# Store bought plant safe?



## kjr153 (Mar 22, 2013)

Can I give my Sulcata houseplants that I bought from the store? I know the plant itself is safe but my concern is fertilizer. Do you think the small amount of fertilizer that is in the soil is enough to do a tort harm? I wanted to plant them in the tank


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Mar 22, 2013)

Maybe rinse all the soil off really well and plant with as little of the soil as possible. They do generally have fertilizer pellets or just in the process of getting them ready to get to market and stay nice until sold, the growers fertilize. Best to be cautious in my opinion, finding out with harm to your tortoise would really suck. How about getting cat grass seeds, or lettuce plants, or arugula ... found mine at Home Depot, organic ... they usually will not be chemically fertilized because they are edibles. Some edibles are as lovely as the houseplants, perhaps less expensive and your tortoise can graze, which they love to do. Or, for just looks, the house plants could be in pots, more decorative than edible.


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## tortallyinsane11 (Mar 22, 2013)

This has been a struggle for me as well. As suggested, I even got on line and looked for "organic house plants". When they came, they were just as full of the white fertilizer balls as the non-organic "Home Depot" plants I bought before. So, I rinse all of the dirt off of them and replant them in Organic soil and wait! However, Tom gave me a couple of great links to order seed. One was tortoisesupply.com I believe. Between them and Carolina pet supply, I got some great seeds to plant! True it will take longer for the habitats to look great, but I figure it it is better safe than sorry when it comes to what my guys are eating! I can still use the house plants but I hear it is better to wait a couple of months so the fertilizers leach out.


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Mar 22, 2013)

Yes, best to be cautious 'cause the little ones especially can be so fragile. No one needs a surprise icky from chemicals. There was a thread that I read a few months back of someone losing their tortoises, I think i was 4, because something they fed them had come in contact with cleaning chemicals on the delivery truck. This was found out by the keeper researching where the food she fed her tortoises had been. I can't even imagine the horror of that experience. 

I got "cat grass" seed - it's usually either oats or wheat - at Target in the seed rack in the garden section (they also had a multi lettuce mix with heirloom lettuce varieties and a mesclun mix) and sprinkled in a corner and covered with the coco coir substrate. Almost like that I had a perfect little lawn that my baby leopard seems to enjoy grazing through like the big kids in the desert. Also, at my Target here in SoCal, they had coco fiber blocks for 2.47, Burpee brand. Kinda a good deal. Those heirloom lettuces and many of the desired greens, and yes, many of the weeds, en mass, can make lovely habitats. Lots of color, texture, form ... and yummy food for our pets to boot.


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## un-loco (Mar 26, 2013)

From my understanding the white balls are not fertilizer, but perlite, used to help absorb water and keep the soil moist.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Mar 26, 2013)

un-loco said:


> From my understanding the white balls are not fertilizer, but perlite, used to help absorb water and keep the soil moist.



And yet very attractive to tortoises. For some reason unbeknownst to me, they feel they gotta eatum. This leads to impaction and bad things from there. Best to be avoided.


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## ascott (Mar 26, 2013)

Fertilizer is designed to travel from the soil into the plant system (systemic) so no amount of rinsing will remove it....a full growth of the tainted plant is needed to assure the new growth is good....this can take a full year .....I know not what you may want to hear but just thought I would share....


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## Jd3 (Mar 27, 2013)

tortallyinsane11 said:


> This has been a struggle for me as well. As suggested, I even got on line and looked for "organic house plants". When they came, they were just as full of the white fertilizer balls as the non-organic "Home Depot" plants I bought before. So, I rinse all of the dirt off of them and replant them in Organic soil and wait! However, Tom gave me a couple of great links to order seed. One was tortoisesupply.com I believe. Between them and Carolina pet supply, I got some great seeds to plant! True it will take longer for the habitats to look great, but I figure it it is better safe than sorry when it comes to what my guys are eating! I can still use the house plants but I hear it is better to wait a couple of months so the fertilizers leach out.



Is the white stuff fertilizer or perlite? Perlite isn't a fertilizer. It is a volcanic rock used to hold moisture in soil and prevent compacting. People are cautious about it but I doubt it would actually harm anything at all.




ascott said:


> Fertilizer is designed to travel from the soil into the plant system (systemic) so no amount of rinsing will remove it....a full growth of the tainted plant is needed to assure the new growth is good....this can take a full year .....I know not what you may want to hear but just thought I would share....



Nutrients from fertilizer are stored. Compounds are not. Modest fertilizing is required for plants to survive. Not making toxic levels isn't rocket science. Fertilizer and animals is something I know a little about. 

Making sure it is pesticide free is the most important part.


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## ElizabethJane (Mar 27, 2013)

lllreptile.com sells live plants for use in Reptile terrariums and such. I'm thinking I will be ordering some soon as the weather warms up a bit here. (I'm in Montana, so its still pretty cold at night, and I want my plants to arrive alive!) They have assorted tropical plants, ferns, succulents, and more. They are non-toxic and grown for reptile enclosures.


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