having a plant grow out of the tank?

[Dendrobait]

May be an odd question...but has anyone allowed a plant to grow out of the tank, through, say, a hole in the top? I think that would be pretty cool...say with Monstera deliciosa. The only potential problem I see is that the plant could possibly absorb any chemicals from outside(is this a real risk), and that perhaps growing that way would eventually kill some plants unless the hole is widened periodically?

[dom]

if there is a hole ten other bugs or your ff could posibly get out!

[Dendrobait]

The idea is to have the stem of the plant fitting snuggly in that hole.

[dom]

tru but you have to take in concideration that its going to grow to and the hole would need to expand still.. its a good idea but may lead to some trouble

[Dendrobait]

Thus the question of whether it would work or has been tried.

I'll probably end up putting a plant or two next to my tank...but I am in the mood for an experiment as long as it doesn't cost life or limb of my frogs or my sanity.

[Brock]

A Ficus benjamina tree in a chameleon cage of mine has grown out of the screen, and expanded to be about 7 inches high and 7 or 8 inches across. It keeps growing too.

I think it will work, and is actually a great idea. It'd add some crazy contrast and texture and give a great visual punch to an enclosure.

The stem will mold itself to the shape of the hole, and I doubt there'd be any reason to change the size of the hole once it's been poked through. You could even strip the stem bare of its leaves within the tank, and then leave what's outside of the tank to grow freely.


Cool, thanks for the great idea!!

[Dendrobait]

Brock. That is what I was thinking, thanksfor the story! Any suckers that sprout up in the tank could be allowed to grow for a bit and then hacked back without worries as the plant would happily taking off up your wall or around the rim of the tank. My only worry is whether the plant would either A girdle itself as it tries to widen the stem in finite hole or B continue to expand and eventually cause some kind of damage(like creeping fig and Mayan ruins).

[ihnmaims]

But as the plant grows taller you would have to raise the lights to accomadate the new growth. That could be detrimental to plants in the viv.

[Dendrobait]

Not necessarily. If they would do well as houseplants(Monstera, for example, is a common houseplant), once trapped outside the tank I can see the plant doing one of several things. Following a support given to it, climbing towards the nearest window...or if your light has legs to elevate it it might need to be guided away from the light so it doesn't grow under it and burn itself up.

What would be awesome would be one of those small palms...but haha we are going way to far and I will leave it to someone else to try that one Pity you can't just set up a 10 foot tall tank!

[Corpus Callosum]

I visited another frogger a few weeks ago who had a large mat of creeping fig that grew right through the holes in the screen top area and established itself outside of the viv. Looked quite nice, even though unintended.