For me, I’ve seen more successes and failures in this scenario, but to be fair, it’s the best trial-and-error scenarios for some plant lovers and hobbyists. It shows creativity, and also aids in seeing something very different in how some plants thrive in a closed environment.
There are a variety of terrariums that I’ve used where I’ve had a variety of results. I’ve used many different types of plants, and many of these plants would be seen as either tropical or are boosted in tropical environments.
Closed terrariums can create tropical environments. Many go the route of putting not just soil and plants in them; those happen in the end. Preparing them, it’s a bit more detailed. This is the case for both open terrariums and closed terrariums. I’m dealing with both.
With the open terrariums, expect to have things be room temperature all the way.
Depending on how wide the top of each terrarium will be, the less likely any humidity would remain in it. Let’s say it has a narrow top, maybe an inch or two in diameter, it may take a bit longer for the humidity to reduce, and evaporate on through that small opening. With that opening, air will get in so those plants will get some slightly drier air. If it’s wide, then there won’t really be any humidity on a large scale, it will be short-lived at best, and whatever the atmosphere in the environment happens to be, then you will see the terrarium and the plants within acclimate to that environment.
Terrariums with wide tops, are quite similar to most planters, but with false bottoms. I’ll explain this in a bit. In general, terrariums are often put together, with false bottoms. It may not be the case for all, but for many that I’ve seen online, and what I’ve put together myself, this is the case.
When looking at these false bottoms, it’s a way of creating that layer where plants will not find themselves having their roots growing out of control. It’s also a way for better drainage of excess water. With terrariums, if it’s warm enough, that water that drains at the bottom, can and will evaporate, rather than stay sitting in that area.
Many false bottoms are made with pebbles, or small rocks, and this can help with allowing the water to sink below the layer of soil that’s used. Some people use perlite for false bottoms, which can be a problem because it’s so light. In my opinion, perlite is best used, when mixed with other mediums like peat moss.
With covered terrariums, the idea of false bottoms are often used, and only so much water is used for them. This way, that water can go through that phase of slowly evaporating, but that water cycles itself, back to the top, and back to the bottom, keeping the plants and soil hydrated for longer periods. This way, the need to water them frequently won’t be necessary.
It may be optional, but for some people who swear by this, the use of springtails is key to aid in giving the plants what it needs in closed terrariums. Why? Springtails can feed on mold and algae that develops in the terrarium. In return, they produce the CO2 that benefits the plants in the terrarium.
For those that don’t use them, they can go about opening their terrariums, to air them out a few times a month, maybe once a week or every two weeks. I do this to prevent mold and algae from building up.
I have some small to moderate sized terrariums, where I have some with false bottoms, much like I described earlier, with some viney plants like “baby’s tears”, “creeping figs” or “creeping jennys” (maybe), nerve plants aka fittonia, and for some, I also have maybe a few pieces of lava rock, that took some time to break up into smaller pieces (that’s for another journal). For soil, it may vary, but it’s primarily peat moss.
For my biggest terrarium, “the tank”, which is a 10-gallon fish tank, used for this purpose instead of having aquarium. This one took lots of trial-and-error, but after some time, I think I got it right.
When it comes to, “the tank”, it’s literally like a mini-jungle under glass. What it took to make this work, took lots of trial-and-error. First attempt, will be discuss in a bit. That involved the many carnivorous plants that I had in the beginning. Now, I will say that I made an error, which resulted in a few of them not lasting for very long, including my favorite one, the red dragon, but it was a learning experience all the same.
For that time, I did go the route of using standard peat moss and perlite mix, or just peat moss, to have the plants grow in that tank, while still potted. Eventually, I began to see some of them grow, and my red dragon did produce a flower stalk, which I initially thought it was a good thing. It may have been from stress, but it continued to grow for a while, and produce a few traps here and again. The nepenthes x lady luck did okay for a while, but wasn’t too fond of the settings after a while. Eventually it stopped producing traps, and eventually didn’t survive. The standard small venus fly trap, grew a bit, but it didn’t grow for very long. So, as far as the tank is concerned, it’s hit and miss with the carnivorous plants inside “the tank”.
I tried re-acclimating the red dragon outside of the tank, but it went into shock, shriveled up, and that was the end.
The second attempt was very different. This is when I went with that false bottom, but with perlite, about maybe half an inch. I covered that layer with a plastic wire mesh, to keep the layer of soil used separate from the perlite. I used about an inch peat moss for this, and all of what I did worked. I had some sphagnum moss in there to cover some of the plants that were in there. I would water, every now and again, along with spraying, to keep whatever plants I had in there happy and hydrated. Now, add to this, something to cover “the tank” with a cover, and that cover would have plastic wrap taped to the cover. This kept the humidity contained for a bit longer.
