How to Clean and Quarantine Terrarium Plants

I've been getting requests for this one nonstop for awhile now! I really hope this answers a lot of questions and gives a better understanding of what I do. I really do not think any of this should be overlooked. Be sure to take precautions, especially when animals are in the equation. Let me know if you have additional questions and enjoy!

Hey Tanner, would there be different precautions to take if you were propagating? For example I have friends who have various house plants that they would let me propegate from. Is there a completely different process for this or no precautions whatsoever? Thank you foe the awesome content!

@serpadesign with no ventilation, how are you keeping plants from developing mold/mildew or other issues related to too much humidity and stagnate air?

EXCELLENT video!! I'm fairly new to keeping dart frogs and tropical plants.This video is incredibly helpful! A few weeks ago I got some new plants for my Dendrobates azureus terrarium and I wasn't quite sure the best way to go about cleaning them properly to ensure my frogs are safe and after watching a couple other videos on this topic from other channels and learning nothing I didn't already know (dunking them in water, removing all the previous substrate and quarantining) I came across this one and was presented clearly with several different methods. I wish I had just watched this first lol! You have a new subscriber. :)Thanks!!

I have done this with two batches of plants and they all got very sad about a week after and eventually died. They were thriving beforehand. It would be nice to see another video addressing this? I really want to get it right and have already lost a lot of money on plants at this point...

I know this is an old video but I'll comment anyway. Thank you so much, this is so useful.

Hey! Why do you do 6 on 18 off? I can’t find anything about that low level of light! Thanks!!

I am terrified I'll "drown" my plants if I soak them for 10 min.

DO YOU PLANT IN POTTING SOIL OR SUBSTRATE

Thanks, really like your vids and builds. The bins you use. There are no holes , right. How often do you open them up? And do you give any fertilizer? I have large community fish tanks and i use tabs and liquid fert that is safe for fish, can i do the same for these plant's. Oh im building a few dart frog bio tanks

Hello do u have holes in your bins? I put mine in an exoterra and covered I plastic wrap. How often do u water your plants and spray them?

I most certainly would have skipped this step. Thank you for posting

It doesn’t get too humid inside the closed box for 2-4 weeks? Is root rot a big concern?

Does this work for aquatic plants as well?

I quarantine required? I just want to know

Do you open the bins once a day to let air circulate?

I am learning how to graduate my 9 snakes into.bioactive enclosures and this was invaluable....thank you so very much!!!!

just my two cents (great process btw): peroxide 3%, great againts some spores and bacteria, you can spray from time to time on quarantine / maintenance.

also, maybe the next step on your setup: a plant lab, so you can grow from seeds or tissues, backup and propagate plants etc without pests at all (agar culture)

brilliant thank you

i used water and rubbed the plants and put it in my animals cage right away will it cause any problems or is it okay???

I have a feeling this should be an easy assumption, but is diatomaceous earth a toxic product to use in leopard gecko enclosures? I'm planning a bioactive tank with succulents and other arid reptile safe plants, I plan to follow these steps (as well as using a drainage layer) but I wondered if it's a possible backup if those pesky flies do show up. It's worked so well with the potted succulents I currently have. However, I know leopard geckos tend to lick things and I assume that's got to be unsafe for the animal to ingest.

"Without being too specific *gives extremely specific details*" ahhh.... Don't ever change Serpa. <3

Do you do this with moss as aswell ? May seem like a silly question but some moss is very finicky and I'm not sure it would make it through all of this but im definitely interested in doing this with my plants to eliminate the pesky gnats.

How would you clean a terrarium with live plants? I want to keep live plants my crested gecko enclosure

Can we use tap water to rinse the substrate off?

I NEEDED THIS THANK YOU!!
I needed this so much I'm getting a ball python soon and my mother insists on a bioactive for it so I got four plants and a lot of other plants and might get some succulents too THANK YOU SO MUCH THOUGH
should I sanitize it now we're not getting the snake until we clean the tank bring the tank stand and the tank inside and decorate the tank that might take about sometime until march or near the end of February or should I clean them and leave them in water not drown but just the roots or wait till before we decorate the enclosure

How can you be sure that the coco fibre, orchid bark or sphagnum you buy, don’t have any pests or eggs in them? Do you sterilise them as well?

Does anyone know which shelf tanner is using for his quarantine plants? The boxes seem to be 32 qt but that would mean the shelf needs to be more than 120 cm in width. and By the look, I think it might be an amazon shelf, but these only come with 90cm width. Anyone has an idea?

Great video!

Isnt the bleach harmful for animals when they eat the plants? And can I do the bleach bath with moss too?

Is it safe to do this (bleach) when preparing for a crested gecko set up? I planned to rinse and quarantine but I don’t want to hurt my geckos! I haves ordered my plants and expect them to arrive sometime this week. Or should I do a vinegar mixture instead of bleach. The plants I got are- lemon button fern, Dracaena,ZZ and creeping fig

I am from Dubai and I have a nursery for indoor plants, I need experienced employees

Tanner, I love your videos and want to get into the hobby but it looks like you spend some serious money on water & electricity uses. Can you speak to this? Thanks

I know this video is old so I’m not sure if your going to see this. But would you recommend it’s better to just grow the plants from seeds in a quarantined terrarium like you were doing with these ones? Especially if it’s going to go into a crested geckos enclosure? Also do you have any recommendations for plants that grow quicker? Or even do you recommend any plant groups for reptiles?

this also apply to mosses ???

Glad I found you I am ao behind

Does this process work for an existing pest infestation? I have about 28 houseplants, with a third of them intended for vivariums. Unfortunately I now have a mealybug infestation. 😭

Do you put springtails in your quarantine containers?

Your channel is inspirational Serpa. Somewhat new to bioactive enclosures as for the plants I live next to a very large creek where I’ve been getting them as it’s self sustaining and no pests or particles. Would it be fine to just rinse, soak and bleach or go about the same quarantine method as the video and be safe than sorry?

I copied this entire guide with some tropical plants from the Biodude. This was thorough, but I have mold issues that I didn't originally had with these new plants.
I think Tanner underestimated ventillation with this setup.

God I wish we lived in a world where pesticides and fertilizers weren't used. I know they're necessary; to harvest on such a wide scale, we need to make sure they won't be eaten, but it just sucks at what it does to the environment. I wish we could develop targeted pesticides that only do harm to the one pest that harms the crop.

All my plants died using this method… I followed steps exactly and they’re all doing horribly. The ones that haven’t died are very wilted. Do you have any tips for reviving them?

Currently following all these steps while watching. Hehe. I just got my first order of mini terrarium plants and I am in love! 🥰🥰

So grateful I found this video before attempting or even thinking to use plants in my tarantula enclosures. Glad my gut feeling told me not to use them, then again I don't know how anyone now a days does things they're unsure of without research.

Whats a good soil to use during this process

How often should you water? At what level of hydration do you rehydrate? Should I be waiting for the soil to dry slightly?

Keep it quarantined by purchase. Got several plants over a couple days in an empty aquarium. 1 had spider mites now they ALL have them. I'm hoping they'll pull through but 2 don't look so hot after treatment.

thanks for sharing. Very informative! I am newbie and this helps 💕

Thank you for making this video!!! So helpful x100