Live Plant Kit For 5.5 Gallon Aquariums
Healthy organic plants selected for bioactive 5.5G vivariums!
Ferns / Terrestrials
Ferns: 2
2 Included
Tropical Plants
Tropicals: 1
1 Included
Vines / Trailing
Vines / Trailing: 1
1 Included
Live Moss
Moss
Live Moss
1 Bag
1 5x6 Bag
Plant photos are meant as a general reference only. Selections will vary depending on our availability and your customized specs.
Discount appears above your cart's total ♥
To Customize & See Price:
To Customize & See Price:
Our records show that we may run into stock issues with 1-2 categories of plants. Feel free to order, but please allow us 5-7 extra business days to ship your order.
Our stock of Ferns & Terrestrials is low at the moment. If any are included with your kit, substitutions will be sent to ensure your order ships quickly. If you'd prefer to avoid substitutions and don't mind waiting (5-7 days) for plants to become available, email us after you order to let us know.
Our stock of Tropical Plants is low at the moment. If any are included with your kit, substitutions will be sent to ensure your order ships quickly. If you'd prefer to avoid substitutions and don't mind waiting (5-7 days) for plants to become available, email us after you order to let us know.
Our stock of Vining & Trailing plants is low at the moment. If any are included with your kit, substitutions will be sent to ensure your order ships quickly. If you'd prefer to avoid substitutions and don't mind waiting (5-7 days) for plants to become available, email us after you order to let us know.
Our awesome NEHERP Moss is temporarily unavailable. On the bright side, it looks like we'll have more stocked up and available very soon. If ordered today, we'd expect your kit to ship within 5-7 business days.
About Your Plant Kit
Our Plant Kits are ideal for both plant-only bioactive terrariums and vivariums housing small to medium sized inhabitants. (Under 7in or so) For the 5.5G enclosure, we've put together an assortment of 2 ferns, 1 Tropical, 1 vining/trailing plant, and 1 5x6 Bag of our best-selling Live NEHERP Terrarium Moss. Each of these quantities is adjustable in your shopping cart to suit your goals.
If you are building a vivarium to house animals, please describe the inhabitant species once you've added your kit to your cart. If your terrarium will be plant-only, please mention the environmental conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity. In either case, we'll gladly customize the kit around your specific build style.
Our plants are shipped bare and individually labeled with species ID to make learning about, unpacking, and processing your plants more convenient. Once your kit is received, you'll be able to reference each plant's specific care/mounting advice on our Main Plant Menu. Our 5.5G plant kits grow best when planted in a 5.5G Bioactive Substrate Base Kit and when grown under one of our inexpensive proven lighting solutions. For the best long-term vivarium performance, we recommend following our Vivarium Construction and Plant Care & Processing articles.
We use natural & organic products in our grow rooms
Each plant kit includes our best-selling NEHERP Live Vivarium Moss!
Every plant is carefully bare rooted, wrapped, and individually ID'd
Hand selected plant assortments based on your species or environment
Pulled by our small business's experienced team of enthusiasts ♥
About Our Live Plants
How/When We Ship Plants
Perishable Guarantee
Frequently Asked Questions
Compare To "HD" Packs
Moss Care & Information
Moss Slurry Information
Neoregelia Information
Plant Mounting Kit InfoAbout Our Plants
Our Goals:
We aim to offer the biggest, healthiest, cleanest, most natural, and best-priced terrarium plants out there. Those five goals are easier said than done, but we've spent each year since we opened in 2009 developing a number of unique processes which help our plants stand out. Our indoor terrarium plant nursery has evolved quite a lot over the years, but we're still a pretty small-scale family operation. Our team of dedicated enthusiasts keeps an especially close eye on the plants we're growing, and ensures we offer some of the best terrarium plants available.
Our Growing Environments:
Our growing process actually starts at our front door, where we rely on tight quarantine procedures to prevent plant pests from entering our shop. Beyond that, our grow areas are separated into separate climate controlled areas which were designed to help keep things isolated. Each of the plant propagation rooms features filtered forced air exchange to ensure our plants remain clean, healthy, and free of unwanted "guests". We've developed a variety of completely custom tools (misting, lighting, humidification, watering, and more) to ensure our outgoing plants remain consistent in size & quality.
