This project started in that weird time between Christmas and new years, 2023. Last winter, I had been sulky and uninspired for all the rain and darkness, so we decided this year I needed an inside project which could keep me sane through the dark months.

One of the project list items that I had wanted to tick off since moving into our new place had been a real large terrarium. Perfect winter blues project!

I have made a few terrariums before (seen below). On the left you have the “This covid lockdown is new and interesting, lets give ourself a reason to go outside!” and on the right, a much more ambitious terrarium for my mother’s vanilla orchids to help them survive the dry winters.

Both were amusing and neat. But I wanted more!

At a second hand furniture store (which would also be the source of my other terrarium), I found an old ikea glass cabinet. I’ve seen a few videos of people turning these things into plant lockers, so I took it home.

Next was a stop to the animal / aquarium store to pick up the main materials for the terrarium - driftwood, cork bark, and pressed cork sheeting.

Although cork bark is wood, when put in a terrarium context it ends up looking like either a gnarled tree, or like rocks with wonderful texture.

The arrangement of the wood pieces was fun and frustrating. lots of hot glue, and standing with hands on hips until the right arrangement revealed itself. Next, all the gaps were filled in with expanding foam, cork panels, and little flower pots. a layer of silicone and coco peat hides all the unnatural colors from the expanding foam.

the goal with the design was to get as many nooks and crannies as possible, with an effect of shadow and light flowing through the individual pieces of wood and bark.

Next, the planting. I started with moss and a bromeliad, with tillandsias scattered around as well. Since the terrarium is so vertical, with so few places to hold soil, most of the plants which will be able to survive must be epiphytic (plants that grow on other plants).

I bought a variety of miniature orchids such as Bulbophyllum and Pleione (which ended up not doing so well in the hot humid terrarium), as well as a vanilla orchid.

After about 6 months, I did a little adjusting of plant locations. I added some miniature nepenthes (commonly known as pitcher plants), and moved around some of the orchids.

And I couldnt resist throwing a few more carnivorous plants in…

As you can see below, after a further 3 months, the moss has really grown in on the sides, and everything looks really nice and natural.

Many carnivorous plants love full sunlight, so I’ve turned the top area into a little carnivorous zone. In the far left in the back is a Penguicula sp. with sticky leaves to trap insects, a Drocera (sundew) in the center rear. At the back right is some kind of Sarracenea, and then in the rightside below the Sarracenea is a Dionaea (venus fly trap) (which by the way, are native to the exotic land of North Carolina…weird.)

There is still a lot of work to do with the setup. Firstly I’ve been using tap water for watering, which I know is not ideal, as it is full of salt and calcium, which over time will kill everything (evidenced by the venus fly trap which is not doing that great). I’ll switch to rain water as soon as I collect enough.

Also, its tricky to know where the different plants want to live. There is a huge variation in light between the bottom and top of the terrarium, and its important to find out where in that column of brightness each plant is happiest. Lots of the plants have been rearranged more than once.

Final lesson is that one should not be impatient with moss and go out into the forest to collect their own, unless they want to introduce every forest pest ever into the terrarium, resulting in a never ending war against the tiny snails!