ideal plants to grow inside enclosure?

[stinax182]

i have a Leopard tortoise and a pair of Russians who are being housed indoors for the winter.

i definitely want to plant some hastas and possibly throw a slab of sod and some spider plants in there.

their substrate is a mix of peat moss, top soil and coco fiber, is this a good mix to grow plants in or should i get a planter with some organic potting soil in it?

also for the leopard, i wanted to have some small succulents....would they need sand or a different soil to grow? and which ones would you recommend?

are there any better plants? maybe ones that will survive longer?

and if i were to get a seed mix, how would i go about growing that inside? just sprinkle it and water it?

sorry this is so long, but i have so many questions and no one who can answer, lolll.

 

[dcwolfe]

i have a Leopard tortoise and a pair of Russians who are being housed indoors for the winter.

i definitely want to plant some hastas and possibly throw a slab of sod and some spider plants in there.

their substrate is a mix of peat moss, top soil and coco fiber, is this a good mix to grow plants in or should i get a planter with some organic potting soil in it?

also for the leopard, i wanted to have some small succulents....would they need sand or a different soil to grow? and which ones would you recommend?

are there any better plants? maybe ones that will survive longer?

and if i were to get a seed mix, how would i go about growing that inside? just sprinkle it and water it?

sorry this is so long, but i have so many questions and no one who can answer, lolll.

So far I have only experimented with sod and because of the fact that I didn’t plant from seed the nats/spiders were overwhelming. I am not one to shy away from 20 or so bugs but it had to of been 50-100 if not more nats and ants that had eggs in the soil that were crawling on the torts like made, so I wouldn’t go with sod. I have seen hibiscus successfully grown in terrariums, but am not sure what soil or substrate they use. I just started using cypress mulch and sphagnum moss and the mulch says good for growing plants, but I don’t know for sure because I haven’t been brave enough to spend the time and money on seeds or plants. I am interested to hear what other members have on this topic as well.

 

[stinax182]

ohhh okay thank you! i didn't think about the bugs in it lolll. all the plants i want to plant are actually I'm my yard and i know have no pesticides or fertilizers. maybe I'll cut the sod and leave it on my porch...maybe the cold weather will kill the bugs?

 

[dcwolfe]

ohhh okay thank you! i didn't think about the bugs in it lolll. all the plants i want to plant are actually I'm my yard and i know have no pesticides or fertilizers. maybe I'll cut the sod and leave it on my porch...maybe the cold weather will kill the bugs?

IT might kill the bugs but I dont think that it would kill the eggs though. I think the best would be to take your soil and plant from seeds, that might prevent the bugs.

 

[AustinASU]

i'm dealing with the same problem atm, the only way to kill them is to basically eliminate all moisture and elevate temps to about 110 for 2 days
it'll killem, and also do frequent water bowl changes, they breed in the water.

 

[stinax182]

thank for the input guys! i just went and bought some cat grass from petco and planted that

 

[Diana Stone]

i'm dealing with the same problem atm, the only way to kill them is to basically eliminate all moisture and elevate temps to about 110 for 2 days
it'll killem, and also do frequent water bowl changes, they breed in the water.

Question, can you use the edible pestisides that people use on their vegetable plants to kill the bugs you guys are talking about?

 

[Laura]

you can try planting lettuce seed.. pansies are good to try too.

 

[tortugatamer]

I have three spider plants and an aloe growing in just coco coir, so I think you will be fine. If you go to thetortoisetable.org they have a list of a ton of plants.