Our Growing Materials:
Many of our customers will be using our plants in environments which will ultimately house potentially sensitive live animals. With that in mind, we grow plants using the most ecologically-conscious methods to ensure our plants are as safe as possible. Our potting soils are mixed in-house from organic listed ingredients which are also free of manure-based fertilizers. Organic aggregates like perlite, vermiculite, and fir bark are added for healthy aeration & drainage. Nutrients are derived from organically certified products, as well as natural products like forest humus, worm castings, and kelp meal. Relying on such nutrient-light organic soils helps us ensure our plants remain healthy, well-established, and disease free. Unlike many commercial growers, we never use inorganic or systemic pesticides, fungicides, or algaecides in our grow rooms. Instead, we rely on the quarantine procedures mentioned earlier as well as bugzappers, sticky traps, and other proprietary organic methods to ensure pests aren't part of the equation.
Our Mother Plants & Sources:
Mother plants are older plants (some growing since 2009!) that we divide & propagate new plants from. We keep one or two mother plant pots of each species we grow, and these plants receive especially high levels of care (and scrutiny) by our team. Quality mother plant stock creates quality salable plant stock, so keeping the healthiest possible mother plants is an important part of our process. The overwhelming majority of the plants we ship were grown in-house from these plants, but a handful of larger or slower-growing varieties (Bromeliads, some ferns, etc) are sourced from a handful of trusted growers. For example, some of our ferns are grown by a local family owned nursery and hand-picked by members of the NEHERP team every few weeks. Even then, all incoming plants are quarantined, processed, and repotted before their eventual sale. It should go without saying, but absolutely no plants we sell are ever pulled from inhabited live vivariums.
Our Available Plants
Many of the photos above were taken of immature plants to show a bit of our growing area, but the average plant typically grows for 8-12 weeks before it's listed on the website. Our potted plants are grown to a well established point before being made available for sale, and we've got a reputation for having bigger plants for the price. (Ask around!) To make a long story short, our available plants are big, healthy, natural, carefully packed, and accurately labeled. We think all of those points help our plants stand out, and we're confident you'll appreciate the care we put into it all! 
How We Ship Our Plants:
All of our plants are shipped bare root (rinsed free of all potting soil), and rinsed thoroughly to ensure full hydration & a clean appearance. Bare rooting a plant before shipping is a legal requirement to some areas, but it also helps minimize your shipping cost & the likelihood of damage since each specimen is significantly lighter. Plus, it makes processing your plants a cinch! Every plant is also individually wrapped & labeled with an ID for reference. If temperatures are especially hot or cold, we'll add non-toxic ice or 40-hour heat packs to the order at absolutely no extra charge. We've got an awesome "healthy arrival" track record using these methods, and we're sure you'll appreciate the effort when it comes time to unwrap your plants!
When We Ship Our Plants:
We process & ship orders as quickly as we can. While we do our best to ship supply orders the same or next business day, it's not always safe (or possible) for us to do the same with orders containing plants. Plant orders carry a processing time of 1-3 days and are always scheduled to avoid weekend transit delays to help ensure healthy arrival. Please keep this in mind if you are ordering a few days before a weekend, since your order will probably not ship until the following Monday. View our full Order Processing Page for complete info.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
Are plant shipments guaranteed to arrive healthy?
Answer:
Yes, so long as our shipping guidelines are followed. You can learn more by closing this FAQ panel and selecting "Perishable Guarantee".
Question:
Will the plants be labeled with species?
Answer:
Yes! Every kit plant is labeled with specific ID so you'll know exactly what you are working with, and that info can be used to reference care info on our plant menu.
Question:
When do you ship plants?
Answer:
We ship plants Monday through Thursday year-round. Our logistics department is closed Friday through Sunday.
Question:
How long does it take to ship plants?
Answer:
Plant orders carry a 1-3 day processing time. We also schedule all perishable shipments to avoid weekend transit delays in an effort to ensure healthy arrival. If you're ordering plants a few days before a weekend, your order will probably not ship until Monday.
Question:
How are plants prepped before they ship?
