I'm slowly killing him...

... my schefflera plant that is, that I affectionately refer to as him to get thread views. ;)

Why the heck is it easier to keep a chameleon alive then it is a friggin plant!

I have two misting nozzles. They go off about 4 times a day as long as 2 minutes during noon. I half covered the soil with plastic to help keep all that moisture out, but leaves are still dropping. I can't completely cover the soil because of the actually plant stocks coming out of the soil, plus I want the soil to breath don't I?

If these keeps up I'll take Joe's advice and start buying them at home depot, and just trade up every six months. Problem is..it''s a really nice one.. Perfeect size, perfect foliage cover. :mad:
 
Mine seemed to do better when I elevated the pot up off the cage floor with those little "feet" they sell at home depot.
 
... my schefflera plant that is, that I affectionately refer to as him to get thread views. ;)

Why the heck is it easier to keep a chameleon alive then it is a friggin plant!

I have two misting nozzles. They go off about 4 times a day as long as 2 minutes during noon. I half covered the soil with plastic to help keep all that moisture out, but leaves are still dropping. I can't completely cover the soil because of the actually plant stocks coming out of the soil, plus I want the soil to breath don't I?

If these keeps up I'll take Joe's advice and start buying them at home depot, and just trade up every six months. Problem is..it''s a really nice one.. Perfeect size, perfect foliage cover. :mad:

Remove the plastic and cover the soil using sphagnum moss, not peat moss. It will hold still between the stalks/stems. Pile it high and tuck it in well. You can water sheffelera as much as you water a chameleon and it will not kill the plant. It will live in just about any container that has holes on the bottom.

Take care.
 
I cover the dirt with rocks, but make sure they're large enough that your cham can't fit them in his/her mouth. My rocks are bigger then my chams head (he's only 6 mos.) and he still goes down from time to time to sort of gnaw on them!
 
I cover the dirt with rocks, but make sure they're large enough that your cham can't fit them in his/her mouth. My rocks are bigger then my chams head (he's only 6 mos.) and he still goes down from time to time to sort of gnaw on them!

mine kept eating dirt(for no reason, he has a fully supplemented diet) so i did that too, now every great once in a while he also gnaws on rocks, weird...
 
Got the river rock thing going on.

I'm had a hunch about lifting it off the cage floor, because it's essentially holding water, possibly plugging the bottom hole.

I'll try this before I try the moss. THanks everyone!
 
Royden,

Plant in good soil and then go buy a 6500K compact flourescent lightbulb and believe it or not that K will work for keeping your plants alive. It works for mine as well as provides great ambient light. I also use it for my refugium underneath my reef tank and it explodes with plant growth all the time. If it's a lighting issue this will fix it. You can buy the light from Lowes for around $6.00. Put it in a clamp lamp. It really doesn't emit hardly any heat. I use the same lights in addition to a UVA/UVB in my Brookesia Terrariums to keep a ton of plants alive including two schefflera's.
 
Do the florescent plant grow lights from Lowes work also? i have double florescent fixtures and I thought about adding one of those in with the repti sun?????? Will that work? Because now I am losing them about every 2 months!

Jeffrey
 
Sheffs hate it when their roots stay wet - they rot and the plant dies...slowly, depressingly, agonizing... like the one in my deremensis cage. I thought I was keeping it properly, but this one just got too wet.
 
go get an aqua globe! you can get them at bed bath and beyond, trust me they work great, i have one in every cage. havent had a plant die!
 
Do the florescent plant grow lights from Lowes work also? i have double florescent fixtures and I thought about adding one of those in with the repti sun?????? Will that work? Because now I am losing them about every 2 months!

Jeffrey

We keep our plants up off the floor but still have leaf dropping issues with any schefflera that are not exposed to window light. For those I use a linear grow light, in addition to my linear UVB and my UVA bulb. That stopped the problem in its tracks.

But caution: I don't place the grow light in the same area as the UVB bulb, because I don't know if one will affect the other. When we're talking about light rays, and ray patterns, I just don't know. Hopefully someone else who already does the double bulb fixture thing will chime in here and let you know if it can hinder UVB.
 
We keep our plants up off the floor but still have leaf dropping issues with any schefflera that are not exposed to window light. For those I use a linear grow light, in addition to my linear UVB and my UVA bulb. That stopped the problem in its tracks.

Great! Thanks! I am on my way to lowes now!
 
Yoda's doing some damage, but he's definately not the cause of the problem.

I'll try raising it off teh cage floor and adding a grow light to my dual hood.


thanks all!
 
I would agree with Mike, that for most schleffera, it is a matter of light intensity that promotes healthy growth. And during very low light winters, or poor lighting indoors, I had some problems with the plants until I added supplemental lighting. But the variegated species (or subspecies if you will) seem to need far more light, and are more fragile than the regular green variety. I have certainly ran 12 hour misters during high heat periods and the plants thrived, as did ficus and hibiscus. Drats it all, hope that I did not spell schleffera wrong :).

Under no circumstances would I use moss in a chameleon cage. It is a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites. And especially not the "packaged" variety from your local pet store that would have to be baked or sterlized completely every day or every other day. Even healthy live moss becomes foul and slimy under normal chameleon watering conditions, if adequate watering is provided.

Susan
 
OK, just got back from my local Lowes and they do not have the compact 6500K but they did have the regular tube 6500K, will that work? I couldnt buy the special"plant" light because my fixture only takes T8 not T12 and the plant lights only come in T 12. So I got the 6500K T8 will this work????

Jeffrey
 
Shop around for better plants . I have all my chameleons on a rigorous shower routine. 4x daily for about a half hour each time. I never lose plants. I don't lift the pot, cover with moss or plastic, no gourmet soils,etc. Believe it or not, I get mine from Ikea for very cheap, sometimes the supermarket. I use mostly the basic schefflera. I don't believe it's your soil or water, just a bad plant. Try a couple more.
 
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