Terrarium Plant Selection Calculator

Recommended Plants is driven by floor area (Enclosure length times width) and Enclosure Type, which sets a target coverage percentage — 70% for tropical, 20% for arid/desert, and 50% for temperate woodland setups, reflecting how densely each biome type is typically planted in practice (a desert vivarium needs open substrate and basking space, while a tropical vivarium is usually planted to near-full coverage for humidity retention and animal cover). Tropical setups get an additional vertical-planting bonus: 30% of the combined back-and-side wall area is added to the plantable total, since tall tropical enclosures are commonly planted floor-to-ceiling with epiphytes and climbers, while arid and temperate setups are not.

Enclosure height only affects the outcome through that vertical- wall bonus, so it changes Recommended Plants for tropical enclosures but has essentially no effect for arid or temperate ones. Plant count assumes a single average plant footprint of 28 square inches across a typical small/medium/large size mix — it does not account for actual species selection, individual plant mature size, or that some plants (like large monstera or bird's-nest ferns) will fill far more than 28 sq in once established.