Answer:
Our plants are bare rooted (rinsed free of all potting soil), and rinsed thoroughly to ensure full hydration and a clean appearance. Then the cleaned root structure is carefully wrapped in a moist paper towel ball, which is tightly placed back into the (cleaned) pot. From there, the plant and pot are tightly wrapped in thick brown paper for shipping, and labeled with appropriate ID for convenience. Epiphytes are handled a little differently, and are sometimes shipped in clear sealed containers for added safety.
Bare rooting a plant before shipping is a legal requirement to some areas, but it also helps minimize your shipping cost and the likelihood of damage since each specimen is significantly lighter. Plus, it makes processing your plants a cinch! We've got an awesome track record of healthy arrival using these methods, and we're sure you'll appreciate the effort when it comes time to unwrap your plants!
Question:
Do you use chemical fertilizers in NEHERP's grow rooms?
Answer:
We aim to grow our plants as organically as possible, and follow some of the strictest organic growing guidelines in the industry. While all plants require nutrients to grow, don't use harsh chemical fertilizers on any of the plants we propagate & offer for sale. Instead, we rely on mild and/or organic products from Happy Frog, Fox Farm, Cute Farms, BioBizz, and a few proprietary in-house solutions. Soils we use may also contain nutrient-rich ingredients like forest humus, worm castings, and kelp meal.
Question:
Do you use pesticides in NEHERP's grow rooms?
Answer:
No inorganic pesticides or harsh systemic chemicals are used on the plants we propagate for sale at NEHERP. The primary ways we prevent pests are through tight quarantine policies, restricted access to our grow rooms, and specific rules about introducing new plants to be propagated. Beyond basic prevention, we use chemical-free mechanical traps, as well as one or two other organically labeled proprietary pest prevention/management methods.
Question:
What types of environments are these suited for?
Answer:
Our plant assortments can be tailored to meet growth conditions ranging from 55% to 99% relative humidity. Environments with humidity towards the lower end of that range will require more frequent misting to ensure the NEHERP Moss will thrive within the enclosure. We do not offer desert/arid plant kits at this time.
Question:
What type of plants will I receive?
Answer:
We work with hundreds of species, and you can get an idea of what we may send by browsing around on our Main Plant Menu, where each species is available a la carte. Those plants (including the ones marked "reserved") are the same ones available for less in this discounted kit! Since each kit is custom-tailored for every customer's needs, it's difficult for us to offer a very specific description of the plants which will be included. We don't include plants we'd consider lame (more on that later), or inappropriately sized for your enclosure. Our basic goal is to provide a great selection of plants that we'd use ourselves without including too many plants that would significantly raise the price of each kit.
If you are concerned about receiving a package of unexciting houseplants, we're happy to ease your fears! (Examples: Areca Palm, Croton, Dieffenbachia / "Dumb Cane", Dracaena, Ficus elastica / "Rubber Plant", Nephthytis / "Arrowhead Plant", Pachira aquatica / "Money Tree", Schefflera / "Umbrella Plant") We don't grow those plants, we don't stock them, and we've never shipped one to any client who didn't special order one. We want to earn your repeat business by offering nice plant assortments, and we're glad to say that a significant amount of plant packs are sold to repeat customers.
Question:
What size plants will I receive?
Answer:
The smallest potted plants we'll ship will be established plants grown in 3in pots. In rare occasions, mature plants grown in 4in pots may also be included. We do not include smaller plants grown in 2in pots, rooted portions, or clippings in our Plant Kits, in an effort to ensure customers get a great deal. Sizes vary greatly depending on your specific enclosure's description.
Question:
How should I take care of the plants until the vivarium is ready to be planted?
Answer:
Each plant kit includes a card with a special QR code to help describe how to temporarily take care of plants outside of a terrarium. If your plants will be used within 10 days of the initial ship date, you can leave the root ball wrapped from the shipment, keep it moistened, and provide it with some light near a window. When it comes time to plant, simply proceed along with the typical plant care advice. If your plants will be "on hold" longer than 10 days, we'd recommend planting them in the pots using substrate from your base kit, and placing them near some bright natural light. So long as they are misted and watered on schedule, they should be completely fine in those conditions for quite awhile. NEHERP Moss is fine in-bag for upwards of a month, so long as you provide air exchange every other day or so.
Question:
What type of lighting should I use?
