Terrarium Types

Tropical

• Mixing plants is easy, close grouping looks lush,
• Made with popular house plants, easiest to create

Woodland

• Most naturalistic, forest floor or cool woodland area,
• Ferns, moss, moisture-loving plants
• Banked areas and different levels
• Most effective in rectangular aquarium, but can be achieved in others

Desert

• No cover because that would be too moist
• Desert setting, dry sandy soil, rocks and dried branches
• Water cycle not in effect, so it needs to be sparsely watered

Terrarium Construction

Containers

• Plastic is worse than glass because it fogs up and water does not run down the sides
• A hole would fix this problem but we lose humidity, moisture balance, and easy maintenance
• Glass is much heavier than plastic, and much more fragile

Drainage

• In nature, moisture that does not evaporate or become absorbed by the plant, falls into the subsoil
• Drainage makes sure the plants roots are never submerged¼ in to ½ in gravel
• Pulverized feather rock or pumice stone to reduce weight, hard to find in small quantities
• ⅓ drainage and ⅔ soil mix in depth, not volume

Charcoal

• Horticultural grade charcoal
• Absorbs odors and keeps planting smelling sweet
• For very small terrariums (3in diameter) omit gravel and use charcoal as drainage

Soil Separator

• Keeps the soil mix from falling into the drainage layer, which would render it useless
• Barely touches the sides of the container
• Must be made of synthetic material as organic material will rot out
• Porous enough for water to flow through and fine enough to hold back soil particles
• Fiberglass drapery material, nylon stocking, discarded curtains, old dress material, rustproof metal screening are all good options

Soil Mixes

• Sterilized potting soil, not special, “general purpose potting soil” or “house plant soil,” NOT garden soil
• Peat Moss- loosens the soil, make more moisture-retentive, roughage for plant roots
• Sand- do not use beach sand, but lake sand is okay, can be a substitute for perlite in desert environment
• Humus or leaf mold- woodland and desert mixes
• Limestone- not needed in woodland, strongly advised for desert, “sweetens” the soil as it lowers the acidity
• Bone meal- desert, provides phosphorus nutrients

Recommended Soil Mixes