10 ESSENTIAL Terrarium Tips For Beginners!

in this video I'll give you 10 essential tips to making and keeping long-lasting healthy terrariums just like these ones make sure you watch to the end as you're not going to want to miss any of these tips the first tip is to pick the right container to make a terrarium in although you might think this is a straightforward task there's plenty of areas you can go wrong all of the containers I've got here will make great terrariums but some will work better than others this one here for example has a very tight opening which will make it near impossible to make without the right tools it does have some writing on the front which isn't a problem in this case but some containers can have a lot of writing which are essentially block out the light make sure you avoid these containers and steer clear of heavily tinted ones as well as they will have the same problem if you're up for the challenge and have the proper tools these terrariums are extremely fun to make containers such as this stemless wine glass and this drinking glass also make great terrariums one big problem though is that they don't come with a lid so you're going to have to make one or buy one I like to use these clear acrylic discs as they're cheap to get hold of and look great the same would apply to this flower vase a suitable lid will need to be placed on top for the terrarium to thrive my go-to recommendation is always a clip lid glass jar these are cheap to get hold of you can get your whole hand inside so you haven't got to use any tools and they obviously come with a lid now let's move on to the next tip tip number two is to use a drainage layout where necessary in case you didn't know a drainage layer is a place for excess water to build up instead of it sitting in the substrate to make this layer you have a ton of options pea gravel is a great low budget material to use whereas something like leaker is a little more expensive but does have the added benefit of being very light and porous you can even use stones from outside I should mention that in smaller terrariums it's very easy to precisely control the amount of water in the substrate making the drainage layer optional however if you're new to terrarium making and nervous about over watering I would always suggest you use a drainage layer this next tip ties in well with the last one and that is to use a substrate barrier on top of the drainage layer as its name suggests a substrate barrier is a barrier between the substrate and the drainage layer it sits on top of the drainage layer and stops the substrate from getting down into the drainage it's quite hard to see it in this terrarium but it's doing a great job at holding the substrate in place let me show you a quick bonus tip within this tip that will make a substroke barrier unnecessary if you use a small size gravel for the drainage of your terrarium the gaps in between the Rocks would be so small that the substrate won't be able to get through this means a substrate barrier is unnecessary however if you use something slightly larger in size the substrate can easily fall through the gaps meaning a substrate barrier should be put in place the material I like to use is window screen mesh it's very easy to cut and allows water to freely pass through it it also comes in these big sheets which will last you quite some time let's move on to tip number four this is a terrarium I made on the channel quite a few months ago one of the primary reasons it's doing so well is due to the substrate mix that I used a quality substrate mix is essential for a healthy long lasting terrarium luckily for you I've spent the past few years making thousands of terrariums and perfecting the perfect substrate mix it's made up of one part cocoa fiber two-part sphagnum Moss one quarter part orchid bark one quarter pot charcoal and one quarter part worm castings all these materials come together to make the perfect terrarium substrate it holds moisture is resistant to compression provides nutrients for the plants and is well draining these are key characteristics of a quality terrarium substrate as you can probably guess I make a lot of terrariums so I like to mix up a big batch of substroke I've used this substrate mix in thousands of terrariums and it hasn't let me down but if you're unable to make this mix most ready-made terrarium substrates tend to work well my next tip is to invest in some terrarium making tools these ones here are actually sold for use in aquariums but they work in terrariums perfectly tools like this will make terrarium building a whole lot easier they make plants in Moss and plants super easy and you can work with much more precision they also allow you to easily make terrariums such as this one that has a tight opening without the proper tools making this terrarium would certainly test your patience I'll put an Amazon Link in the description to some like these some other super useful tools that I like to use are these sticks with corks in the end I made these tools myself and I mostly use them in containers that I can't get my hand into to Pat the substrate down having a variety of sizes will help you make a terrarium in any container much easier this wouldn't be a terrarium tip video without talking about some of the best moss and plant species to use this is Fern Moss it's a supernatural looking fast growing mask that is easy to grow cushion Moss is also a great choice it's slow growing with a beautiful vibrant green color mood Moss is also a perfect beginner species now let's talk about some plants this is fortonia it's probably one of the most popular plants to use in a terrarium hobby due to its vibrant colors and how easy it is to grow another great plant to use in terrariums is peperomias they're great accent plants or even centerpieces inside terrariums one of my personal favorite terrarium plants is ficus quercifolia more commonly known as Oak Leaf creeping fig this plant thrives in terrarium conditions and will no doubt bring a great sense of detail in interest to any scope one of the biggest terrarium Killers is over watering I have got a completely separate video that goes into more detail about how to water a terrarium but I'll give you the basics to water a terrarium use something like a fine mist spray bottle or a pipette give the terrarium a few light sprays and stop before you think it's got enough then close the terrarium and leave it for 24 hours after 24 hours Check the substrate and see how it looks if it looks dry then give the terrarium some more water but if it looks damp like this one then it's perfect and it doesn't need any more here are two terrariums of similar size and age obviously the terrarium on the right has been over watered why not pause the video now and let me know how you can tell other than the brown moss which is certainly not alive you can see that the substrate is fully saturated which is a clear sign of over watering before moving on let me quickly tell you about my terrarium making ebook it contains everything you need to know to make and keep long-lasting healthy terrariums from the best substrate mix to use 25 of the best mosses and plants to use what microfauna to introduce how to care for your terrarium and everything in between if you're interested I'll leave it at the top of the description and in the pin comment my next tip is about lighting obviously terrariums contain live moss and plants and they both require light to grow I like to place my terrariums under LED lights with a schedule of 12 hours on and 12 hours off if you're like me and have a lot of terrariums a long aquarium LED light works great this way you can use a single light for a handful of terrariums an easy zero cost alternative is to place your terrariums in indirect sunlight just make sure you avoid direct sunlight as it will leave your terrarium looking like this one easy way you can benefit the health of your terrarium is by opening it every once in a while every one to two weeks open your terrarium and let it sit for about five minutes this will let some fresh air in that it will certainly be grateful for it also gives you a good chance to check up on its health and do any maintenance if required this next tip's an important one you should always do your best to keep the glass clean this is a three-year-old terrarium that's got a lot of dead leaves and algae build up on the glass this is far from ideal as it's blocking valuable light to the plants that are inside if left uncleaned this will certainly lead to the end of the terrarium's life to clean the glass it's as simple as opening up the terrarium and wiping it down obviously this is an extreme case but even a terrarium like this can have a little bit of algae build up which you can clean up right away now you know some essential tips about terrarium making check out this video for an in-depth guide on how to make one

Channel: Terrarium Designs

Views: 829,449

Keywords: Terrarium tips, Terrariums for beginners, Beginner terrarium, Beginner Terrarium guide, How to make a terrarium, Terrarium, Teranium, Tererarium, Bioactive terrarium, Mini ecosystem, Jar terrarium, Terrarium tutorial, Terrarium tips for beginners, Terrarium plants, Terrarium drainage, terrarium watering, Terrarium moss, Terrarium design, Terrarium guide, Ecosystem terrariums

Id: GIWy75QPxkI

Length: 8min 15sec (495 seconds)

Published: Sun May 07 2023