Where do you buy your live plants?

[andrearamirezo91]

Hey guys!

After some great advice from people in this forum, I have decided to add some pothos to my chameleon's enclosure. he has a TON of fake silk plants but the live plants will definitely help retain humidity, and drink up some of the water that drips to the bottom pan from the mister.

So far, I have been cautious about buying real plants because I don't know what type of chemicals they might have been exposed to. I love plants and buy most of my plants from home depot or Lowes, but I'm assuming that at some point they must have been sprayed with pesticides that might be harmful to my chameleon.

So, where do you get your live plants from?

 

[Tiosk]

I get mine from the same places as you. I just wash them before I put them in her enclosure.

 

[JacksJill]

Home Depot and Lowes are fine. You just need to wash your plants well. I've found you can even spray plants with full strength clear ammonia to sanitize them. Just don't do it indoors or in bright sunlight. Then rinse well and then rinse well again. Sanitizing probably isn't necessary just putting the info out there.
Replace the top inch or two of soil with organic soil or cover the soil with pebbles too big to eat (larger than your chams head).

 

[jamest0o0]

Yup, lowes, home depot, nurseries, online. Just look up how to wash them off and replace soil.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Wow I hadn't even considered the soil. See? What would I do without you guys

Thank you!

 

[NickTide]

I got mine from Lowes. I used alcohol to wipe the leaves but I don't remember if I diluted it. I also pruned the heck out of the plants... mostly because I didn't want to wipe down 1000 leaves but also to make sure I didn't miss any leaves. I also transplanted the plants. In my schefflera, I found two little gecko eggs that hatched shortly after. never figured out the species but pretty cool.

 

[dshuld]

I do a triple treatment on mine. Full strength vinegar wait 10 min then rinse, full strength 20% peroxide wait 10 min then rinse and finally a rub down with chlorhexidine gluconate followed by another 15 min rinse. I really need to get off my rear and order another bottle of Metricide and save myself a few steps though.

 

[jamest0o0]

I used vinegar and/or ivory soap. Some I just let sit outside for a few weeks and then rinsed off with water. Haven't noticed any problems from it. Ozmocote makes a good fertilizer too if you need to feed certain plants.

 

[shawn_melanson]

I get everything from Home Depot or Lowe’s. then give it a good spray down. with my tree frogs I leave them outta the cage for a week or two before I plant them I’ve never had an issues

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

The home improvement stores seem to have all the basic cham plants you would need, but to get something more obscure (I haven't been able to find jasmine anywhere), online would be the best option, but I haven't had to shop online yet.

 

[Bettina]

Hey guys!

After some great advice from people in this forum, I have decided to add some pothos to my chameleon's enclosure. he has a TON of fake silk plants but the live plants will definitely help retain humidity, and drink up some of the water that drips to the bottom pan from the mister.

So far, I have been cautious about buying real plants because I don't know what type of chemicals they might have been exposed to. I love plants and buy most of my plants from home depot or Lowes, but I'm assuming that at some point they must have been sprayed with pesticides that might be harmful to my chameleon.

So, where do you get your live plants from?

Hi,
When I see a plant I like I ask the owner if I can have a part of it. Many plants get roots when you put them in water. It takes a while but especially tropical plants grow quickly. Then you can be sure its safe. Although in my terrarium I have cocoa, vanilla and coffee plants I bought at a fair for exotic plants. (I'm from Europe, Austria, Vienna.) I also saved a dying ficus benjamin once.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

I do have a few pothos in the house already. I've always loved that plant. I might just try to get a trimming from one of those and see if I can get it to grow! We don't put pesticides on our indoor plants so that might be a good idea.

Hi,
When I see a plant I like I ask the owner if I can have a part of it. Many plants get roots when you put them in water. It takes a while but especially tropical plants grow quickly. Then you can be sure its safe. Although in my terrarium I have cocoa, vanilla and coffee plants I bought at a fair for exotic plants. (I'm from Europe, Austria, Vienna.) I also saved a dying ficus benjamin once.

 

[Pjtbug]

If it’s a plant hat can handle it, I usually put them upside down in a tub of warm water with dish soap for about five minutes, then I spray it down, and repeat the process a few times

 

[andrearamirezo91]

If it’s a plant hat can handle it, I usually put them upside down in a tub of warm water with dish soap for about five minutes, then I spray it down, and repeat the process a few times

Do you change the soil as well? A lot of people here have mentioned that the soil needs to be changed to an organic/chemical free soil.

 

[Pjtbug]

Do you change the soil as well? A lot of people here have mentioned that the soil needs to be changed to an organic/chemical free soil.

Yeah, I do, you never know what kind of chemicals and creepy crawlers could be in there