Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My viv has just recently been planted and already I'm noticing things going wrong...I think my nephrolepis exaltata and my fittonia verschaffeltii are rotting.... or something.. some of there leaves are turning brown and when i touch the brown spots...that part of the leave just falls apart...should i just keep the mist away from there part of the tank, or what?

Is the substrate soggy around the roots? Do the stems appear to be collapsing, or is the problem just out on the leaves? You mentioned before that the drainage was really good, so this shouldn't be the problem. It's always rather more difficult to establish a mature, potted plant than even a rootless cutting or a small plant. They are usually "pot-bound" and the roots have become compressed and entangled. When replanting, they don't always engage with the new soil around them and die back, leaving a negative ratio of roots to leaves.

Here is what I would do--and usually do this even before transplanting them in the first place. Remove both plants from the tank. Shake the soil from the roots, and trim all of the damaged or rotted appearing roots off with sharp scissors down to healthy tissue. Then drastically cut back all of the foliage to the newest growth. In the case of the Nephrolepis, cut off all of the larger fronds and just leave a few smaller, new ones. (You can even tear some of the outer fronds away, but this is for the brave and bold.) The Fittonia can be cut back to just a few emerging leaves on a short stem or two. If you have some long brown sphagnum, put some of this in the hole and around the roots before you replant. Spread the roots out, cover with substrate, working it down well, water to settle the soil and then continue whatever you are doing with the misting. Save some of the Fittonia cuttings and just strip off the lower leaf or two from a stem and put it in a jar of water to root from the leaf nodes, just in case this doesn't work for you in the tank and it turns out to be a different problem.

If you don't feel brave and bold enough to do major surgery, at least cut most of the fronds and stems back on both plants to the newest growth.

This sounds killingly viscious, but is actually common garden transplanting practice, and allows the plants to establish and adapt better in the long run.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

The soil around the roots is damp...but not soggy or wet...I cut off most everything that wasn't new growth...my tank looks kind of bare..you say it everything will come back though right? Also...There were long white stringy stuff hanging off the leaves too..dunno what it is.

Thanks for all the help Patty