I had the idea of giving “the tank” some extra humidity, so I fixed up a small humidifier to push the mist into “the tank”, to boost the moisture and humidity for those plants. Things were great for a while, until I began to notice the water was building up, to the point where things got more and more difficult to maintain. What do I mean? Well, the perlite, that was at the bottom of “the tank”, came to the surface, and was floating atop of the little pond that developed, as a result of the water levels rising from using the humidifier.
I added some plants like the “lucky bamboo”, and some extra rocks for the sake of holding them in place. I broke it into three pieces, and one I didn’t place in there. One made it, and I had it propped up with small stones made for fish tanks. Things were just too cluttered, with the sphagnum moss, the perlite, and the excess water, I chose to do something different.
Eventually, changes needed to be made. So, I emptied “the tank” and tried something different.
I emptied “the tank”, then started over. I used fish tank pebbles, for the drainage layer, and went the route of using enough for about half an inch. Just like before, I used plastic wire mesh to separate the soil, which I used a tropical mix, which has more pieces of lava rock in them. I filled it to about two inches. Afterwards, I tried something else. I used some sheet moss to cover the background, giving it that optimal green look that you would see with most outdoor plants.
I added some plants I recently bought, one was a parlor palm, another was what’s called either a bloodleaf or a “Juba’s bush”, and the other main one, maybe it’s called a “watermelon peperomia”. I also added some small lava rocks, made specifically for fish tanks. Because I layered the sheet moss throughout “the tank”, I put them in the middle to cover up a plant where it could root and grow better. I can’t identify that particular plant, but what I can say from its origin, is that it was growing out of a nepenthes x lady luck that didn’t quite make it in my first attempt with “the tank”. I grew that in the smaller closed terrariums for a while, and it grew quite big, but after it outgrew that terrarium, I brought it over to the tank, where it’s growing well to this day.
Unfortunately, with the lava rocks, because they sat on top of the sheet moss, the moss began to suffocate, and develop a bad smell, so I had to remove those rocks. Also, when doing that, I had to prop up that same little plant, which got taller, with bamboo skewers and some dental floss. I eventually did this with other plants that grew tall, but leaned a lot to the sides. When removing the stones, the plant developed roots that hooked onto the rock, creating a different kind of problem.
I eventually added more plants, like the “creeping Jenny”, and “string of turtles”, but I also removed a good set of the sheet moss. I removed the sheet moss, because in large amounts, it develops a smell, once it sets on top of the dampened soil. I found this out with other terrariums. So, instead of using the large patches of moss, I’ll use small patches, or trim off the top, and layer that in “the tank”, for where I didn’t have any plants just yet.
Things got better since then, and to monitor the humidity, which I did when I started this project, I added a humidity gauge to “the tank”. This way, I can monitor the humidity properly.
After some time, the plants rooted, and grew quite fast. Some a bit slower than the rest, but they grew. Most of them over time, developed air roots, because the humidity was so high. There was one plant, where it grew so fast, that I had to cut them in half, and propagate them much quicker than the others. Eventually, it grows so fast, that it literally touches the tank cover. This led to me not propagating anymore, but rather removing them, and rooting them into peat moss for small plant pots. I’ve done this with a few of them, with some propagations still in “the tank”.
There were other plants that I added, such as nerve plants, and for one set, the green/white one, that not only thrived with continued growth and fast rooting, but it also emitted an interesting scent. It was more like a minty scent, but for a while it had me worried. It turns out it was very happy, and either the smell subsided, or I simply got used to it, and didn’t notice it after a while.
For many of the plants, if I can help it, and actually have room, I can use “the tank” to grow them, and then bring them out and place them into plant pots, because they are content as long as they get the essentials.
Speaking of essentials, since this is a fish tank, I can’t position it near a window, so grow lights are a must. This benefits from having grow lights, are to mimic what plants receive from sunlight. For “the tank”, I had a three-neck grow light, actually I have two of them, both powered through USB connections. I set the timer for both, but one of them burned out the adapter. This grow light helped the plants in “the tank” grow with the needed essentials that I can’t provide otherwise.
So, as far as the environment for those plants, this worked out, and continues to work out. No need for springtails or anything to prevent mold or algae. I just air it out every now and again. “The tank” is my biggest and best terrarium, because it helps the plants in there thrive, and some of them even began to push flowers. I haven’t really seen this take place with the other plants in other terrariums, aside from the open terrarium, with several spoon leaf sundews pushing flower stalks already. That’s a result of the grow light, and its programmable settings to make this happen.
Just like with most indoor settings, grow lights are a must, and that will be explained in another journal.
In conclusion, for now, terrariums can be good, for those that may want to put something together, and then leave it alone. Now, when I say leave it alone, I don’t mean neglect it. Every now and again, look to it maybe later in the week, maybe two days or more, to see any progress. If there are problems, you can take a few minutes to adjust, maybe longer if it’s vital. However, just like with plants outside of these settings, they need maintenance, and occasional hydration. This will be more of a controlled environment for many of these plants inside terrariums to thrive, even for a little while. Fertilizer, not needed either.