A Greenhorn's Guide to Making a Terrarium!!

Good Morning All! (since I've started early today!)
Today, I really feel blessed to be staying in this beautiful heaven on Earth...Kalimpong! The view from my home is just....breadth-taking! Must've done something really great to have been posted here! You feel I am exaggerating?? Then have a peek yourself!! If only I had a good camera...

 So today I have decided to share with you all, something other than food....The Blog isn't named Just About...Anything!! for nothing...right!

I tried my hands on making a Terrarium, sort of a miniature garden in a jar...which I had been planning to do since quite some time.... It is also popularly called bottle garden. A fad for terrariums began with the discovery that plants thrive in an enclosed space where moisture is not lost. It is hence a mini garden where a self-sustainable  micro-climate exists. Needless to say...it looks beautiful! 

So...What are the requirements? Simple...

• Any clear glass container with or without lid; old, discarded aquariums also work well.
• Small foliage plants thrive in the stable & warm climate. (Try Ferns, bagonias, small crotons, fittonia, small palm, succulents, small ivys)

          Ideal: Slow growing plants.

          No-No: Flowering plants.

          Vital Requirements: Light...ample but not fierce.

          Place in a Portico, window or any corner of the room that receives good sunlight but not fierce.           If no such space is available, then put them under fluorescent light, but not directly under a naked    bulb.

• Activated Charcoal (the one you find inside water filters!)....Though I used normal wood charcoal that I crushed a little...basically used for purifying water so that it doesn't smell after a few days.
• Sheet Moss...the on used for potted climbers. I used the moss that grows on trees around here...comes to the same thing. (Acts as a sponge)
• Pebbles
• Soil (last but...definitely not the least)

                            

• Now first put a layer of pebbles in the jar (I used an open fish bowl). This is done so that the water gets some space to settle and your plant does not drown.
• Add the activated charcoal or the wood charcoal that I crushed slightly. You can also mix the charcoal with the pebbles or soil (any which way you like). This purifies the water and doesn't let it stagnate.
• Add the sheet/Sphagnum Moss now...a layer of it. It acts as a sponge and soaks up excess water and of-course makes your jar look good!

                             

• Now its time to add potting soil. Take care that it should be light and not clumpy to allow drainage. If required mix some sand to the soil for that purpose. Fill the jar with about 2 inches of soil. pack it up nicely.
• Start placing the plants gently into the new soil. Make sure that you remove excess soil from the roots of the plant before planting them in the Terrarium. Place different plants according to your liking.
• With a spray bottle, gently spray some water into the Terrarium. Take care ...Don't overdo it...The plants need to be watered just once in a week! In case of closed Terrariums, it may only need watering once in 15 days or a month. 
• Watering also depends on the climate of the place you are in....If the place is humid then you need not water your plants too often or else they will drown; and if the place is hot and dry water your plants more often.

                                

So the Terrarium is ready.... Good start for a beginner, I think!

       

       

Maybe the next one turns out better! I am not sure whether you liked it but I am quite sure about one thing that by now you must have understood the process...It is not Rocket Science after all...isn't it??

      

Had fun making this...getting all messed up and dirty....A good stress-buster for all the Busy-bees....My words!!