Plants for a terrarium?

[Gush]

Hey,

I am planning to build a large terrarium for some thick tailed gecko's and would like some cacti/suculents for there new home. the space will be 400mm X 1200mm, CF lighting, low humidity and kept around 26deg. They will be used as ornaments, but if possible I wouldnt mind having an "active" one in there.

Any suggestions?

[sydneyguy]

HI there Gush. Im wouldnt really have a clue on terrariums but I was watching this show this show the other day and this girl was building a terrarium and she mentioned that cacti/succulents arent appropriate for a terrariums as they are desert plants that are used to a dry environment. As you know terrariums produce extreme humid conditions as that what they are designed to do so maybe choose a more humidity loving plant..?!

 

I love how you have gecko's as well as I was thinking of keeping a lizard of some sort in the future... :yingyang . Hope things go well with the terrarium !

[boxerbill]

Hey

I am not sure if this is a good idea but if i was to build one i would be puting some

peyote cacti in there some little buttons would look quiet cool.

 

Have a look on a few website in australia that do succulents and look at the specification of height achieved and whats temp they like and etc.

 

Later

[Gush]

As you know terrariums produce extreme humid conditions as that what they are designed to do so maybe choose a more humidity loving plant..?!

Yeh, I think "terrarium" just means controlled enviroment, in this case low humidity, and around 26 deg with a natural (as possible) spectrum.

 

Hey

I am not sure if this is a good idea but if i was to build one i would be puting some

peyote cacti in there some little buttons would look quiet cool.

Thats what I was thinking .......a tribute to Jim Morrison

The only thing is the substrate will have to be changed, so the buttons will have to be buried in pots. Im not sure if peyotes would like this?

[Gush]

forgot to mention the substrate will be about 5" deep, so the pot can be around 5" deep.......Can anyone tell me the growth habits of peyote, and if they would be happy in a 5" pot? :scratchin

[Tom]

What about some "trees" in there too, a couple of Lowryders might do the job.

 

[Gush]

What about some "trees" in there too, a couple of Lowryders might do the job. 

haha could'nt hurt, The gecko's live naturally in NSW bush, so I'd say they have come into contact with the herb before......The only prob would be isolating the roots from the substrate :scratchin

[Pam]

www.win.net/peyote

Peyote is a hardy, widely-distributed plant; its natural growing range extends from the Rio Grande and western regions of Texas southward into Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert and Tamaulipan Thorn Forest. Peyote prefers a warm temperate desert, fertile but sandy soil, and moderate temperatures, but can survive the harshest conditions. Afficionados cultivate it indoors and outdoors in almost every part of the world, including Europe and Canada. It can thrive in greenhouses, grow rooms, shade, or full sun.

 

The plant's resilient tenacity makes it a potent medicine. Researchers have attributed antibiotic and other medicinal qualities to the plant; religious users appreciate the natural mescaline, a powerful psychotropic alkaloid, which is the plant's main neuroactive ingredient.

 

In talking to other peyotists, I learned that peyote's effects often begin with disorientation, nausea or vomiting, but later become energizing, hallucinogenic, transcendental. Mercado explained my unsettling peyote experience by noting that "this cactus has an incredible life force which goes deep inside you on a cellular level and clears you out."

 

"Peyote is such a strong plant," he said. "You can cut a button of it from a larger plant or from its root in the ground, leave that button on a shelf without sunlight, soil or water for a year, and then plant or graft it and it'll plump right up and start growing again."

 

After all that...I still can't find anyone to tell me how long it takes for seeds to germinate.... But I hope this helps!