How To Take Care Of A Terrarium: A Beginner’s Guide
A terrarium is a little indoor garden in a transparent glass containing the plants inside. It is a tiny plant world that is easy to take care of. To make it healthy and beautiful, we should learn how to take care of a terrarium and avoid the common mistakes of handling them.
Common Mistakes of Handling Terrarium
Learning how to take care of a terrarium is important, yet it is also important to note the common mistakes of handling terrarium and the things you have to learn to avoid. The following are the things that commonly mistaken when handling a terrarium:
Too Much Fertilizer
All plants need to be fertilized for it to grow. That is just not the case when it comes to terrarium gardening because you need to keep the size of your terrarium plants. It’s best to skip fertilizing entirely.
Excessive Soil
It might get messy when you water the terrarium. To avoid this problem, make sure to use the right planting media to have a good flow or try spraying water instead of pouring it.
Glass Cleaner
If you want to keep your container look good, avoid using a glass cleaner because cleaning products can poison your plants. Instead, make use of microfiber cloth for glass or purchase a terrarium container cleaner.
Being Too Ambitious
Terrarium plants need regular care. If you are a beginner, you can start in a small or single terrarium plant and add a decorative accent rather than trying to care for a terrarium garden with multiple plants.
Closing A Terrarium Plant
Choose a container with a good opening because if you put it in the wrong container, you'll never get a good result.
Letting Things Go
To get a beautiful result, you need to commit yourself to take care of the terrarium plant. Keep the plants trimmed to avoid overgrowth. If a plant appears to be dying, remove it quickly to prevent infecting other terrarium plants.
Plants to Consider When Planting Your Terrarium
A terrarium is made with small mosses, lichens, and ferns, but there are types of plants that can be used depending on the size of the terrarium you want to make. Here are some plants to consider when planting your terrarium.
Friendship Plant
It grows to 12 inches tall and has distinct leaves. Friendship plants prefer moist soil and full shade to partial sun.
East Indian Holly Fern
This plant has glossy leaves that shine behind the glass. It enjoys the moist and high humidity inside the terrarium.
Starfish Flower Cactus
It has stunning strap-like leaves that change color depending on the light. This plant prefers humidity despite being a cactus.
Baby Tears Plant
It has delicate rounded leaves that love high humidity and low light. It is used as a good base for other plants in your terrarium.
Golden Club Moss
The light green leaves provide a bright pop of color amidst darker-color plants. It grows only 6 inches in height.
Air Plant
This plant doesn't even require soil for it to grow because they get all the nutrients and water they need through special leaves.
How Often Should You Water Your Terrarium?
You now have an answer to your question about how to take care of a terrarium. Every plant needs water to live and to grow, but different plants have different requirements. Especially in a growing terrarium. Below are two types of terrariums with varying needs of water.
- Open terrarium – It requires soil, pebbles, and other plants decorative. It benefits from being watered every 3-6 weeks.
- Closed terrarium – It only needs soil, charcoal, and rock. It needs to be watered once a month.
How to Trim Terrarium Plants?
You also add this to how to take care of a terrarium checklist. You can start trimming unhealthy stems that don’t look attractive, and you can leave them to dry the cuttings for at least a day or so and then place them into the soil for the new growth.
How Terrarium Works?
One other way to take care of a terrarium is to replicate our natural world sealed in a container. It works because the natural water cycle progresses through evaporation, plant transpiration, and rainfall. The moisture evaporates in both soil and leaves due to the heat from the sunlight. It collects and condenses on the walls of the container. The process of condensation falls to the soil like a rainfall cycle that provides moisture to all living things.
Conclusion
Now you know how to take care of a terrarium, what are the common mistakes of handling a terrarium, and what do you have to do to avoid them. Terrariums are easy to take care of. You need to be committed to enjoying various benefits, such as reducing stress, improving mental focus, boosting creativity, lift moods, purifying and humidifying the air, and stabilizing heart rate and blood pressure.