First live plant

[MattiBee]

Hi everyone,

I have a young ambanja and since i have had him (about a week or so) i have only had plastic plants in his enclosure. Yesterday i bought a Ficus Benjamina 'Natasha' from homebase and i noticed that the soil had fertilisers in it.

Was i right in washing the roots as best i could and replacing most of the soil with an organic soil? I have also washed the plant thouroughly with a very slightly soapy water and then rinsed, would you deem this safe to put in the enclosure with my cham now? It has been left to stand out side the enclosure for a day now but i was just wondering if i should leave it any longer?

Thanks

Matt

 

[SuperRad]

It should be good to go.
The basic concern is washing out any pesticides on the leaves, and the top layer of soil.

 

[Dankmeleon]

organic soil has harmful stuff in it as well, your best to cover it with something soiless that can't be ingested like rocks or hydroton

 

[dodolah]

Hi everyone,

I have a young ambanja and since i have had him (about a week or so) i have only had plastic plants in his enclosure. Yesterday i bought a Ficus Benjamina 'Natasha' from homebase and i noticed that the soil had fertilisers in it.

Was i right in washing the roots as best i could and replacing most of the soil with an organic soil? I have also washed the plant thouroughly with a very slightly soapy water and then rinsed, would you deem this safe to put in the enclosure with my cham now? It has been left to stand out side the enclosure for a day now but i was just wondering if i should leave it any longer?

Thanks

Matt

you should be fine. i do however vigorously swish the plants with soapy water 3 times and let it dry for 5 minutes in between cycle before rinsing.

 

[dindy]

what is the best kind of soil or fertilizer to use??? a non toxic one that could be injested incase it ever happens???

 

[dodolah]

i used supersoil potting soil and so far no problem. no fertilizer. if you have silkworms. you can use the frass (poop) for th fertilizer. works pretty good.

 

[MattiBee]

brilliant, i was thinking of getting some mesh to put over the soil in the pot so that the soil cant be eaten.

Thanks for your replies

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Make sure no branches have been recently pruned or broken in the cleaning process ... if so give the plant an extra day or so to heal.
The sap from Ficus benjamina has been known to cause eye irritation in Panther chameleons.

-Brad