Small Jar Terrarium

I really needed to separate my shade loving mosses from my partial sun mosses. The deep shade ones also seen to need a bit more moisture, where it's just too moist in my moss box for the partial sun moss.

Simple and quick, I threw down a layer of rocks and moved my hypnum and rockcap mosses with their soil to their new home! With just rocks and no soil, I should be able to move them easily if they end up needing a larger container.

New Mosses

I added some new mosses to the ones growing inside for the winter.

I've decided to only purchase one new piece of glass per week, so I'm looking forward to a trip tomorrow to pick up something for all of my rock cap moss. Something wide mouthed!

At the moment I'm growing mosses with different sun requirements in the same container, so being able to separate everything out would go a long way toward having healthy moss!

New Terrarium

Seemed like a good idea. Picked up the narrow mouthed glass vase at Target. Did not make a good choice putting haircap moss in it.

Terrarium Update

Here are some better photos of the big terrarium. Looking good! It's showing signs of new growth.

Moss for the Winter

Winter has really come in here-- we have six inches of snow on the ground, so the only moss I'll be checking out is growing in a big container on my windowsill. I'm actively hunting for some new containers...

One Finished Terrarium

Because I'm just that great, and was in such a horrible rush to get these assembled, of the five terrariums I made, I remembered to photograph...one of them. At least it was the largest and the most interesting.

This is a tall apothecary jar with a lid. I layered activated charcoal, gravel, and high-drainage soil in the jar. The tree is a brush cherry, an indoor tree that can tolerate less than full sunlight. Since I bought it as bonsai stock, I had to remove it from its container, loosen the old soil from the roots, and trim the branches and leaves. Once that was complete, in it went!

On the right side of the jar you can see a strawberry begonia, a recommended plant for terrariums.

I admit, it's not the nicest thing to give an experiment to someone as a gift, but I have high hopes for this one, and it went to a family member that adores plants. The instructions that went along with it included leaving the lid off the jar during the day so that no mold develops. Hopefully that will help to keep the tree looking good.

 

It belongs to a family member that I visit often, so I should be able to keep track of it and give it any treatment I needs if this doesn't work out.

Terrariums in progress...

In typical fashion, I procrastinated and found myself scrambling to finish the terrariums the night before they needed to be packed up for holiday travel.

I was running around trying to find something interesting. I tried all of the local craft stores and didn't like the quality for larger glass. I did pick up the three cubish containers at Michael's. I had hoped to use vintage glass, but struck out at the local thrift and antique stores. That doesn't come as a huge surprise, I can't be the only one using vintage glass for Christmas.

It was surprising to find what I was looking for at TJ Maxx, of all places. I was there with a friend looking for some other things and found some fantastic jars well suited to terrarium building, with the look I wanted. Hooray!

Largest of the jars. Currently has a layer of activated charcoal, a layer of gravel, and a layer of Bonsai West's bonsai soil.

The other four jars. One tall rectangle, two cubes, and a small apothecary jar.