Today I am doing a bit different post between my Icelandic travel ones.
As I am a nature lover you also know that I love plants and growing stuff. Two days ago I bought a self-sustaining Terrarium that should maintain itself.
There were many of these Terrariums but I decided to buy the largest, most gorgeous, and with many different species in it. It was disgustingly expensive ( 300 EUR ) but I hope it's worth it and I don't get to be left with dead plants and an expensive jar.
So how does self-sustaining terrarium work?
Basically, all the plants that are in it love humid air and many are hard to grow in a pot indoors due to constant dry air.
Terrariums are different but this is a closed one, meaning nothing gets in or out if you don't open it. The moisture that is inside condensates, It basically rains down or drips down along the sides of the glass. Also the very humid air inside moistures the soil, the cycle repeats. In theory, if you don't open it, the same moisture gets cycled all over again.
Terrarium also needs daylight but not direct sunlight, you don't want to create a sauna inside or the plants will die fast. The natural light helps all the plants to photosynthesize and this creates oxygen and minerals for plants. They consume oxygen in the dark. During the daytime, plants should consume carbon monoxide.
In the dark Estonian winter, we don't have enough natural daylight for plants so they need fake lights and warm LED home lights should do the job.
Though it's a self-sustaining terrarium, mine isn't 100% closed and some little air exchange can happen through the not fully tight lid. This means I should add some water 1 or 2 times in a year. If the upper glass doesn't get any condensation anymore then it's time to water but not much. These plants can develop root rot fast in this climate so the soil should never be soaked.
I also like to open it from time to time and take a smell, it's an earthly odor, like a humid forest. Due to this, I might need to add some water more often.
There are 9 plants in total inside, all are tropical rainforest or subtropical plants.
- Epipremnum aureum - in human language Golden Photos / moneyplant / Ivy
- Cycas revoluta - Sago Palm/Fern Palm
- Hedera Helix - English poison Ivy 2 types in there.
- Alocasia Wentii
- Pilea Cadierei- Aluminium Plant
- Syngonium Podophyllum - Arrowhead vine/African evergreen
- Fittonia Albivenis - Nerveplant/Snakeskin plant
- Green alive moss, not sure what type.
Basically, a terrarium can live as long as everything is balanced inside so I still need to monitor it for mold and moisture levels.
Here is a photo from another side, it was currently blurry due to condensation on the glass.
I really hope I can keep this ecosystem alive or it can itself. If plants happen to start dying it would be really sad, hope it would not come to this in the near years. After all, it's an awesome experiment and I love having a small piece of rainforest and full ecosystem in my home.
It’s does not grow more than this as long as the soil is not soaked?
Not sure what you meant but its bad when soil is soaked. The roots will rot.
Plants will grow and some might outgrow other so some maintanence is needed to trim these when necessary and keep the inside beautiful.
Ok. I understand now 🙂 thank you
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That is a very beautiful terrarium. I am excited to see its next development. Greetings from the Philippines.
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