Answer:
You can see the exact light suggestions we'd recommend for your enclosure on our 5.5G Vivarium Lighting page. If you go with a different solution, we'd recommend at least matching the PAR/PPFD specs shown on that page. It goes without saying that poor lighting will lead to poor plant growth performance. If you aren't sure about the quality of your light source, we recommend not purchasing Moss Slurry, since it requires plenty of light to thrive. For more lighting related info, check out Vivarium Lighting 101.
Question:
What are the differences between standard plant kits and heavy duty plant kits?
Answer:
Our Standard Plant Kits include more delicate, intricate, and generally higher-end terrarium plants. We recommend these for most plant-only terrariums, as well as vivariums which will house small inhabitants under 7in. Both Standard and Heavy Duty kits cost the same, and plant selections are entirely dependent on the type of species/environment you specify.
Question:
Are there differences between your plants and what I'd find at my local store?
Answer:
1) We don't use harsh systemic chemicals which can't rinse off and require months-long quarantines for safety.
2) We don't sell cheesy hardware store plants (listed above), and grow real terrarium plants.
3) We've got your back with free 1-on-a email consultations for all kit customers. Have questions? We can help!
4) We specialize in terrarium appropriate species, grow plants organically, and are the only source for NEHERP Moss Slurry!
Question:
What are Systemic Chemicals?
Answer:
Systemic insecticides & fungicides are inexpensive, stupendously effective, and they are absorbed directly into and throughout a plants cells. They basically make a plant bulletproof from a traditional grower's standpoint, while simultaneously making the plant extremely difficult to use in our terrarium hobby. Systemics can't wash off, don't usually dissipate quickly, and can stay within a plant's cells for months or years. Popular and commonly used systemic chemicals like Acephate, Imidacloprid, Neonicotinoids and others are the primary reason professional vivarium and exhibit designers primary reason professional vivarium and exhibit designers rely on terrarium specific growers like us. ♥
External Links Explaining The Dangers Of Systemic Pesticides:
NCBI: A review of the direct and indirect effects of (systemic pesticides) on vertebrate wildlife
Wiki: Acephate - Common, available off-the-shelf, listed for use with ornamental plants
Wiki: Imidacloprid - Common, available off-the-shelf, listed for use with ornamental plants
Wiki: Neonicotinoid - The world's "most used insecticide", commercially available only
Comparing Heavy Duty Plant Packs
You are currently on our Standard Plant Pack page, which has more delicate and sensitive plants included. It's great for vivariums with small inhabitants, and planted terrariums with no animals. If you'll be building an enclosure for a larger inhabitant species, or have a "brown thumb", we recommend visiting our Heavy Duty Plant Pack page instead. You'll still get the same low price, but will receive a more robust selection of plants.
Switch To Heavy Duty
5.5G Plant Pack
NEHERP Moss Care & Information
Our NEHERP Moss is a easy to grow compared to most types of moss, so long as recommended lighting and substrate solutions are used. In short, we recommend frequent misting, bright lighting, and plenty of humidity to help get it acclimated. After a few weeks, less frequent misting and lower humidity will be better tolerated. We'd recommend reading through the detailed care article just to make sure you have a great experience with it.
NEHERP Moss Slurry Information
Our Live Moss Slurry is a made-to-order product which allows vivarium designers to grow moss on backgrounds, hardscape decor, and many other "off the substrate" places throughout an enclosure. Once grown in, it can create epic visual impact in any tropical live vivarium environment. Having said that, it's not appropriate for every enclosure or application. We want to make sure you have an awesome experience, so please consider the following info before upgrading your kit to include Moss Slurry.
Environmental Minimums:
• Avg. relative humidity of 75%+
• LED Lighting Recommended
• Multiple misting sessions daily
• Plant within 72hrs of delivery
Appropriate Planting Locations:
• Natural Wood or Rock Decor
• NEHERP Custom Background
• NEHERP Heavy Duty Background
• Zoo Med Cork Tile Background
Inappropriate Planting Locations:
• Anywhere with poor PAR lighting
• Anywhere with <75% humidity
• Moisture wicking woven fabric
• Non-porous hard surfaces
If your enclosure looks like it'll meet the above recommendations, Moss Slurry can easily add a bunch of realism to your vivarium. If your build doesn't fit the above specs, we recommend skipping the Slurry and relying on the Original NEHERP Moss. Our original moss is a little more forgiving, and is still very versatile. For more info, check out the corresponding care articles.
