Hey everyone! Today, I’m diving into one of the most requested topics: how I prep my plants for terrariums and vivariums. In this post, I’ll be sharing the methods and techniques that have proven successful for me over time. So, if you’re looking to set up your own green haven, stick around for some helpful insights.
As with everything take it with a grain of salt, find what works for you, and do your own research. I know many of you also want to know where I get my plants. Without getting into too much detail, simply put I’m opportunistic about it. I get plants wherever and whenever I find them. At home improvement stores, local nurseries, pet expos, and online of course. I’ll leave some links in the video description for websites that I frequent. I just wanted to get that out of the way so I don’t have to keep going over it in the comments. At this point I’m going to assume that you already have or are about to get plants.
You may be wondering, is there something special I need to do before I can use these? Yes there is, especially if you intend to use your plants with animals. Regardless of where they came from or how reputable the source is, I believe it’s essential to at least do the minimum to mitigate risk. What am I going on about? Well, there’s one main issue to consider and that is contamination of your setup from the addition of new plants. The prime factor is being the introduction of harmful pesticides or fertilizers and or the introduction of troublesome pests or pathogens.
Taking the necessary precautions against these is especially important when it comes to setups for animals but in my opinion it shouldn’t be overlooked with terrariums either. To elaborate, pesticides and fertilizers used on commercial plants are especially harmful to sensitive animals. I guarantee that if you’re buying plants from somewhere like Home Depot or Lowe’s, they will be riddled with these and likely pests. However, if properly taking care of beforehand, you can get a lot of good plants from either one. As for pests, I’ll give an example. Let’s say you have a lot of setups, introduced some new plants without mitigating risk, and consequently brought in pests.
Those pests likely won’t stay confined and will spread from setup to setup. The same can be said when simply introducing house plants into your space. Take fungus gnats for example. I can’t tell you how many times they’ve shown up on a small scale from house plants I didn’t clean or from terrarium plants I let sit around for a few days before cleaning. Gnats and other pests primarily come in with the substrate and are often not visible initially because they are still in eggs or hiding down on the substrate.
This leads to the first line of defense. Remove the existing substrate. This is the bare minimum and should be done with every plant no matter what. I don’t care if you’re simply bringing in a house plant. Strip that plant down to bare roots and get it in a new substrate of your choice. Just take your time and be mindful of the plant’s roots so that you don’t cause too much stress. If you don’t do this, I can guarantee you will introduce unwanted hikers and impurities. I’d say some of the most common pests are but not limited to fungus gnats, mites, and slugs. All of them are really annoying and could cause some problems long term.
A quick, somewhat related hack is that if you add a top dressing to house plants, like gravel, fungus gnats can’t get down into the substrate and reproduce. What about the pesticides and fertilizers I mentioned a moment ago or lingering pests? Some of them will of course be removed with the old substrate, but that leads to the second line of defense. Thoroughly clean off the plants with water after removing the old substrate. To do so, take your time and gently rinse the plants under some lukewarm water, soak them for a good 15 to 20 minutes, or a combination of the two. If possible, gently rub the leaves and roots between your fingers to aid in the removal of impurities.
For delicate plants that would be ruined from a rinse, simply do a series of soaks and lukewarm water. After you’ve taken these steps to wash the plants, I recommend lightly shaking them to remove excess water so that it doesn’t melt the leaves. In my opinion, removing the substrate and cleaning with water are a must for all terrarium and vivarium plants regardless of animals are a part of it or not. The reason being that this combination will help defend against everything mentioned earlier and this is usually more than sufficient for terrariums. That said, the combination of these two will only mitigate some of the risk.
They likely won’t remove all of the pests and won’t remove anything on a microscopic level that could potentially cause issues with their setups or animals. This leads to the third level of defense. Dip the plants in a chemical bath after the old substrate has been removed. For this, I’ll only discuss a diluted bleach mixture, but there are other options as well such as potassium permogenate. If you do some research on this, you’ll see that there’s various ways to go about it, but here’s what I do. I first soak the plants in lukewarm water for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you would have cleaned the plants with water, you would have already done this step. This will ensure the plants are fully hydrated and will lessen the likelihood they absorb bleach. Then the plants can be soaked in a 5% bleach, 95% water mixture for 5 minutes or so. Some people like to go much longer than that, but 5 minutes is my personal preference. After that, the plants need to be rinsed and soaked in lukewarm water for 10 minutes or so.
This dip should really do a good job at sanitizing the plants. However, no method is guaranteed to remove everything, so don’t be surprised if something slips under the radar. A lot of the time, eggs can make it through all of those processes, so in my opinion the best thing you can do is the fourth level of defense. Quarantine. Like I said earlier, I think the removal of old substrate and a good water cleaner is central However, no method is guaranteed to remove everything, so don’t be surprised if something slips under the radar. A lot of the time, eggs can make it through all of those processes, so in my opinion the best thing you can do is the fourth level of defense. Quarantine, Like I said earlier, I think the removal of old substrate and a good water cleaner is central regardless of how you intend to use the plant. From there, a chemical bath is just an added level of protection and in some cases is overkill.
However, those steps are no good if the plant went into your setup and wasn’t actually clean. That’s why quarantine is so important. Doing so will allow you to monitor the plant after it has been cleaned. I’d say anywhere from 2-4 weeks is an adequate window for quarantine, but longer is always better. If you notice something during this timeframe, you can give the plant another round of sanitation, followed by another round of quarantine, repeating the process until everything seems to check out. When the time comes, you’ll then be able to use your plants with a higher level of confidence. How would you actually go about quarantining though? First, follow some amount of the previous steps to clean the plants. You really can’t be too thorough with it, so be sure to take your time. From there, you’ll want to put your plants in a clean pot with some new substrate of your choice. Lastly, you’ll need a designated container to keep everything in. In the past, I’ve used aquariums, but I found that Tupperware Containers are a better solution. In most cases, they retain water well, there are plenty of sizes to choose from, and they’re easy to clean.
In summary, by following these steps diligently and being proactive in your approach to plant preparation, you can create a safe and thriving environment for your terrarium or vivarium inhabitants. So, whether you’re a seasoned hobbyist or just starting out, remember to prioritize the health and well-being of your botanical companions. Happy planting!