# Cheap sources of plants



## andyseatrout (Jan 5, 2014)

As well as sorting out live food cultures, I would like to start building up a stock of suitable plants.

Are there any plants that can be picked up cheaply at places like B&Q, home base, the range, etc. If so, I would be very grateful for species names.

Thanks in advance.


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## Patto96 (Apr 18, 2013)

A local nursery usually has better quality plants, and more variety. A lot of people use Dart Frog Vivarium Plant Pricelist. Its relatively low cost, and caters specifically to amphibians. Nearly all of the plants are universally suitable for tropical vivs, but be cautious about some of the carnivorous plants, ferns can be problematic, because if they get dry, they die, this shouldn't be a problem though.

In my crested gecko viv I have a spider plant (grows like mad, its nearly impossible to kill them ), and a few broad-leaved plants, don't know what exactly what it is, but its growing well. And some wandering Jew here and there.
A lot of plants used in tropical set-ups are quite expensive, and you wont find them at B&Q. A lot of the ones at B&Q only need watering once a week, so they will suffer in a high humidity environment like a vivarium which gets sprayed daily.

It should be noted that if you go cheap, a lot of the time you lose quality/suitability. 

You should always wash a plant, and remove the soil. Plant it and leave it for a wekk or two, this removes any pesticides, synthetic fertilisers and other chemicals used on the plants. This will stop them from entering the system and damaging your frogs, a lot of pesticides have a long life.


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

Terra world on eBay are a good source of vivarium plants.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

B&Q and homebase are great sources for stock plants of Pothos (Epipremnum aureum), Sweetheart vine (Philodendron scandens) and wandering jew (Tradescantia)- all tough, useful creepers/climbers that are really easy to grow from cuttings- one decent sized plant of each can give you an ongoing supply to use in various vivs. So long as you grow the cuttings on in clean, fertiliser and pesticide- free compost, they will be safe to use. :2thumb:


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## Meefloaf (Mar 24, 2013)

B&Q down here do loads of broms. having worked in a shop that sells everything, and in the garden department, i'd imagine that other shops in the uk have the same suppliers and get loads of viv safe plants (by which i mean safe to go in but WILL NEED WASHING AND REPOTTING). tbf there are some great online retailers to use, i've had recent great experience of dealing with Roland at Dartfrog Vivariums and they have some nice plants available


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## andyseatrout (Jan 5, 2014)

Great, thanks for the replies!

I will certainly be investing in some of the rarer plants from dedicated suppliers, but I am really after some suitable stock material that I can start to have a play with and now I can.

If there are any other common plants that anyone can add to this list, that would be great.


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## treefella (Dec 21, 2013)

Picked up some cracking plants this morning from Wilkinson's pilea , pepperomia , selaginela for £1.50 each and rhipsalis for £3.00 and few others that I've forgot the Latin for.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

treefella said:


> Picked up some cracking plants this morning from Wilkinson's pilea , pepperomia , selaginela for £1.50 each and rhipsalis for £3.00 and few others that I've forgot the Latin for.


Used to be, most florists would have 'mixed' trays- where you could find all sorts of interesting stuff chucked in. Wilkos seems to be the only place where you can do that, now.


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## andyseatrout (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks also for the Wilkinson's tip, will have a look there too!


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## plasma234 (Feb 27, 2013)

Thee only Wilkinson's I know about in Southampton is on the mutant mile aka Jeremy kyle aisle (Shirley high street) :lol2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

It's at times like this that I miss Woolworths. They used to sell all kinds of obscure and exotic plants. :sad:


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

We could probably sort a couple or 3 ficus Andy,wouldn't want to send though.really your best source of plants are dart breeders,that keep a stock of plants for them selves,'erm but breed too much:whistling2:But leave the cuttings from inhabited vivs as a rule of thumb.

A keeper will be growing organic,as he won't be up for systemic pesticides,fertilizers bla bla. Naturally we want to help our mates,cultivating friendships within the hobby means we swap plants that work,in our vivs.

If you buy something from say a garden center,work that up so you use cuttings bla bla in viv,hence avoiding possible nasties,well that's the route we took,seems to work

stu


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## treefella (Dec 21, 2013)

Yeah me too.
I love popping into wilkos and home base every other week just on the off chance they have had another delivery of the trays of small mixed house plants they never have name tags but if you know what you're looking for you can save a lot of money.
Most plants I find are £0.99 or £1.50 and elsewhere including postage can cost a tenner for a rooted cutting.
don't get me wrong I'm not a total stingy git I do pay good money for good tilandsia and dwarf broms.


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## andyseatrout (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks again for the good advice.

Looking forward to arranging that visit Stu!


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## grizzlymonkyboy (Jan 15, 2011)

soundstounite said:


> We could probably sort a couple or 3 ficus Andy,wouldn't want to send though.really your best source of plants are dart breeders,that keep a stock of plants for them selves,'erm but breed too much:whistling2:But leave the cuttings from inhabited vivs as a rule of thumb.
> 
> A keeper will be growing organic,as he won't be up for systemic pesticides,fertilizers bla bla. Naturally we want to help our mates,cultivating friendships within the hobby means we swap plants that work,in our vivs.
> 
> ...


 stu has some amazing plants, picked some up myself today and what you get for your money is no cutting that's for sure :mf_dribble:


just to echo what stu says if you buy a plant don't put it straight into the viv, take cuttings and put THESE in the viv that way you have the main the plant that will the be able to seed many vivs with no cross contamination 
also if the plant dies because of the viv conditions you still the main plant to try get it to take again


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