Live plants other than pothos

[yeahhtrue]

I know there are some threads about live plants on here already. I know it can be a heated debate on whether or not live plants are a good idea. I want to give them a shot with my new versicolor enclosure.

Those of you who do use live plants, do you use anything other than pothos? Would love to see pictures of any live planted enclosures we have on here!

 

[PanzoN88]

I don't use live plants at all so i won't be able to answer the question, but live plants likely need a lot of humidity, and Avics/caribenas/etc..... and high humidity don't mix very well. Ventilation and dry substrate are key.

 

[Arachnoclown]

If you have tons of ventilation sure...otherwise it's a bad idea with a versicolor. If you really want plants try looking at a Theraphosa stirmi or blondi...they do great with high humidity .

 

[Arachnoclown]

10" T. Stirmi tank at the beginning with live plants.

The same tank now...no heat grow light.

 

[yeahhtrue]

I went ahead and bought the exo terra so I don't think ventilation will be an issue. But I also only planned to add plants that can survive on minimal water and sunlight, such as pothos. Wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions for similar plants.

I may just go with pothos and see what happens. Or I may just deal with plastic plants, though I really am not a fan of how cheap and fake they usually look

 

[Dave Jay]

spider plants (aptly named?), Chlorophytum comosum , is a plant that grows well in low light and can handle dry conditions, they're usually one of the last survivors in neglected terrariums. Spathiphyllums, known as Peace Lilies also can handle low light and dry conditions, they are mildly toxic, but they don't seem to be very palatable. I see people using moss in their enclosures too, it looks great imo, but I'm not sure which species are suited to drier conditions and low light.

One option may be to consider a false bottom, either a full false bottom set up with a layer of pebbles/gravel, a divider on top of that, usually mesh is used, as I understand it Avics dont burrow so that might be ok, but a better option may be a rigid divider, anything you would use as a lid, a piece of acrylic full of 'ventilation' holes would be safe I would think. Then put your substrate onto that.
A simpler way would be just pack pipes/hoses into the substrate as you put it in then add water to the bottom of the substrate and keep the top dry. maybe just a tube next to each plant?
If you were to put a layer of damp peat on the bottom, and drier substrate on top the surface should dry out fairly quickly with good ventilation.
People often think of a false bottom as a way to get high humidity, but with my desert scorpions I use it to avoid high humidity above the surface of the substrate, the surface is kept dry and only the very bottom layer has moisture, plant roots would soon tap into the moisture and survive even though the surface is dry.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I use frog moss for mine that need a bit of humidity. Some of the succulents without spines might be ok for drier spiders. I haven't tried that yet, enclosure is to small.

The other thing to keep in mind is that plants like light. Tarantulas don't.

 

[Dave Jay]

I use frog moss for mine that need a bit of humidity. Some of the succulents without spines might be ok for drier spiders. I haven't tried that yet, enclosure is to small.

The other thing to keep in mind is that plants like light. Tarantulas don't.

What is frog moss mate? A genus would help. 4 years getting horticulture qualifications and I still don't know what you mean. The only ones I can think of that would handle dry conditions can't handle low light, and visa versa, but of course we are continents apart.

 

[Dave Jay]

Selaginella moss springs to mind, but that takes dry conditions pretty badly

 

[Whitelightning777]

Basically, it's this product.

https://zoomed.com/frog-moss/

 

[Dave Jay]

Basically, it's this product.

https://zoomed.com/frog-moss/

It looks to me that it is a commercial name for moss in the genus Leucobryum which are usually called pillow moss or pincushion moss, that's my best guess. You should be able to buy it live from a garden centre as it's often used in terrariums.
Oh, and thanks Whitelightning.

 

[Whitelightning777]

They're a million common names for anything alive.

 

[Dave Jay]

Yeah, for sure, quite a few were listed, I think 'Frog Moss' is a trademarked product name though, not a common name, I couldn't find any reference to it apart from the ZooMed product but I think I've got the right genus, no idea on the actual species.

 

[Whitelightning777]

This plant might do well with some tarantulas if they don't churn up the dirt that bad.

https://plantcaretoday.com/cast-iron-plant-aspidistra-care.html

My roommate had one in college and it just wouldn't die.

 

[Dave Jay]

This plant might do well with some tarantulas if they don't churn up the dirt that bad.

https://plantcaretoday.com/cast-iron-plant-aspidistra-care.html

My roommate had one in college and it just wouldn't die.

Yeah, that's one I missed although they do get fairly tall, generally around 2' at least.