Getting Mold In Your Terrariums? Follow These SIX Tips!

After spending time, money and  effort creating a terrarium,   mold is the last thing anybody wants to  see so in this video I'll be sharing six   tips with you that will drastically reduce  the chance of mould in your terrariums. Tip number one: Use good quality soil Good quality terrariums start with good quality   soil. So when I first started making terrariums  I would often use what I had lying around which,   more often than not, was just regular garden  compost. Compost is incredibly useful for   gardeners but not so much for people building  terrariums. It has a tendency to be extremely   water retentive which can quickly lead  to the environment becoming anaerobic. Compost is meant for feeding plants not as  a sole medium to be grown in. Cheaper stuff   often contains bits of twig, wood chip and bark  which aren't fully decomposed and will quickly   cause mold issues in your terrarium.  I highly recommend using my soil mix,   the video to which is right here. And it's  basically a mixture of coir, vermicast,   sphagnum moss and lava rock. It's light,  airy, water retentive yet well draining   which most terrarium plants love. I've had minimal mould issues using this   soil mix but that's also down to following these  tips that i'm sharing with you in this video. Tip number two: Increase airflow I am a firm believer that airflow is key to  terrarium health. Of course, the whole point   of a terrarium is that it's humid and airflow will  come at the expense of humidity so it is important   to maintain a balance between the two. Mold seems  to thrive in stagnant environments so increasing   the airflow is a very good way of reducing it. I do this by using small computer fans in my   large IKEA greenhouse cabinet which is where I  store my plants before I use them in a terrarium.   In smaller terrariums I simply remove the lid  every few days for a short amount of time to   allow fresh air in. If the opening is small or  if the shape of the bottle allows then I leave   the lid off permanently so long as it doesn't  negatively effect the level of humidity inside. If you're getting value from this video  consider subscribing to my channel,   I upload new videos every Thursday. Tip number three: Use springtails So springtails are tiny microfauna that actually   feed on mold and decaying matter. The kind I like  to use are called Folsomia candida and they're   also known as the tropical white springtail.  They're about the size of a pinhead so they're   absolutely tiny and they thrive in the humidity  of a terrarium. You won't have to worry about   them escaping and surviving in your house unless  your house is extremely wet and humid but they   won't eat your plants there's no worries about  that. They only feed on mold and decaying matter. If you've just planted a terrarium and you want  to add springtails in there, there's not going   to be anything for them to feed on because there  are no fallen leaves well there's probably not a   mold outbreak so you will need supplementary feed.  You can do this by dropping a few grains of white   rice into the container. Brown rice actually  germinates so unless you're trying to grow like   a paddy field terrarium then use white rice or  you can sprinkle a bit of baker's yeast. In there   I prefer to use the baker's yeast don't expect  them to eradicate large scale outbreaks and by   that I mean if you haven't added springtails into  your terrarium and all of a sudden you have a mold   outbreak and you think that adding the springtails  into the terrarium is going to eradicate that...   That's just not going to happen they will help  keep on top of small outbreaks and stop them   turning into large outbreaks and try and add them  early on if you can. They really are the unsung   hero of the terrarium and they do a great job of  keeping mold levels down, I highly recommend you   add them into your builds. To see a detailed  video on springtails click the link above. Tip number four: Try to minimize  introducing soil into the terrarium So I'll start right off by saying that this  is pretty much impossible to do because you   are going to be adding plants into your terrarium  and those plants are going to be growing in soil.  The thing is often garden centers will be  using cheap compost, the exact kind that   I said in tip number one not to use and  these plants are grown in large nurseries   and they're grown amongst thousands of other  plants. So mold tends to spread via spores   and these spores are often microscopic so you'll  never see them and amongst thousands and thousands   of plants if one plant develops mold the chances  are that those spores are going to spread.   These spores can lie dormant for large amounts  of time but you introduce that into your   terrarium in that nice warm humid stagnant  environment it's probably going to love it.  