Quarantining plants

[rachelraines]

Hey guys! I just went to my local nursery and got a bunch of tortoise, friendly plants! What would be the best way to quarantine these guys to ensure that they are safe? I got a few air plants just for the enclosure now! But have a few plants in soil. If I need to propagate the plants I can or if y’all have a simple solution let me know!

 

[Tom]

Hey guys! I just went to my local nursery and got a bunch of tortoise, friendly plants! What would be the best way to quarantine these guys to ensure that they are safe? I got a few air plants just for the enclosure now! But have a few plants in soil. If I need to propagate the plants I can or if y’all have a simple solution let me know!

Decorative plants are growth with systemic pesticides in the soil. The pesticides are taken up by the roots and absorbed into the plant's tissues. This keeps them looking pretty and pest free for the market, and reduces the possibility of plant pests invading and destroying food crops, so they say.

So get rid of that soil and re-plant with toxin free soil. My local nursery guy is also a reptile keeper and he did extensive research into this because he uses his own plants from his own distributor with his own reptiles. He told me that for most plants, the pesticides should dissipate within about 8 weeks, so wait 12 weeks to be sure. He said larger bushes and shrubs can take a few months, and some trees can take over a year.

Propagating your own plants from long established plants, or growing from seed also works.