[Airedale]

I'm just wondering if I should take them out of the pots they are in and plant them directly into the substrate (I'm going to use a soil, coco, etc. mixture) or if I should leave them in the pot and let the roots go out through the holes in the bottom of the pot.

[Jester]

From what I've read there are 2 ways of doing it.

1. You could do a mixture of sand/coco fiber/soil/ what ever and plant them in the pots
or
2. you could put a 1:1:1 ratio of sand/soil/and medium gravel as a drainage layer about 1.5 inches thick, (this is where the roots of the plants should be)
then about a 1:1 of sand/soil an inch or so thick.

#2 is what I use in my tank, I would assume that you could substitute coco fiber for 1 or both of those but I don't want to make that assumption and somehow mess up your animals.

My Leopard gecko Charlie really seems to like her viv.

GL

[Elizabeth Freer]

Jim ~

I like to keep plants in their plastic pots making certain the pot is big enough so that the plant has room to grow. I keep plastic saucers under the pots to catch the water. This way when I break the tank down for cleaning I don't need to disturb the roots and perhaps give the plants a shock!!!

The only thing I've heard is that day geckos may go after the perlite in some soils. Never had that happen. Perhaps it is just an old wives tale.

Originally Posted by Airedale

I'm just wondering if I should take them out of the pots they are in and plant them directly into the substrate (I'm going to use a soil, coco, etc. mixture) or if I should leave them in the pot and let the roots go out through the holes in the bottom of the pot.

[Stryker]

I'd imagine keeping them in the pots would make them easy to replace when they outgrow the tank.

[acpart]

I have done well with planted tanks --no pots. I've had tanks going from 1-4 years with no need to clean. If a plant gets too big I just prune it back.

Aliza