Plant question

[tortdad]

What kind I plants are you guys using In a 100% enclosed Redfoot table? I've bought everything I can find at my local stores that is on the approved to eat list and the plants just die from the humidity and heat. I would like to find a friend that has a spider plant so I can get a snipping or two but what other plants and grasses do well 100% enclosed? I think I'm going to order some seeds from tortoise supply.

 

[lismar79]

I have an enclosed high humidity for a baby sulcata and hostas do great in there. Took them right out of my yard

 

[pfara]

How warm is your enclosure? Houseplants typically do well when the temps are around 78F. However, my enclosure gets to around 84F (ambient during summer) and the plants still seem to thrive. What plants have you tried and have you been planting them directly under heat sources? How about plant moisture levels?

 

[tortdad]

86 warm side 89 low side 96 basking and I've tried plants in all 3 locations. The last plants were outside plants. Ice plant ground cover and I forget what the other one was.

 

[tortdad]

*78 low side

 

[pfara]

You gotta be careful about adding outdoor plants into an indoor enclosure. Plants need time to acclimate whether they're going from inside to out or vice versa. I've tried ice plants once. They didn't seem to last long indoors. I'm guessing it's from less intense lighting. Try houseplants. Many require the same environment that you provide your redfoot (lower light requirements, warm temps and high humidity). Spider plants, pothos, dracaena (marginata or warneckii), bird's nest ferns, boston ferns, wax begonia, christmas cactus, maidenhair ferns, tradescantia, prayer plants, and the list goes on. I've attempted growing tons of plants and the ones I listed seem to work well with my daily tort enclosure maintenance.

 

[tortdad]

You gotta be careful about adding outdoor plants into an indoor enclosure. Plants need time to acclimate whether they're going from inside to out or vice versa. I've tried ice plants once. They didn't seem to last long indoors. I'm guessing it's from less intense lighting. Try houseplants. Many require the same environment that you provide your redfoot (lower light requirements, warm temps and high humidity). Spider plants, pothos, dracaena (marginata or warneckii), bird's nest ferns, boston ferns, wax begonia, christmas cactus, maidenhair ferns, tradescantia, prayer plants, and the list goes on. I've attempted growing tons of plants and the ones I listed seem to work well with my daily tort enclosure maintenance.

Thanks!

 

[Flipper]

Aloe is thriving and sending out baby shoots in my indoor enclosure on the hot side. Asparagus fern is also doing well. I mist them daily.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

They eat aloe? If so, it's like a weed here. I had no idea.

 

[Flipper]

They eat aloe? If so, it's like a weed here. I had no idea.

I've heard from others that their torts eat aloe. But mines doesn't. She may as she grows up. I'm not sure.

 

[Yvonne G]

violas and violets. You can put little rose of sharons in there. In the mean time, plant a couple of banana trees and fruit-bearing palm trees outside in the area where the RF is going to live when it gets bigger.

 

[RosieRedfoot]

I had luck with dracaena, umbrella plant, mother in law tongue, and ferns. The wandering jew and aloe always got eaten. The others got eaten too if she was feeling I didn't feed her enough.

 

[ladyvalkyrie]

Aloe is thriving and sending out baby shoots in my indoor enclosure on the hot side. Asparagus fern is also doing well. I mist them daily.

Aloe is perfect. Aloe is nearly impossible to kill, grows forever, and my torts eat it down to the ground.


I'm a man of many hats but I've never mastered anything.

 

[CharlieM]

I agree with wandering Jew and spider plants. You can keep growing more replacements from the adult plants and add them to the enclosure as needed.

 

[RosieRedfoot]

Or hang the wandering jew. They eat some but love hiding in it and if they can't trample the main plant and eat it all it just keeps growing. Good luck killing it if it gets outside where you don't want it. I had pieces fall off my deck hanging basket and I found them growing up just fine after an ice storm. My plant only died because my tort trampled it and the leaves fell off.

 

[pfara]

Or hang the wandering jew. They eat some but love hiding in it and if they can't trample the main plant and eat it all it just keeps growing. Good luck killing it if it gets outside where you don't want it. I had pieces fall off my deck hanging basket and I found them growing up just fine after an ice storm. My plant only died because my tort trampled it and the leaves fell off.

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this. I ended up buying two large wandering jew from a local store since it was on sale. Little did I know how disgustingly fast they grew (one should really read up on plants before impulse buying sometimes ) So I gave both of them a severe haircut but didn't have the heart to throw them away (yeah, I'm such a sucker) and decided to throw the cuttings under my deck. I don't think any of the cuttings died and now I have about 80 wandering jew plants under my deck.. I hope winter cuts them back some or I'm in trouble

 

[RosieRedfoot]

You may have to set a hungry tortoise under there... Or salt the earth.

 

[pfara]

You may have to set a hungry tortoise under there... Or salt the earth.

But that'd mean I'd be committing plantgicide! I'm a bleeding heart, remember?