[DCBuckeyeguy77]

I just finished my first background construction using the great stuff method. I really like the way that it turned out and it was surprisingly easy. I was always afraid that it wouldn't look natural, but I broke down and did it and I'm glad I did.

Now that part is done, I need some serious help when it comes to planting. I currently have 3 3" pots and 2 1.5" pots mounted into the background. This is in all likeliness going to be a dart frog vivarium in probably 5 or 6 months, so it will have plenty of time to grow in although I may throw in something small like a carolina anole or maybe a phelsuma laticauda (If that is a safe thing to do with parasites,etc). I'll try to attach some pictures of the setup. I already have a medium sized brom, a type of crypt, and small palm-type plant that i've used before in terrariums - all purchased from HD. I don't know how well these will do with the darts, but they were like $2 each so it's no big deal if they shouldn't be used.

Sorry for the poor quality, but the first picture is from the front , second is the left side with the pots marked, and the third is a corner shot. The light brown in the pots are the biodegradable seed starters, which will probably be removed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MA70Snowman]

I get alot of my plants from HD also, and I think I know what little palm your talkinga bout as I use it also. Just be careful w/ the HD plants as they bring in alot of unwanted guests, i've got centipeds up the wazoo. I try and remove ALL the soil from them and replant into steralized soil. (I moisten the soil, let it sit and Nuke it in the microwave.. repeate this daily for a week, might be excessive but since I've taken to that method i haven't had a problem. w/ pests to include snails)

Also I noticed your pots in the background are just stuck in.. something I learned is you need them to drain. I learned this trick from another member, bu t when putting a pot in, place a 1/4" tub in the bottom and run it behind the background into your False bottom. I made the same mistake and Now i have some pretty decorative "pots" in my tank as they were causing alot of root rot.

 

[DCBuckeyeguy77]

I found the tags for the 2 plants... "Neanthe Bella" and Croton "Superstar". As for the unwanted insects, I removed each plant from the pot and crumbled off as much of the perlite/dirt as I could and then rinsed them off until they were bare roots. Then I sprayed the leaves thoroughly to remove any pesticides or remaining hitch hikers. Could anyone recommend a kind of vine-like "curtain" plant that can grow down from the pot in the top left corner?

As far as drainage goes, I kind of thought about that happening. I was thinking I could drill some very small 1/16" holes through the great stuff and into the pots for drainage, but I was afraid that the yellow would show up. I guess if i drill vertically though it would be nearly unnoticeable.