Neoregelia Information
Neoregelias are an optional add-on in our Live Plant Kits, and are a great choice for those working with bright & humid environments. The Neoregelia pups we include are young divisions of a mature plant, and each oen will be individually wrapped and labeled with specific cultivar ID. Neoregelias are ideal for tropical environments, and especially for those working with arboreal species of Dart Frogs. The water holding cup in the center of a Neoregelia is called an Axil, and is the natural egg deposition site for various different species.
Neoregelias must be mounted epiphytically, and should never be planted in substrate. Over time, the base of these plants will sprout gripping roots to hold the plant steady on any moist surface. Our optional Plant Mounting Kit can make the process of placing these plants pretty easy, but it's not always required depending on the specific terrarium's design.
Neoregelias require special care beyond epiphytic mounting, and they aren't an appropriate choice for every terrarium. Neoregelias do best under extremely high levels of PAR light, and require plenty of humidity to thrive. The axil should remain filled with water at all times for best results. When grown under ideal conditions, most Neoregelias will exhibit brilliant color patterns on the leaves. In less-than-ideal conditions, the plants will fade to a deep green and may not do as well long-term. We recommend Neoregelias only for terrariums which can meet these humidity & lighting requirements.
For more info, check out our Neoregelia info section in Vivarium Construction 101.
Plant Mounting Kit Information
Each Plant Mounting Kit Includes:
• 16oz New Zealand Sphagnum Moss
• 24 4in flexible floral mounting wires
• 20 wooden picks (Included for free!)
Our Terrarium Plant Mounting Kit includes everything necessary to get plants placed exactly where you'll want them within an enclosure. The manageable 4in sections of flexible, cuttable mounting wires are ready for immediate use on very large plants, or to be further cut-down and shaped to create mounting and training clips. They are easy to shape by hand, and perfect for every job from mounting large Bromeliads to training ultra-delicate vines & trailing plants onto backgrounds. The small wood picks are free in this pack, and are perfect for pinning plants wrapped in Sphagnum and/or NEHERP moss onto backgrounds, cork decor, tree fern, and more. As simple as it seems, they are a really convenient solution in tough-to-reach backgrounds. We've also included 16oz of dried AAA-Grade New Zealand Sphagnum Moss, which expands significantly in water. These three things are the same we use in-house at NEHERP when we build enclosures, and we're confident that they'll help get your vivarium planted right. For most applications, this pack will last through multiple vivarium builds.
Plant Care, Processing, and Mounting Info
Unpacking & Processing Plants:
Since our plants are shipped bare root, unpacking them is a piece of cake. Simply unwrap the plants, give them a soak if they look dehydrated, and follow the basic processing procedure we've got outlined on our Plant Processing page.
Basic Plant Care:
Every plant has different needs, and every plant we include in our kit can be referenced on our main plant menu. You can find how to care for and where to mount your specific plants right here on our website once they arrive.
Mounting Your Plants:
Mounting plants to a background isn't a difficult task, but it's made easier with our optional Plant Mounting Kit. (Available in-cart w/this kit!) For specific advice on how to mount different plants, check out Vivarium Construction 101's section on "Plant Mounting". Since that advice will be plant-specific, it may be best to wait until your specific assortment arrives to figure out exactly how to proceed.
Planting Info & Advice
We've got a lot of suggestions regarding how and where to plant certain types of plants in an enclosure. There's way too much to list here, so we recommend you check out Vivarium Construction 101's sections regarding plants. There are about 8-9 paragraphs on this subject in the article, and we hope you find it useful! It might be best to read that info after your plants arrive, to see what will apply to your specific selection of plants.
⚠ Important Plant Kit Ordering Info: ⚠
Please read our perishable shipping guarantee before ordering. You are responsible for selecting a safe shipping method during checkout.
We can't honor requests for specific plants at kit prices, but you are welcome to order specific plants a la carte from our plant menu.
*We specialize in temperate and tropical environments ranging from 50-99% humidity. Our kits are not recommended for arid conditions.
While the included plants are safe for terrarium use, they should not be considered part of a grazing diet for herbivorous species.