Deciding on one more plant

chameeeleon

New Member
Long story short: I don't have a cham yet but I'm still working on setting up the enclosure and I need one more plant.
Long story long: I've already killed a hibiscus (although further inspection showed that the plant appeared to have no root system so it may not have been my fault) and a schefflera arboricola (I think the light wasn't bright enough for this one). I currently have a golden pothos which is growing wonderfully and seems to be indestructible. After looking at safe plant lists and reading of people's experiences with this plant, I also bought a parlor palm for $5 (I love amazon.com) and it is basically a mini palm tree version of the pothos - indestructible.
Now I just need one last plant to fill up the enclosure. I'm looking for a small tree or tree-like plant that can do well in somewhat low lighting conditions (and is of course safe for chams). I may just get another parlor palm because it's so awesome, but I want something a little more branchy. Some plants I have in mind are Norfolk Island pines, ficus, and maybe scheffleras (but I would have to get some plant lights first).
Any ideas or suggestions on what plant I should get? Anyone have experience with Norfolk Island pines? I haven't heard much about them.
 
Ficus Benjamina is a branchy tree that a lot of people here like. Like you, I have a lot of trouble with schlefferas despite having a 6500k grow light. My hibiscus also died, but after several months in the sun, it actually started to sprout again and now it's doing great.

My pothos has been amazing. It's grown about 20ft in a year, so I have that strung all over my giant cage. I fill out the bottom with a few bromeliads.
 
I think your going to have a very hard time finding another plant as tolerant of wet and low light conditions as pothos. I haven't had experience with parlor palm, but I think you will find that both ficus and norfolk pine have much higher light requirements than schefflera.

If you want to have a lot of plant options, I would recommend at least a quad-bulb T5 HO fixture like the ones they have at LightYourReptiles. For just pothos and schefflera I have had success with a dual-bulb T5 HO fixture, but the schefflera definitely is not at optimal health. Not entirely sure whether this is caused by the extra water from misting or from low lighting at this point.

Screen blocks a good portion of light as well, which makes the bulbs have less than their optimal output, but there's not any real way to avoid it since UVB does not go through glass :)
 
Back
Top Bottom