what should i stock it with

[petping]

i have a 10gallon tank with light housing a Pingcula in peat and peralite. what other plants should i purches? im looking to populate the tank.

all advece welcomed

sorry for my spelling

Attachments:

[Hermopolis]

Well, it will depend somewhat on what kind of lighting you are using. From the kind of hood you have, I'm guessing that you are using a pair of incandescent bulbs. Assuming that you replace those bulbs with coil type flourescents, your options do open up to some extent. CPs, in general, love light. The more light you throw at them; the happier they are.

Because this is only a 10g tank with a typical aquarium hood, you are restricted to short, low-light plants. Some members of the sundew family would do well in these conditions, e.g., d. adelae. And as you have discovered, pings will do okay under these conditions as well. You might also want to try terrestrial utrics for ground cover, but don't expect them to flower if you don't have high light.

I do however have two additional suggestions. The first suggestion is to plant your CPs in their own individual pots, then tuck them into that nice peat/perlite bed you've made. Many CPs can take over an terrarium if not contained and edge out other less competitive species. I would treat your peat/perlite bed as "no man's land"; plant your ground cover there, but consider anything there to become potential mulch if your should have to change the bedding for any reason (e.g. degradation of media, pests, mold, etc). Should you have to do any maintenance it is a lot easier to remove pots instead of digging up plants.

The second suggestion is to quarantine your plants before planting them into a terrarium, especially if the plants share a common bed. We don't talk about quarantining too much in the CP world, but it is worth mentioning. A month or two of observing your plants can prevent a ton of trouble. Even nurseries with phytosanitary certificates are not guaranteed to be free of pests. I received a u. dichotoma from California Carnivores just recently that was swarming with mealybugs. If I had not quarantined, it would have done untold damage to my entire collection.

Anyways, good luck on the terrarium. And please show us lots of pictures of your terrarium as it matures. We love pictures!

-Hermes.

[taz6122]

You might also try some pygmy sundews like occidentalis and pygmaea. They are tiny and produce lots of gemmae which germinate quickly and grow pretty fast. You will need another light for them to get any color though.
I second Hermes with keeping your plants in pots. It really makes things easier.

[petping]

the pot idea realy makes since, thow i mite have to wait for spring to do it, no place in town sells pots this time of year. i wish i had known to pot them befor i planted them.

[taz6122]

Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot and Kmart sells pots year round here. Avoid unglazed clay/terracotta pots.

[Hermopolis]

I use plastic pop bottle bottoms. I cut them to whatever size I want and drill holes in the bottom. They work perfectly and are easy to conceal.

-Hermes.

[justjack]

Dec 5, 2009 2:32:15 GMT taz6122 said:

Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot and Kmart sells pots year round here. Avoid unglazed clay/terracotta pots.

If he's sticking the pots in the substrate terra cotta's porous nature wouldn't hurt at all. They're just heavy and clumsy.

[taz6122]

Dec 5, 2009 20:40:00 GMT justjack said:

Dec 5, 2009 2:32:15 GMT taz6122 said:

Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot and Kmart sells pots year round here. Avoid unglazed clay/terracotta pots.

If he's sticking the pots in the substrate terra cotta's porous nature wouldn't hurt at all. They're just heavy and clumsy.

I was thinking more along the lines of mineral and salt buildup but heavy and clumsy could also pose a serious problem with a glass enclosure if not careful.

[Hermopolis]

I concur with taz; stay away from the terracotta. Plastic pots (especially small ones) can be difficult to find this time of year. I tried finding them at Lowes and Home Depot back in October, and they told me they don't like to re-stock them until the spring. Who wants to invest in inventory that can't be moved for half a year?

Of course, in Illinois growing season begins in May.

-Hermes.

[justjack]

C'mon man! You're writing on the internet talking about not getting a specific common item. ;D
plasticflowerpots.net/
Or just google plastic plant pot or any version of what I just wrote and go through the thousands of results that will come to your door.

I have a huge 'red dragon' about to flower (crosses fingers and hopes) that's been in a TC pot for two years. TC pots are not a threat when properly maintained and breath exceptionally.

I will add that clean water is important.

[tonge50]

Well, I would certainly include some of my favorite CP's, venus fly traps. Can't go wrong with a few VFT's! ;D

[justjack]

VFT's by definition are poor candidates for a terrarium. They do so much better outside.

[taz6122]

Dec 13, 2009 22:50:33 GMT justjack said:

VFT's by definition are poor candidates for a terrarium. They do so much better outside.

I definitely agree for a beginner but with some experience and good lights it can and has been done but once again it's own pot is very important(dormancy). You wouldn't want to disturb roots of the VFT or your other plants when trying to observe dormancy.

[Hermopolis]

Dec 15, 2009 9:51:06 GMT taz6122 said:

Dec 13, 2009 22:50:33 GMT justjack said:

VFT's by definition are poor candidates for a terrarium. They do so much better outside.

I definitely agree for a beginner but with some experience and good lights it can and has been done but once again it's own pot is very important(dormancy). You wouldn't want to disturb roots of the VFT or your other plants when trying to observe dormancy.

I agree with Taz. But, I do think that the greatest challenge with keeping VFTs in a terrarium is lighting. They need light and lots of it. If you can provide that and respect dormancy, there should be no problem keeping VFTs. Yet, I would also argue that very few terrarium setups provide more than subsistence-level lighting. I have seen a lot of terrarium-grown VFTs with lanky but vigorous growth, which is a sign of light deficiency. However, I've seen few terrarium-grown VFTs with good coloration. Of course, it is possible for a plant to survive years under subsistence lighting until the plant inexplicably collapses from growth exhaustion.

-Hermes.

[Not a Number]

Unless you are growing tropicals or live in a very dry climate why bother with a terrarium when a simple plant or grow shelf will do?

Lighting is not a challenge given the space and power outlets.

All you need is at least two four foot shop light fluorescent fixtures. (4 four foot T12 or T8 tubes). T5 tubes might be better depending on the heat situation.

Quite a few people grow their Dionaea indoors under such lighting including Barry Rice and Ivan Snyder. How you handle dormancy depends largely on your climate. Barry moves his outdoors during the fall and winter. Ivan keeps his in an unheated room.

Here is Barry Rice's FAQ on lighting setups. Barry posted photos if his flytraps:
www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3400.html

Here are examples of Ivan Snyder's indoor grown Dionaea muscipula and Sarracenia purpurea ssp venosa var burkei




Barry uses six tubes, Ivan only four.