flowers

[thedude]

what are some tropical flowers that are easy to take care of and do well in vivs?

[skronkykong]

mini-african violets, just don't let them stay wet

[thedude]

thanks but i dont like how unatural that is. if it was for a mantella tank than that would work great though

[KeroKero]

Aw, you just said tropical, you didn't say you wanted them from the same part of the world There area a LOT of flowering plants you can put in there... some are harder than others depending on the tank you're putting them in. Can we get more details on your tank set up that you're looking to add some color too (to get ideas of size... terrestrial/epiphytic... temps... lighting).

There are some central/south american african violet relatives (gesneriads) that would work... mini and micro mini Sinningia (care and culture) would do well (don't like water sitting on the leaves, like moist well draining but not soggy substrate, etc), episcia, a couple others... if you're interested in orchids there has recently been a good thread on them... Columnea/Aeschynanthus are mostly viners but also have some very nice little blooms. I like many of the small begonias, but they aren't really crazy blooms (grown more for foliage), more like a tiny splash of color.

A cool idea... there is a MASSIVE thread here - 'Tis the Season, what's in bloom (it's been going a LONG time). It includes a lot of tropical plants from all over the world (not all are really good for terrariums but many of us collect too) that would give you great ideas. Make a list of what you like, and then come back to this thread and ask about those specific plants that you like and what their needs are in terrariums. Just beware - there are so many pics you'll need a high speed internet connection :shock:

[thedude]

thanks for the help! its a 40 gallon tank with a huge set of lights and i can always get more if i need to. not in a big hurry either, just finished with most of the background and was hoping to get epiphitic species mostly(other than tillandsias) but terrestrial is good too. is there a vining plant that also has alot of flowers?

from what ive seen and heard orchids are hard to take care of, is that true? i did look through that topic about a month ago, it was really nice and had alot of cool plants but they were mostly orchids. plus my computer sucks

thanks for the help

[KeroKero]

Yeah, definately a lot of orchids :shock: If you can, maybe a pic of the tank? and dimensions of it. I don't think you'd want to stuff it full of all blooming plants, but knowing how the tanks looks and what not would help us say try this here, that there. Did you want to keep it to central/south american plants?

[thedude]

i cant get a picture right now but the dimensions are 36X17X18(LxHxW). i guess its about 45 gallons then.

im not gonna put that many flowering plants in there, maybe 2 or 3 depending on color. i actually dont like them as much but i want to make this tank a little different.

so i looked on that post(a few pages) and these are the ones i really liked:
hoya tsangii "bilobatta"
macodes petola
restripia cymbula
pleuothalis tribulaides
haraella odorata

any ideas?