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Part 5:
Maintenance Tips For Your
Plant Terrariums

Plant Terrariums are a fun and easy way for adults and children to re-create a miniature ecosystem for plants and/or animals and reptiles.

Are they easy to take care of, you might ask?

Well, we say yes! With some light maintenance and care, you'll enjoy your creation for a long time.

How to make Plant Terrariums successfully does depend on several key points.

Watering the plants in your container is a top priority. While some fertilizing may be needed, most plants you'll use will not require fertilizer. (Always, however, check the information tag on the plant when purchased.)

Temperature and lighting is a huge factor as well. Lighting, especially, could make or break the outcome of your creation.

We'll discuss all of this and more. So stay tuned for some neat and helpful videos with some "need to know" Terrarium Tips throughout.

Terrarium Care Videos

Temperature

Up first is temperature.

Referring to inside Plant Terrariums, if a plant calls for "warm" conditions, this is usually saying that home temperatures will sufice. 65° at night and 75° during the day.

Reminder

For better temperature control, heaters with an adhesive back that look like a thin mat are available to adhere to the back or side of your Terrarium.

75° may sound too hot for your house, but do remember that your Terrarium will be in or near a window with a lot of light. The temperature in that window will be warmer than what you have your thermostat set at!!

Again, referring to inside Plant Terrariums, if a plant calls for "cool" temperatures, this might be very hard to achieve. That means 50°-55° at night! That's pretty cool for a house. Is that achievable? Only you can decide.

How to keep track of the temperature??? A simple thermometer will do the trick. As you'll see in the video, an adhesive-type thermomoter is superb. If you don't have one of these, simply place a thermometer inside to keep track of the temperature.

Click ONCE on the small arrow at the bottom-left-corner of the screen (not the arrow in the middle of the screen) to watch this video.

Container Gardening Tip

Think all plants can benefit from fertilizer? Wrong!! Most Terrarium Plants will never need it.

If they do, always choose a mild fertilizer for your plants, but never apply it unless your absolute that they require it!! If they don't, they'll perish within a matter of days.

Watering:

Don't forget, most Terrarium plants will have different watering needs. Refer to your plants information tag for it's specific requirements and go from there. However, this is a simple task.

If your lucky, your Terrarium will have the visiblity needed to monitor the amount of water in the base. That's something to consider when shopping around for the best fit.

Do note that every Terrarium is different as well. Tropical verses desert....big difference in water needs!!

If the plant needs daily watering or intermitent watering, either way, sometimes it easier to water with a spray bottle.

You can see a demonstration of this by watching this next video.

Click ONCE on the small arrow at the bottom-left-corner of the screen (not the arrow in the middle of the screen) to watch this video.

Container Gardening Tip

Cleaning your Terrarium is a necessary task. Every week or so, take a cloth and wipe down the insides of the glass. This will remove excess moisture and minimize build-up.

If you notice mineral deposits or algae build-up, utilize a razor blade to scrape off any residue, then wipe down with a clean cloth.

Lighting:

"What type of light fixture should I use for Plant Terrariums" is probably the most common question.

The best answer for that is...a cool-bulb flourescent fixture such as the kind you would use in your garage or work shop. These "shop lights" are a great economical source for the best type of light for your Plant Terrariums.

Any type of bulb that puts off heat (like halogen bulbs) is not the kind you want.

Some Terrarium set-ups you purchase might come with the light included in the package deal, but if not, choose a fixture that is sized to fit your Terrarium top as best as possible. It might not fit exactly, but that's fine. It doesn't have to be perfect!! Do however, take measurements to ensure the best possible match.

Also, put your light fixture on a timer. A typical setting would be a 14 hour stretch of "on" time. 10 hours of "off" time. That sounds like an unnatural amount, but that is best!

See this tutorial on choosing the light fixture for your Terrarium.

Click on the small arrow at the bottom-left-corner of the screen (not the arrow in the middle of the screen) to watch this video.