is at 47%

I currently have a pothos, money tree, monsterra, and a ficus tree. I’m waiting on amazon to deliver two new 24” T5 fixtures, one for a regular T5 UVB (Reptisun 24W) and the other for the Ultra Sun 6500K by zoomed, in hopes that the light makes a drastic difference.

In the case the light doesn’t help much, and I’m still noticing that Yoshis plants are browning/wilted, should i add some organic fertilizer to JUST the soil (not spray on the leaves)? If so, what fertilizer would you recommend? I’ve seen stuff about silkworm poop, i would have to look around and see where to find that stuff, so if there’s anything i can pick up at my local nursery instead, let me know! Thoughts on aquarium fertilizers/tablets? I also wanted to note that Yoshi seems to get extra stressed when i move his cage set up around, so if there’s any way i can avoid having to take his plants out of the enclosure that would be sick! Attached is a picture of Yoshis new set up.

 

[nightanole]

Sounds like you are over watering or poor drainage...

But plants LOVE basking bulbs, and the more light hte better. You might even want to invest in one sansi to go in parallel with the basking bulb(sansi on one side and basking on the other)

As far as fertilizer, granular is a big no no.
I use this:
https://www.spray-n-growgardening.com/

In combo with bills perfect fert.

You basically get hot water, pop a little of each in (the fert helps activate the spray for some waters) and just water the plants with it(not the leaves). Its pretty much "tea" and is a very mild fert.

Else there are other ways, such as putting dubia frass in the dirt, or even buying meal worm houls/sheds(dont know the retail name, but its just a big bag of mealworm sheds), or even freeze dries mealworms from a bird store. But basically its "organic stuff" that will get broken down by the bacteria in the soil.

 

[spookylizards]

Sounds like you are over watering or poor drainage...

But plants LOVE basking bulbs, and the more light hte better. You might even want to invest in one sansi to go in parallel with the basking bulb(sansi on one side and basking on the other)

As far as fertilizer, granular is a big no no.
I use this:
https://www.spray-n-growgardening.com/

In combo with bills perfect fert.

You basically get hot water, pop a little of each in (the fert helps activate the spray for some waters) and just water the plants with it(not the leaves). Its pretty much "tea" and is a very mild fert.

Else there are other ways, such as putting dubia frass in the dirt, or even buying meal worm houls/sheds(dont know the retail name, but its just a big bag of mealworm sheds), or even freeze dries mealworms from a bird store. But basically its "organic stuff" that will get broken down by the bacteria in the soil.

Awesome! This helps tremendously!

Any tips for knowing when it’s time to water the plants? I certainly don’t wanna drown these dudes LOL!

 

[nightanole]

Awesome! This helps tremendously!

Any tips for knowing when it’s time to water the plants? I certainly don’t wanna drown these dudes LOL!

Nope. it seems its per plant. My buddy has over watered his cactus so much that it droops now if it doesnt get an ice cube every few days...

I do agree about watering till it starts coming out the bottom. But i only water house plants once a month in the summer and twice a month in the winter.

 

[elizaann2]

I would guess overwatering as well. Most of the plants in my enclosure I do not need to water beyond my misting schedule, in fact some of them even that is too much water and I need to swap them out occasionally to 'rescue' them. The plant light should help as well!

 

[elizaann2]

Also I'm noticing your water fountain guy at the bottom of your enclosure. I had one of those too when I first started in this hobby. Unfortunately they are a breeding ground for bacteria, feeders often climb in them and chameleons always seem to poop in them. Its generally safer to have your chameleon's drinking opportunities come from mist on the leaves in their enclosure. Do you have a drainage system set up yet? That will help with the amount of water that goes through your enclosure.

 

[spookylizards]

Also I'm noticing your water fountain guy at the bottom of your enclosure. I had one of those too when I first started in this hobby. Unfortunately they are a breeding ground for bacteria, feeders often climb in them and chameleons always seem to poop in them. Its generally safer to have your chameleon's drinking opportunities come from mist on the leaves in their enclosure. Do you have a drainage system set up yet? That will help with the amount of water that goes through your enclosure.

Yeah! I actually forgot to note in my original post that since I took that photo, I’ve taken the fountain out, it lasted about a day in there before i found out about the potential for bacteria in one of the informational videos i like to watch during my free time LOL!! He mainly drinks from the mist on the leaves or the dripper i have added to the top of the cage! I do have a drainage system set up as well, bottom of enclosure has drain holes and the whole enclosure is positioned about 4 inches above a drip tray for washing machines, i empty and clean it out every other day. Is this a good setup?

 

[elizaann2]

Yeah! I actually forgot to note in my original post that since I took that photo, I’ve taken the fountain out, it lasted about a day in there before i found out about the potential for bacteria in one of the informational videos i like to watch during my free time LOL!! He mainly drinks from the mist on the leaves or the dripper i have added to the top of the cage! I do have a drainage system set up as well, bottom of enclosure has drain holes and the whole enclosure is positioned about 4 inches above a drip tray for washing machines, i empty and clean it out every other day. Is this a good setup?

Oh that is awesome! That is actually how my drainage works for my enclosures as well. I did the same thing with the fountain! I had two I would swap out and sanitize once a week or as needed if it got dirty before then and had them for about a month I think before someone on here told me about the bacteria issue and I just threw them away....

 

[Gingero]

You've gotten some great advice. This video should help: