If you are worried about how to make terrariums? I am here to explain how to make a best terrarium for your home or other property. First of all you need to choose whether you want a closed terrarium or open terrarium or a dish terrarium. A terrarium in which plants are enclosed in a jar or container and are completely covered is referred as a closed terrarium. An open terrarium has plants in a container or jar which is not covered by a lid or cover and a dish terrarium is almost open placed in a medium having sides lower in height then the plant.

Easy How to make a closed Terrarium for beginners. by Forest For The Soul

Open or dish terrariums face more problems like water loss, fungal disease attack then closed terrariums.

After this you need to focus on the materials required to make your terrarium.

The Materials you need for making a terrarium are:

• Containers (Plastic or glass)
• Terrarium plants
• Rocks or small crushed stones
• Activated charcoal
• Soil according to plant’s growth requirements
• Tools (scissors, tweezers, spoon, Sprayer, stick with a wire loop)

You require some gardening equipments, these are:

• Long sticks; that either may be ¼-inch dowel rods or bamboo. The length of these depends on the length of container you use.
• Household scissors; these are used for pruning plants.
• Spoon is used to place growing media or soil etc.
• Sprayer; is just like an atomizer or bulb type sprayer is used for watering the terrarium.
• Stick with a wire loop is used to place plants in terrariums having long containers with small openings.

Decorative elements

Instructions to make terrarium:

• Collecting containers:

 The container must be transparent for a closed terrarium, you can use plastic or transparent glass container. In transparent containers air can easily pass and reach to the plant. If the glass is cloudy or tinted it reduces the light to reach the plant and reduces its growth. Any type of container you may use but it must be transparent, like you can use empty fish tanks, plastic or glass bottles or jar.

Any container having sides lower than the plant’s height can be used for making a dish terrarium. For open terrariums you can use stone jars, regular flower pots with large openings etc.

You can buy different type of containers from the market or you can find some in your home as well, like jam jars, long plastic bottles or cans. First, clean and dry your container and then place a bottom layer of rocks/pebbles up to the height of 2-3cm.

• Adding layers for Drainage:

As the containers does not contain any holes for drainage so you have to create it by yourself by adding layers in your container using the materials you collected for it. To do this you have to place a layer of rocks in the bottom first.

It is the interesting and fun part of creating terrariums as you can add them in different style, like place the pebbles by laying down the container instead of keeping it straight or you can use contrasting colored rocks.

Next you need to add a layer of about 1/4^th – ½ inch activated charcoal. Just scatter it using a large spoon, don’t add much pressure on it. It will also create drainage and adsorb any odor if present. Activated charcoal also help to keep terrarium moist and prevent it from fungal or bacterial attack.

• Adding Growing medium and moss sheet.

Now you have to add growing medium or potting soil. For growing medium, use soil according to plant’s need you are using. You can use any type of soil for almost all plants except for succulent use a special type of soil mix which is sandier in texture.

Add enough of it so that the plant’s root can get enough space to grow. But keep in mind about the growth of arial plants, there should be enough space for these parts as well to grow easily in the glass.

Before adding potting mix, it is better to add a moss layer because it protects the mixing of charcoal layer with growing medium (potting mix).

• Adding Plants:

Before adding plants, decide where you want to add plants in your terrarium according to its design. There is no specific rule to place plants in terrarium, you can add plants as you want in your terrarium. Using a small spoon make a hole in the soil for the plant. Then gently place all the plant in holes using tweezers or chop sticks, flatten and fill in the soil near the plant. Don’t forget to prune the larger roots of plants. You can wear gloves if planting a prickly plant.

Terrarium plants should be smaller so that they can be easily fit them inside the terrarium. You should that plants that can easily bear indoor conditions. Like succulent plants could make a best choice because they can easily grow inside closed terrariums without need of any specific conditions.

Don’t cramp the plant against the walls of the container, make sure there is enough space for the plant to grow a little. You can add more plants if you have space.

• Adding decorations:

Once you completed all the above steps, satisfied and happy with the arrangement of terrarium, you are all set to add decorating elements according to your own choice and interest.

You can decorate your terrarium using various kind of stones, sea shells, small figurines, and twinkling lights etc.

• Placing your terrarium:

Now its time to place your terrarium where you want. You can also arrange terrarium in different ways, like hanging it on the window, place it near windowsill or on book shelves, on table, it’s all your choice.

• Water your terrarium:

Use a small watering can or small spray bottle having a rose head attachment to water your terrarium easily. Just wet the plants, not add too much water. Also use spray bottle to clean the sides of container from any dust or dirt and wipe it off using a newspaper or paper towel.

Never spray any glass cleaner on the inside of container as the chemicals in it may harm the plants.

• Maintenance of your terrarium:

It is very important to maintain a terrarium.

For an open terrarium water, it every day and for a close terrarium water it once in a week or once in two weeks regularly.

If you feel the soil is dry than spray water on it gradually to keep it moist. Open terrariums need more care than closed terrariums due to water shortage and also they are more vulnerable to fungal or bacterial attack.

In the last, placed the terrariums where they get sunlight but not place them in direct contact to sunlight.

In case of closed terrariums, check them for condensation and remove the lid from container at least once a month, this will help to maintain the air flow from your terrarium.

If plants are growing too large, then prune the plants to lower suitable size and remove any yellow of damaged leaves or plant parts.

Tips:

• Add a thick layer of drainage if your terrarium is large and narrow. Add comparable thin layer if terrarium is open and not narrow. As drainage problem is not a serious issue in this case because water can be lost due to evaporation.
• While placing plants in the terrarium, place larger plants first.
• Use chop sticks or tweezers to place plants in narrow and long terrariums.
• For narrow opening terrariums you can use a funnel to add rocks or growing medium in the container.
• Play with your senses while choosing and arranging plants, rocks or other decorating elements to make it more pleasing and attracting using different styles, color combinations etc.

Some mistakes beginners make (video from Worcester Terrariums)