Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i got some spike moss and peporminia (spell?) from T&C, it says to keep the plants out of direct sunlight for a few days, the plants i got look very healthy. does direct sunlight also include my 6500K bulbs? the peporminia i wasnt wanting to plant unitl tommarow becuase the broms will give it shade which it will need. Where should i place them? just out of the tank for a day or so in the shade?
-----
Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.5.03 Tank Is Almost Complete

ok never mind about the spike moss, i didnt see, it says place in the the tank right away, so i did. Let me give you the correct name of my other plant and pic:
Peperomia meridana

-----
Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.5.03 Tank Is Almost Complete

You can plant it right away. The lights won't cause any harm, especially since you have good humidity and controlled temperatures. Most Peperomias are hard to kill. I would cut it back a bit, though. This will encourage the root system and it will be going great guns again with more side brances in no time, so you won't lose any height in the long run. I'd also cut off the blooming spike. These don't get any more interesting than what you see, and removing them will allow more energy for the rooting process. Neither suggestion is mandatory, however. It will do just fine if you just stuff it in as is. If you want more plants, just remove a couple of the lower leaves from your cuttings and stick them in damp soil with the leaf nodes below the soil. They'll root into new plants.
-----
Patty
Lost River, Idaho

ok, i dont know hardly any thing about plants other then what i have learned in the last few months. if i want to make a cutting of this plant to start another, what portions of the plant do i cut exacty? after its cut i just bury it about 1/2 and inch or so in the soil and it will evently grow? I am think i have a baby plant growing with the big one, there is a little "runner" coming up from the soil almost next to the brim of the plant cup. do i just bury that one and it will sprout?
-----
Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.5.03 Tank Is Almost Complete

You can cut the plant back, leaving just a couple of leaves on the bottom. Take the cuttings and strip off the lower leaves--one or two of them, leaving the leaves above intact. The original plant will put off more stems, often two above where you have cut. After you have stripped off one or two leaves from the bottom of each cutting, leaving the top ones, you can plant the cuttings in soil right in the terrarium, up to the live leaves. The roots will come out of the leaf nodes where your have stripped the leaves off, so the nodes will be under the soil. You can also choose to simply put them in a glass of water in the same way until you can see roots forming, then plant them later if you want-- or root them in a separate pot of soil.

It's not a measurement in inches, but just burying the leaf nodes from which you have stripped the leaves because that's where the roots will form.

This works well with most vining plants and many others. Some aren't as easy and require a bit more invention, but your Peperomia will work just fine.

Whatever you do, it's probably going to attempt to take over your vivarium anyway. I have one now in my paludarium that is invading the aquarium portion. I suspect it of attempting to eat the fish. I think it has its eyes on eventually crawling across the continent and eating New York City.
-----
Patty
Lost River, Idaho

ok i understand. thanks for the answers, that last post was extremly helpful!
-----
Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.5.03 Tank Is Almost Complete