I don't know when terrariums went from being science-y projects to hipster-approved decor, but I've always loved them. Ever since I found out that you could keep reptiles in a terrarium, I desperately wanted one. (Full disclosure: I am a fan of almost all lizards and snakes. Tokay geckos freak me out for some reason though, maybe because I've gotten my best glimpses of them in the bottom of rice wine vats.) I also love the idea that they can be self-sustaining - it's like a kind of magic, isn't it?
Remember that dome in the Science Centre that had an underwater self-sustaining ecosystem in it? It had what looked like fan corals in it and little aquatic snails and when I was a child, I was absolutely fascinated by the written description, which explained that it would keep itself going for at least twenty years. The last time I went back, it was still there and everything in it was alive.
My friend Wei Jing is a botanist and very good with growing plants. Jono, Mel Sim and I had been wanting to learn how to make terrariums from her for the longest time and we finally managed to get a date to set one up in her house!
If I've gotten all her instructions right (there weren't many), here's how you make one.
You need:
1) A terrarium jar with a lid (or an open one if you're willing to water it more often)
2) A couple of good, terrarium-approved plants (they have to be quite a bit smaller than the jar to afford them space to grow)
3) Clay beads
4) Charcoal
5) Soil - she recommended a type of soil whose name I've now forgotten, but soil from the nursery should work.
6) Decor, including plastic figurines, marbles, gravel and coloured bits and pieces. Nothing that will rot or mould, unless you're willing to remove it later.
7) Water
We went to my childhood hangout, Far East Flora, to pick out the plants.
I love walking around in Far East Flora because of the range of plants it contains. The cold rooms next door house a startling array of flowers. Jono kept asking if we could stick cut flowers in the terrarium and fertilise them. Um.
None of these plants were terrarium-suitable (least of all the strawberries!) and we ended up getting some small fittonia, euonymous and starfish plants. If your jar is relatively small, you might only have space for two types of plants. We split ours at the roots and put two or three tiny seedlings in each jar.
The starfish plant on the left, for instance, spread too widely to be put with anything else. So it's wise to check just how much space you have. The leaves shouldn't be pushing on the top of the jar or spilling out of the sides.
Once you've got your plants, clean your jars out, making sure not to have leave any stray bits of dirt or fungus in. I love these jars that Wei Jing picked out for us; flat-bottomed and squat, with lids like melting ice.
Once the jars are dry, put in a layer of clay beads and pack some wafers of charcoal over them. The clay beads provide drainage for the plants so that they don't get damaged, and the charcoal helps to remove toxins and provide an extra layer of drainage. The layer of beads also helps you to check if there's too much water in the terrarium because you can see it pooling at the bottom.
Put the growth medium in next. The whole substrate should take up about a third of the terrarium's height. Even it out gently so that you don't get weird lumps or hillocks.
De-pot your plants (Wei Jing got ferns for herself) and remove the bottom chunk of the soil such that you don't damage too many roots but the plant is not sticking too far out of the top of the terrarium when you put it in.
I put in two good-sized seedlings and one tiny one. Mel opted for a nice balance of three colours: green, white and pink. Jono kept begging Wei Jing to let him put in more and she kept yelling, "NO! NO, THE PLANTS WILL DIE!"
Lower the plants in on top of the substrate and then, holding them all in the centre of the terrarium with one hand, shovel in more soil and pat it down around the plants, anchoring them. This part was the hardest. Because our plants were seedlings with tiny and very shallow roots, they kept falling over and it took me several tries to pack enough soil in and weight it with fragments of gravel so that they would stay up. At the same time, I had to make sure that they weren't leaning on the sides of the container.
Now is a good time to check that the lid shuts without crushing the top leaves. If the plants are too tall, just snip them down to size. They won't mind.
Now the fun part: decorating! You can line the bottom with gravel, put in plastic toys or decorate with organic material like shells. I went for a classic black-and-grey colour scheme with a little cluster of shells. Later, Wei Jing gave me a little plastic raccoon that I nestled below my fittonia. It looks like it's burrowing in the soil, its ringed tail just peeking out from beneath the leaves.
Boom! You're done! Now you can water the terrarium by misting it and washing all the dust and soil off the leaves. Make sure the soil gets fairly damp - as long as it's not pooling in the bottom, you're good. Wei Jing's advice is to be overzealous with watering at first because you can easily let it evaporate if it gets waterlogged.
