Our little terrarium project
This post is about how we made our terrarium during the lock down period. It turned out to be a great combination of homeschooling and fun and we are rather pleased with the result.
First a brief history lesson:
The wealthy inhabitants of Victorian London had a particular love for horticulture, the more exotic and hard to keep a plant was the more desirable it was. Vast sums of money were spent on plants that we now consider run of the mill in order to show them off to their piers.
The terrarium as we know it today was invented by a chap called Dr Nathaniel Bagshaw-Ward, a doctor and amateur botanist living in London in 1829, completely by accident. Ward’s attempts to create a home garden were scuppered (in his own words) on account of the “volumes of smoke issuing from surrounding manufactories.” Known to us now as ‘the great smog of London’. Nathaniel was also a keen Entomologist (the study of insects) with a particular fascination with Moths. He would keep his specimens in glass jars and in an act of serendipity, one day he accidentally dropped a Fern seed into a jar containing a Sphinx moth. He had previously noted that moisture would rise during the day and condense on the glass, and then return to the substrate in the evening as the temperature dropped thus maintaining the same level of humidity within the jar. This time he witnessed the germination of his fern seed and the first terrarium was born. Glass houses had been around for some time before this however, the concept of a sealed environment was nothing short of revolutionary in many ways. This new design was called the “Wardian Case” and in collaboration with a gentleman called George Loddiges (owner of a nursery in Hackney, East London) they sent two cases to Australia in 1833. A year later the ship returned with the cases full of thriving specimens that had required very little fresh water throughout the whole time at sea. This exact method was used to transport the first ever banana to England and Mangoes to Australia. It was also used to smuggle tea plants from China to India by the East India Company thus breaking the monopoly of China and creating one of the world’s first global companies.
How we made our terrarium:
Fast forward to today and my daughter and I decided that making a little terrarium for her room would be a nice project to do together. We already had a small aquarium that was ideal (14” square) and no longer in use, this was given a thorough clean in preparation.
We did a lot of research online and found that most terrariums that are sealed have a base layer of gravel or small stones that act as a reservoir for water. The addition of some activated charcoal helps absorb any impurities that make their way into the terrarium in the water.
Our chosen substrate was coconut coir which is the fibre found between the outer coat of the fruit and the inner nut that we all know and love. This was purchased from the local reptile centre in the form of a solid brick. We had to pop this into a bucket with three litres of water and after a couple of hours we had a bucket full of lovely soft coir ready to use. In fact this was vastly more that we required but as I use this in my Aroid potting mix that was not a problem. We also mixed in some Pearlite and orchid bark to lighten up the mix a little, unfortunately the Pearlite does not look great but we have attempted to cover it as best we can. I think these two additions are essential to stop the coir clumping together and allow for some air to get to the plant roots.
Our substrate mix
Assembly:
A layer of gravel was added to a depth of 1 cm
A second layer of charcoal was added to a depth of 1/2 cm
Then a layer of 60% choir, 20% Orchid Bark and 20% Pearlite mix was added to a depth of 5 cm
Note: Now that this has been running for several months with plants being added and removed as they grow, you can no longer see the layers of gravel and charcoal but they are still in situ and doing their thing.
Now for the fun part, decorating or creating a “miniature jungle”. We had some small pieces of wood from an aquascape that was no longer in use which were cleaned with boiling water, given a good scrub, then positioned to make mini tree trunks at the rear. Flat pebbles from around the garden were collected, cleaned and painted with bright patterns to add a splash of color. Finally it was time to add some plants; the selection was made at a local garden center who had a table of baby plants to choose from.
Pretty in pink Hypoestes
The classic terrarium plant Hypoestes ‘Pink splash plant’ has grown like a weed since planting, requiring cutting back several times. We even had some tiny flowers a few weeks ago. This particular variety likes the high humidity but does not like to be too damp around its roots, so we are careful not to mist this one’s corner to much. It is also positioned in such a way as to not receive direct light.
A Bromeliad, possibly of the classification ‘Neoregelia’ (please correct me if I am mistaken) has bright green leaves with pale yellow edging. We have already had our first baby, called a Stolon that’s nearly ready to remove. A collection of plants that love high humidity but indirect sunlight were chosen.
I had a “baby” Alocasia Polly ‘Alocasia-amazonica’ which we added with only one tiny leaf. This one was at the front and required its patch of soil to be a little moister than the rest of the terrarium. It loved the humid environment we provided a little too much and had to be moved into its own pot in the bathroom after only two months as it had completely outgrown the terrarium!
This week we decided to add one of my favourite little plants: jewel orchid ‘ Macodes petola. In fact we added two! This particular genus of orchid is rather unusual because it grows on the forest floor rather than in the air like most orchids do, making it a terrestrial orchid that creeps across the ground. Found in the rain forests of Southeast Asia it loves high humidity and relatively low light. This plant is more commonly known as the ‘Lightning orchid’ due to the amazing patterns of the veins which have an almost metallic quality against the velvety dark green of the leaf itself. In the right light they simply glow.
Macodes Petola ‘Jewel Orchid’
Maintenance of the terrarium
Fortunately as this lives in a bedroom it requires very little maintenance at all. We have discovered that rather then leaving it sealed maintaining a 1/2 cm gap in the lid allows for some air circulation and evaporation which has meant that we have no mould growing in there. I think if it was completely sealed this might have been a problem. The terrarium is about 2m away from west facing window so the only direct sunlight it receives are the last two to three hours of the day which appear to suit it perfectly. We do have a supplemental lamp on the top of the lid as the terrarium is used as a light in the bedroom but it is only on for an hour or so each day. I have found that the tungsten bulb in this light does have the benefit of providing some additional heat in the terrarium which aides in evaporation and the plants appear to like the raised temperatures as well. The most important part of the maintenance routine is a simple misting every other day, a few squirts of the mister across the plants and pop the lid back on.
Conclusion:
This has been a wonderful project that has allowed me to share my passion with my daughter. Together we have produced a delightful terrarium that she loves almost as much as I do! It takes minimal maintenance and it provides a super environment to help kick start some of the baby plants we propagate from my collection. The cost was probably about £60 for the tank and the materials, substrate and decoration, leaving you to spend as much as you like on your plant collection!
We are going to add a venous fly trap next…. Watch this space!
I honestly can’t recommend making one of these enough, so much so I’m already thinking of a larger one…..or possible a coffee table version.