Plants Alive! Challenge

snitz427 said:
I have wandering jew in a few cages, mostly use it in the quarantine cages because it grows so quickly I dont feel bad discarding it. I think it fills in and grows very well, and very quickly in the cham cages. Holds up well to the smaller chams, but havent placed it with larger chams
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I've use a more common variety before with success and even had them flower. I like this variety as the leaves always look like flowers. I'm just conducting an experiment to see what level of the cage suites it best. I suspect I know the answer but we will see.
 
JacksJill said:
I've use a more common variety before with success and even had them flower. I like this variety as the leaves always look like flowers. I'm just conducting an experiment to see what level of the cage suites it best. I suspect I know the answer but we will see.
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Ah i see. Is that one of the more “low growing” varieties? As I really failed at propagating those!
 
DeremensisBlue said:
My other goal is to get my Maranta Prayer Plant to bloom. I have done it before, but it is so cool when plants are happy enough in your cage that they give flowers. And we can have as many personal goals as we want! If any one has a Prayer Plant, Spider Plant, Fittonia "nerve plant", Calathea, or any other plant that blooms then that is a great goal. (pothos produces a flower, but I wouldn't suggest going for that one. Rumor has it they have to be 30-40 feet long before blooming)

View attachment 260230
Blooms from within Chameleon cages from left to right: Fittonia (Nerve Plant), Spider Plant, Maranta (Prayer Plant), Goldfish Plant.

My Prayer Plant is happy enough to send up new leaves so blooming is the next milestone!
View attachment 260231
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What you using for plant growth bulb wise ?
 
reddog said:
Bill - do you use perlite in your potting mixtures in cages without issue? There are several plants I plan to use in a new setup that would benefit from perlite added into the soil. For some reason, I was concerned about compaction from perlite, but not from the other soil ingredients. Cham will only be fed via tong, hand, or cup, so I'm guessing it's really a non-issue.
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I actually don't worry about impaction at all. I have used open soil in all (literally all) my cages for over 20 years and that just isn't an issue I run into.
I am not going to minimize the situation where keepers have run into a problem like that because I don't know the specific conditions. One of these days I am going to dive into the reports of impaction and see what is behind them. Until then I will advise that people take what measures they feel comfortable with and I will continue to have open soil. Live and let live.
 
DeremensisBlue said:
I actually don't worry about impaction at all. I have used open soil in all (literally all) my cages for over 20 years and that just isn't an issue I run into.
I am not going to minimize the situation where keepers have run into a problem like that because I don't know the specific conditions. One of these days I am going to dive into the reports of impaction and see what is behind them. Until then I will advise that people take what measures they feel comfortable with and I will continue to have open soil. Live and let live.
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Sorry, I was thinking impaction but typed compaction. I appreciate your take on that.
 
Long time herper but relatively new at Chams. I was looking forward to the challenge and the chameleon breeder pod cast gave me the final motivation. I am fortunate in that I know have the age, experience and patience necessary to really enjoy these animals. I went a bit overboard and built custom vivarium, with Chams being the final touch rather than primary focus. So far so good, love the experience...
 

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Overbearing_ChameleoGod said:
Long time herper but relatively new at Chams. I was looking forward to the challenge and the chameleon breeder pod cast gave me the final motivation. I am fortunate in that I know have the age, experience and patience necessary to really enjoy these animals. I went a bit overboard and built custom vivarium, with Chams being the final touch rather than primary focus. So far so good, love the experience...
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It looks like you have a fun project going there!
 
Many thanks to you, it has been a pleasure slipping into the world of Chameleon keeping. I installed two mist-king systems (dripper and mister), in that picture is one of six units that are all part of the same assembly, with three units on each side. I have planted an assortment of plants but mostly wandering jew, pothos, a Thai Jasmine variety, pitcher plants, and orchids with some random succulents and ferns. Weekly I fill a 50 gallon plastic tote with 20-40 gallons of filtered water with ~0 TDS primarily for the pitcher plants. I fertilize approximately monthly with homemade compost tea with a pump sprayer and a few osmocote grains where appropriate.

Lighting has been in place for 6 months, and consists of two 36" nano-T5 fixture with a 12% UVB bulb on each side (two 36" bulbs covering 6' of cages), two 36" 4xT5 fixture with a combination of LED and fluorescent plant lights (still trying to get the best combination but all seem to work okay) on each side, and one LED blast light per enclosure, and one ceramic heater per enclosure. I have three different types of blast bulbs but I am really liking the deep dome with a "Yu Meil LED Pool Light Bulb 45W 120V 6500k" that I got from Amazon. The lighting from this just looks nicer in my opinion than the other options I am using, but they all seem effective.

The pitcher plants are going nuts and seem to hold up pretty well so far. The cages truly are as fun to maintain as the chameleons if you are doing it right and enjoy plants. An unexpected and added bonus was getting into the world of insects. This is quite the hobby you guys have here and I am envious of all of you that have been doing this for many years. Thanks to all of you, some of us can jump right into the middle of the hobby with a wealth of great information at our fingertips. Thanks for all of your hard work!
 
The umbrella trees, and some of the air plants have arrived.
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Still waiting for the other fig seeds, several ferns, and the rest of the air plants.

They are not ready to be put in the enclosure just yet, I'm going to plant them all at once.
 
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Next question:
Once a plant like pothos or heart leaf philodendron is established can you do away with the mother pot? Will the vines survive off just water, and the rootings that have attached themselves to branches, etc?
 
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