Make your own: Terrarium

To follow up on my previous blogpost and the great interview with Jeannine C. about plant care (with or without a green thumb) - house plants are a beautiful way to decorate your home - whether placed along windowsills, on table tops or on bookshelves. But I think it equally beautiful that they can provide a function: cleaning the air around you and improving your general health.

For the creative minds among you, and DIY lovers, I'd like to share the following idea - a terrarium. Terrariums are beautiful, low maintenance focal points for a living space, and they also make wonderful gifts. They are completely closed-loop systems which are entirely self sustaining. Soil, plants, and a bit of water are all enlosed within a glass container, and with a little natural light, a greenhouse effect is created. This helps trap heat and moisture, allowing the plants to grow.

Materials:

- Large glass container or jar with lid

- Decent amount of small pebbles and acitvated charcoal - enough to fill the bottom of your glass container up to 2.5 cm

- Potting soil appropriate for your plants - enough to fill the glass container at least halfway

- 2-3 plants of your choice

- Spray bottle with water

Method: First determine what type of terrarium plants you would like to have. Succulents and cacti, which need less water, should be put in a glass container with an open top. Plants that like humidity such as ferns, mosses, strawberry begonias and calathes are suitable for a closed container. Be sure to buy small specimens.

Take your glass container and fill it 2.5 cm high with small pebbles and activated charcoal. This will help drain excess water and discourage mould growth. Reuse or repurpose your container if possible.

Place the potting soil on top of the pebbles and charcoal, and fill the terrarium container at least halfway. Dig small grooves into the soil and carefully position the terrarium plants, ensuring that the roots are covered. Pat the soil down, and spray with a bit of water if it is dry.

Place the lid on top of your terrarium (if applicable for your plant species). A repurposed wooden trivet can be placed over the opening of the container as a lid option.

To take care of the terrarium, place it in indirect light, unless it contains succulents and cacti. You should notice that in the presence of light, the sides of the container will appear foggy and small water droplets will begin to form on the inside (the greenhouse effect). If you begin to notice mould, simply keep the lid open for a period of time to air out the system. If there is little to no fog or water droplets, spray with a little more water.

Et voilá - it is just as simple as that and very much suitable as a good first DIY project. If you need a bit of help with creating your own terrarium, check some DIY-courses nearby. For those that live in the Netherlands, I can only recommend the following workshop. Definitely one of my favorites and so much fun! Want to have some more DIY-ideas included in my future blogposts - please share your feedback now - comment below or send me an email to: timeasdesign@gmail.com