DEATH

I was recently away from the office for about a week and when I came back, this terrarium which was growing with a few healthy Fittonia crashed. The crashing happened to some of my terrariums before and I suspected the soil was contaminated with some fungi which caused some plants to die, which in turn aggravated the death of the other plants. I think it is time to switch this terrarium to some other stuff.

FRIEND 2

This was the same terrarium I posted previously except that I added a layer of stone chips onto the soil and pruned the overgrown plants before passing it to my friend. One thing I didn't like about the container was that it was too low and couldn't really allow the plants to grow much. But there was nothing I could do since the container was provided by my friend.

FRIEND

These photos were taken on 24 Sep 12. It was done for a friend and I added a pitcher plant, which I am sure would grow well in the terrarium. Between this time to the time my friend collected it from me, the plants in the container reached the top of the lid and I had to prune the shrubs off.

PROBLEMS

There are a few problems that I am highlighting here.

After a few months of planting the cuboidal terrariums, the plants are still growing well but so are the algae! It is precisely because of this problem that I do not dare venture into selling any of my terrariums because I have no solution for the algal growth other than just wiping it off with a piece of absorbent paper. Just look at the tiny specks of algae which start to grow and form a layer of greenish yucky scum that obscures the view of the plants in the container.

Here, I am highlighting another problem - the use of thick glass containers. I may have planted the container nicely with plants before but the thick glass let in too little light for the plants to grow well. In addition, the view of the plants is compromised especially through the thick rimmed cover. So, one lesson learnt is to avoid glass containers that are too thick. They may look nice but are actually not as ideal as thinner glass containers with better clarity and visibility. But one has to make sure the thin glass is not extremely thin because it has to support the weight of the soil media and plants.

TROPICAL DELIGHT

I planted this terrarium recently and I just love such simple tall glass containers which are not too thick and without any corners or bends below the lid. This allows the plants within the container to be showcased to maximum effect since visibility of the plants is not an issue.

The only drawback of this container is the ill-fitting lid which is not exactly air tight, thus allowing moisture in the air to escape, and hence requiring occasional misting of the plants in the container to maintain the high moisture content.


The plants used were the usual Fittonia cultivars and a Cordyline terminalis cultivar.

DIVERSITY

I planted these few terrariums recently and two were given to my friends. Both types of glass containers were from IKEA and I don't know about others, but I definitely prefer containers that are just plain simple so that the plants can stand out and look their best.


I don't like to use frosted or coloured containers because they let in less light for the plants and steal the limelight away from the plants. I certainly also don't like to use those containers with surfaces that are folded because it will mask the view of the plants and distort their appearance. The only reason why I chose the second container type is because I wanted to use a variety of containers to create diversity.


Anyway, I will comment about other related issues in subsequent posts.