So how can I minimize that happening? Firstly  I like to use cuttings where I can because that   immediately stops any soil being introduced into  your terrariums. Secondly, in instances where I   can't use cuttings I like to allow the soil to dry  a little before I plant it into the terrarium then   I brush off any excess soil from the plant and  loosen the roots it's not a perfect method but   it does reduce the amount of soil going into the  terrarium and if any mold spores are sitting on   top of the soil then hopefully they'll be removed. Tip number five: Use correct hardscape materials So when I use wooden hardscape materials in  terrarium I like to buy them from aquatic stores   so drift or bogwood azalea root or spiderwood  are two of my favorites to use. I also like to   use cork bark and that can be bought from reptile  specialist. Cork bark is naturally mold resistant   and is a fantastic hardscape material to use  in a terrarium. The wood from aquatic stores   is designed to be submerged in water so it will  stand up very well to the high humidity of the   terrarium. It's specially treated and you can be  sure that you're not going to be introducing any   unwanted pests that would be sure to be introduced  if you were to just collect wood from the outside   and use that into your terrariums. Now I have  heard of people boiling wood or cooking it in   the oven to sterilize it. Now I've never done that  so I can't recommend it. If you're using stone and   you've collected it from outside you can wash  and scrub it in soapy water or if you're super   careful you can bake in the oven or put it in the  microwave which will kill any unwanted bacteria   but that's not something I tend to do. I tend to  just scrub them with soapy water. I like to use   lava rock which is specifically designed for gas  barbecues so you can heat that up without worry of   the stones exploding. There will be links to all  the hardscape materials in the description below. Tip number six: Use good quality light Now mould will grow in the light or in the   dark but i've noticed that in terrariums  it tends to flavor the darker spots  Lighting is something I do seem to bang on  about but for plant growth it really really is   so important and I see people placing terrariums  in totally unsuitable places which one the plants   aren't going to survive very long and two the  lack of light is going to encourage mold growth.   So, whatever kind of light you decide to use  either artificial or natural please make sure   your terrarium is receiving adequate light.  I've recently started using Darryl Cheng,   who is the author of 'The New Plant Parent' which  I think is the greatest house plant book ever   written. Now, it's a free app and I'll link it  in the description below and what it does it   measures the amount of light a certain area is  receiving using your phone's camera now there   are more expensive light meters available on the  market but for a rough idea of how much light your   terrarium is receiving this app seems to work  perfectly well. Of course different plants have   different light requirements but I make sure that  my terrariums are getting at least three to four   hundred foot candles of light and this is usually  achieved by artificial lighting methods. So an   additional point: As terrariums are naturally  humid environments that lack air flow, mold will   often rear its head. If you follow the tips that  I've shared with you in this video you can greatly   reduce the chance of mold in your terrarium but  I cannot guarantee that it won't happen. Try not   to be disheartened if you see it and remember  more often than not it will pass on its own. If it does completely destroy  your terrarium obviously that's   incredibly annoying but I'd encourage you  not to let it put you off starting again   it has happened to me in the past but it  hasn't happened to me in a very long time   because I follow these tips that I've  shared with you, unfortunately, it is   just a part of terrarium building please  do not let it put you off starting again. So those are my six tips on reducing mold in your  terrariums. If you think I've missed anything   let me know in the comment section below! And if you would like to discuss this or   any other topic further feel free  to email me or DM me on social media   you can also join my beginner friendly Facebook  discussion group which is called Terrarium Group.   All the links are in the description below. And if you enjoyed this video let me know   give me a like subscribe and comment  with what you enjoyed most about   it as always I love reading your feedback  and I will see you in the next video.

Channel: Worcester Terrariums

Views: 69,368

Keywords: Getting Mold In Your Terrariums? Follow These SIX Tips! microfauna, Terrarium tips, terrarium mold, terrarium mould, tropical springtail, springtail culture, springtails, folsomia candida, self sustaining ecosystem, mold in terrarium, mould in terrarium, terrarium substrate, terrarium soil, springtails in terrarium, humid terrarium, terrarium humidity, terrarium tutorial, terrarium for beginners, beginner terrarium, terrarium care, terrarium ecosystem, worcester terrariums

Id: Ttwm1awHdDo

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Thu May 27 2021