Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm hoping I'm posting in the right forum for this. O_O

I ordered 2 live plants on the net to put in my frog's terrarium. I ordered a fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) and a jewel orchid to place into my 5.5 gallon. I was wondering if these plants (or any) need the roots to be placed in a special substrate. What I was planning on doing is placing the roots under the sphagnum moss, directly into the clay stones that absorb excess water (I heard orchids are grown like that anyway). Should I place a layer of soil over the stones and put the roots in the soil instead? Information will be greatly appreciated.

Sound like pretty big plants for just a 5.5G "Boston" ferns can get HUGE. The substrate for both needs to hold moisture but have lots of airspace so the roots don't stay wet, moreso for the orchid, the fern would want loose airy soil with lots of humus.

While your clay substrate sounds like it may work for the orchid what will you do to provide nutrients for the plants?

I don't know much about the care for these plants. I ordered them from Black Jungle. I was going to just but the clay for my sphagnum moss, but I couldn't check out my order with less then $10 in charges. So I went ahead and bought those two plants. It says on the care paper to put them in a well drained organic potting mix. So I was thinking of using organic soil, no fertilizer or anything, and the clay. If you can help me with the care of these plants, that would be great. I'll make another post with the pictures so you can see how big they are.
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Meh! is the sound a lama makes.

NitZ Rokkstarr

Here they are. I'm not much of a plant guy... but I can't see the orchid's roots. They must be very tiny.

It may become cramped in the terrarium, but I don't think the frog will mind much since she doesn't move around a lot. She'll probably just end up hiding under the fern as oppose to the fake plants I have stuck on the terrarium wall. But I do plan on buying a 10 gallon when I have a steady income.

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Meh! is the sound a lama makes.

NitZ Rokkstarr

Sorry about the broken link. Another thing, the fern is very tall, I just kind of bunched it up gently in the pot because I untangled it when it arrived in the shipment anyway. Are they supposed to have roots so thin? For all that puff, it looks very fragile and easy to rip.

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Meh! is the sound a lama makes.

NitZ Rokkstarr

I can't post a link... But please read what I wrote in the other threads.

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Meh! is the sound a lama makes.

NitZ Rokkstarr