# Live plants/flowers vs silk



## steve4king (Dec 21, 2011)

I was thinking it might be nice to just make an indoor garden.. inside an aquarium for my orchid manti.

I would probably just use dirt topped with sand as my substrate.

I live in a dry climate(Vegas) and live flowers are actually cheaper anyway.

Will this be a cleaning/mold problem?(vinegar will kill some plants) Is there any harm in using lots of live plants?

Thanks,

-Stephen


----------



## ismart (Dec 21, 2011)

Personally i prefer live plants myself. Just make sure they have not been treated with pesticides?


----------



## Psychobunny (Dec 21, 2011)

Also, be aware that live potted plants are where fungus gnats come from.

Though they will not harm your mantis, they are a pain to get rid of.

Real plants are always better, but I am lazy and use fake ones


----------



## Ruaumoko (Dec 21, 2011)

Fake ones all the way for me, heck of a lot easier to clean and re-arrange as your mantis grows  

Always wanted real ones though!


----------



## Bryce08 (Dec 21, 2011)

i use fake plants, but real twigs, sticks etc. for inside the cages.


----------



## lunarstorm (Dec 21, 2011)

I use fake plants and real twigs as well. I have lots of real plants in my house but thus far I haven't had very much luck in combining mantid habitats and real plants.


----------



## agent A (Dec 21, 2011)

whenever i used live plants i forgot to care for the plant and it died


----------



## gripen (Dec 21, 2011)

im lazy so live twigs and fake plants work for me


----------



## meaganelise9 (Dec 21, 2011)

I think terrariums with live plants are awesome. They can look really nice and natural and always have fresh oxygen inside. I myself am not botanically inclined.. ^_^ no green thumb here.


----------



## itzjustjeff (Dec 21, 2011)

meaganelise9 said:


> I think terrariums with live plants are awesome. They can look really nice and natural and always have fresh oxygen inside. I myself am not botanically inclined.. ^_^ no green thumb here.


Live plants all the way. I have some experience with immersed setups from planted tanks...(I'm sure people who keep herps too) so I'd be happy to help with what questions you have! I have a setup right now that I am experimenting on so I will let you know how live plants turn out to be. I have a mixture of slow growing and fast growing plants that are pretty easy to care for. Maintenance/cleaning would be to simply trim your plants


----------



## Termite48 (Dec 22, 2011)

I have both fake plants at times, and live plants, especially vines that grow in humid conditions and like the temps that are present for the mantids benefit. I raise some of my own vines and the one that seems to do the best for me is a leatherly leafed perenial and flowering vine called Hoya carnosa. This is in my Chameleon habitat. When I drip water into the vine's pot it splashes around to the benefit of moistening the substrate which is a mat of coco fiber. This benefits the insects that are living mostly under the mat, which are Dubia roaches and crickets, with a few superworms as well. These come up to eat the fruit I leave and the chameleon takes her turn at snagging one here and one there. All seems to be in balance. The crickets have had babies and so have the Dubias. The vine is growing and there is oxygen being made by it. It is not a closed system obviously but pretty well balanced. I still have to clean up the poop. For mantids a similar habitat can be made. Some people like the Pothos vine, others use Orchids, and I like also the Anthurium from SA. It is brightly colored when it is in season and it can take the humidity (prefers 90-100 %). A four inch potted Anthurium is about $5 at Home Depot. Just be sure with fake and live plants to wash off the residues and leave in the sun (indirect preferably except for fake plants) to oxidize for a day or so. Do not leave outside if you live in a cold climate, and not overnight at all. This will help get any systemic pesticides out of the system and as you replenish it's moisture needs with pure water, the plant will be fit for use with your feeders and mantids. This is from my little experience with Ornamental Horticulture, and my few classes in that subject at Cal Poly SLO in the seventies. Some things never change.


----------



## Rick (Dec 24, 2011)

I used to just go buy those small potted tropical plants and just left them in their pots and stuck them in the mantid enclosures. That way they were easily removed if needed.


----------



## yen_saw (Dec 24, 2011)

steve4king said:


> I was thinking it might be nice to just make an indoor garden.. inside an aquarium for my orchid manti.
> 
> I would probably just use dirt topped with sand as my substrate.
> 
> ...


With dirt as substrate, mold will likely present especially from left over food and mantis dropping. Springtails work wonder to control mold.


----------



## jcal (Dec 24, 2011)

I just robbed lowes. I found broms that I thought was marked for $4. I was going to just buy one. they were in a hurry to close for Christmas. The cashier couldn't find the barcode called back to the garden center. The guy told her to just sell it for 1.50. So I ended up running back there to get the rest of them. I got all 3 for 5 bucks!

So now I'm going with live plants.


----------



## gripen (Dec 24, 2011)

make sure you let them sit in your house for at least 3 months so that any chemicals will wear off/diffuse.


----------



## jcal (Dec 24, 2011)

gripen said:


> make sure you let them sit in your house for at least 3 months so that any chemicals will wear off/diffuse.


Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## frogparty (Dec 25, 2011)

I have lots of bromeliads and epiphytic ferns I like to use in frog tanks. I usually have extra divisions if anyone is interested


----------



## itzjustjeff (Dec 25, 2011)

What types of epiphytic ferns?


----------



## frogparty (Dec 25, 2011)

Microsorum linguiforme Microgramma vaccinifolia and Microgramma repens and Microgramma heterophylla


----------



## sinensispsyched (Dec 26, 2011)

I use silk plants/ vines. That way, you can bend the vines/plants into whatever shape you want, without having to crowd it to get it to a certain shape. It also requires no maintenance, which is good, since I'm terrible at growing any kinds of plants. I'd be good at watering the plant for four days, but then my daily activities would swell over and I'd forget to water it.


----------



## gripen (Dec 26, 2011)

sinensispsyched said:


> I use silk plants/ vines. That way, you can bend the vines/plants into whatever shape you want, without having to crowd it to get it to a certain shape. It also requires no maintenance, which is good, since I'm terrible at growing any kinds of plants. I'd be good at watering the plant for four days, but then my daily activities would swell over and I'd forget to water it.


+1!!!! if you have the time though....


----------

