Plants Under Glass

Hi plant lovers! It has been forever since I wrote a blog post. That’s because D and I are expecting our first child and my pregnancy has not been the easiest. I am home off work awaiting baby’s arrival which could be any day now.  

Anyway, as I decided on what to write about, I thought I’d start by sharing one of my favourite things – terrariums. I have blogged about terrariums and how to make one in the past (click here and here and here). One thing that made me appreciate them even more is that since I’ve been battling with side effects of pregnancy, I totally slacked watering my plants and had to depend on D to do so for me. Well, of course my neglect meant I lost a few tropical plants. The succulents however always survive neglect (Thank God for succulents). Also, all the plants in my terrariums held up. Of course, this is because my closed terrariums did not need any tending to. This has made me want to perhaps just keep more plants in terrariums as I think of the busy motherhood ahead.

I remembered I had taken a few photos of some of my terrariums back in September and never posted them.  So here they are. The picture at the top of this post is made of preserved green moss – just decorative. Forgive the poor photography in this post. It was quite difficult to get a good shot of the plants through the glass.

This terrarium case was purchased from Lee Valley Tools, but unfortunately they don’t carry them anymore. It has ventilation at the top and you can life the glass portion of the base and for watering. I water this terrarium about every 2 weeks. Although it is vented, it keeps moisture in quite well so no need for frequent watering.

The terrarium on the right was just made from a glass container I had from Ikea. I don’t know what that plant is as it was sold under the ‘fairy plants’ section with no name. It looks like a mini tree. This one I had to vent quite a bit over the summer because it would get foggy. I also ended up with small algae growth which was probably due to the fact that I over watered it the first day and had originally placed it in bright light. In the winter though it has been ok. Never had to water it since the first day I put it together.  Please feel free to comment below if you know the name of the plant.

You probably can’t see this clearly, but its a blooming African violet. I’ve tried to keep African violets in the past in regular container and they fail to bloom for me. I had one bloom for me in a terrarium once, but had to get rid of it as I noticed soon after it was infected with mealy bugs.  I blogged about it here. I took a single leaf with stem from the old infested plant (which I eventually got rid of) and tried to start over in this tea pot. I’m glad I did because it is growing well. The original plant bloomed purple flowers however this one bloomed light purple to pink flowers! The spout is partially opened, hence I usually add a little but of water every month or so. On some occasions I find watering is not necessary as it looks really humid in there. Container is a partially cracked glass tea pot given to me by my sister-in-law who instead of throwing away asked if i wanted it “for your plant stuff” (Hehehe). She knows everything to me could be a possible planter and I would put it to good use.

If you want to keep English Ivy but is always riddled with spider mites (like me), here is an idea for you- put it in a terrarium. I saved 2 leaves on a stem from my Ivy infested plant and after washing them thoroughly to get rid of any pest, I planted it in the container. And oohh how it has grown. Again have never had to water it. Container from Michaels (I think).

Beautiful no? Its a Fittonia (Nerve plant). They LOVE constantly moist soil and high humidity and so make great terrarium plants.

This is another nerve plant but with pink veins. Planted it with some live moss. As you can see the moss is somewhat disfigured as it started stretching towards the light. Kept it in a north facing window at the time, which I have not moved a few meters back from a south west window. Still thriving.

And that’s all folks! I hope I have inspired you to try your hands at making terrariums. I am thinking of a new terrarium project  to embark before baby shows up and will keep you posted. Until then have a ‘Green-tastic ‘ day!