Making A Terrarium
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Jun 12, 2006, 15:04
If you are an aspiring gardener but is reluctant to engage in a full-blown outdoor gardening, creating a terrarium as part of indoor gardening is a great way to start to hone your skills. If you want to instill in your child the love for gardens and plant life in general, try to amaze him with a terrarium. A terrarium is a miniature landscape that mimics the natural ecosystem of certain plant (and even animal) species.
Before making a terrarium, you should choose a container, because your container will determine the number and sizes of the plants you may have. It may be any size or shape. It may be a small jar or a large fish tank. It may have straight or round sides. You may even make a container by taping panes of glass together.
Before preparing your container for planting, you must know what type of terrarium you are going to make, because each group of plants has its own requirements. Glass containers have no holes in the bottom, so you must have drainage layer of excess water. The drainage layer is made of gravel or sand mixed with bits of a broken flowerpot. Pieces of charcoal pressed into this layer will help keep the terrarium fresh. On top of the drainage layer, there must be a layer of some type of soil.
If you cannot get woodland plants, you can make a terrarium with cultivated plants. Small plants from a dime store, a local florist, or a supermarket can be used to make a cultivated plant garden. These plants usually do better in a moisture-controlled terrarium than in the dry atmosphere of a hot-air or steam-heated home.
You will need a drainage layer of about 2.5 centimeters. Cover this with a 5-centimeter layer of potting soil, arrange your hills and valleys, and set your plants. Begonia, ferns, prayer plants, African violets, and ivy are some of the plants you can use. Water the plants and soil with a bulb spray, cover the terrarium, place it in moderate light, and watch the plants develop.
You may want to make a desert terrarium. This needs drier conditions than a woodland terrarium does, so you must make the drainage layer 5 to 8 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) thick. Top this with a layer of sandy soil. Arrange the landscape, and set the cactus plants in position. Water the soil around the plants, but to not get the plants wet. Water in this way about once a week. Place the terrarium in a sunny window, and keep it uncovered. The plants will grow very slowly, but they will be interesting to watch.
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