Pop the lid on and watch it carefully for a couple of days. If the terrarium starts "breathing" and living, the lid will mist up slightly as a sign that the plants are getting their thing done (clearly not a botanist speaking here). If there's too much water, take the lid off and let it balance out a little bit. If there's not enough, mist it some more, obviously.
Make sure that the terrarium gets some indirect sunlight in the daytime, for example, by a window. If it's getting too much light, the leaves will apparently turn yellow. Mine's been alive for about ten days now and it's looking very healthy. I haven't had to water or baby it or anything!
There's Wei Jing telling Jonathan off for wanting to put fertiliser in the bottom.
Thank you so much for hosting our terrarium session, we had a lovely time! Wei Jing is leaving for the United States for a couple of years and every time I look at my terrarium, I'll think of her. What an awesome farewell gathering.
Here's a last look at it.
I've named it after Jono - it's called Jia Rong. Fitting, too. A little nutty, a little green, but very sweet.
None of these plants were terrarium-suitable (least of all the strawberries!) and we ended up getting some small fittonia, euonymous and starfish plants. If your jar is relatively small, you might only have space for two types of plants. We split ours at the roots and put two or three tiny seedlings in each jar.
The starfish plant on the left, for instance, spread too widely to be put with anything else. So it's wise to check just how much space you have. The leaves shouldn't be pushing on the top of the jar or spilling out of the sides.
Once you've got your plants, clean your jars out, making sure not to have leave any stray bits of dirt or fungus in. I love these jars that Wei Jing picked out for us; flat-bottomed and squat, with lids like melting ice.
Once the jars are dry, put in a layer of clay beads and pack some wafers of charcoal over them. The clay beads provide drainage for the plants so that they don't get damaged, and the charcoal helps to remove toxins and provide an extra layer of drainage. The layer of beads also helps you to check if there's too much water in the terrarium because you can see it pooling at the bottom.
Put the growth medium in next. The whole substrate should take up about a third of the terrarium's height. Even it out gently so that you don't get weird lumps or hillocks.
De-pot your plants (Wei Jing got ferns for herself) and remove the bottom chunk of the soil such that you don't damage too many roots but the plant is not sticking too far out of the top of the terrarium when you put it in.
I put in two good-sized seedlings and one tiny one. Mel opted for a nice balance of three colours: green, white and pink. Jono kept begging Wei Jing to let him put in more and she kept yelling, "NO! NO, THE PLANTS WILL DIE!"
Lower the plants in on top of the substrate and then, holding them all in the centre of the terrarium with one hand, shovel in more soil and pat it down around the plants, anchoring them. This part was the hardest. Because our plants were seedlings with tiny and very shallow roots, they kept falling over and it took me several tries to pack enough soil in and weight it with fragments of gravel so that they would stay up. At the same time, I had to make sure that they weren't leaning on the sides of the container.
Now is a good time to check that the lid shuts without crushing the top leaves. If the plants are too tall, just snip them down to size. They won't mind.
Now the fun part: decorating! You can line the bottom with gravel, put in plastic toys or decorate with organic material like shells. I went for a classic black-and-grey colour scheme with a little cluster of shells. Later, Wei Jing gave me a little plastic raccoon that I nestled below my fittonia. It looks like it's burrowing in the soil, its ringed tail just peeking out from beneath the leaves.
Boom! You're done! Now you can water the terrarium by misting it and washing all the dust and soil off the leaves. Make sure the soil gets fairly damp - as long as it's not pooling in the bottom, you're good. Wei Jing's advice is to be overzealous with watering at first because you can easily let it evaporate if it gets waterlogged.
Pop the lid on and watch it carefully for a couple of days. If the terrarium starts "breathing" and living, the lid will mist up slightly as a sign that the plants are getting their thing done (clearly not a botanist speaking here). If there's too much water, take the lid off and let it balance out a little bit. If there's not enough, mist it some more, obviously.
Make sure that the terrarium gets some indirect sunlight in the daytime, for example, by a window. If it's getting too much light, the leaves will apparently turn yellow. Mine's been alive for about ten days now and it's looking very healthy. I haven't had to water or baby it or anything!
There's Wei Jing telling Jonathan off for wanting to put fertiliser in the bottom.
Thank you so much for hosting our terrarium session, we had a lovely time! Wei Jing is leaving for the United States for a couple of years and every time I look at my terrarium, I'll think of her. What an awesome farewell gathering.
Here's a last look at it.
I've named it after Jono - it's called Jia Rong. Fitting, too. A little nutty, a little green, but very sweet.
