How To Make a Terrarium - An Easy Beginner Guide

in this video I'm going to show you how to make a simple but beautiful terrarium by the end you'll know everything you need to to make a thriving miniature ecosystem just like this one let's get straight into it I'll be using this small glass jar for this terrarium build before starting it's a good idea to check the glassware and determine which way is going to be the front most glass jars have these seams either side which aren't exactly the best to look at build the terrarium with these seams on the sides and not visible at the front with that done it's time to move on to the drainage layer a drainage layer is simply a layer of rocks or stones that sit at the bottom of a terrarium where excess water can build up if the excess water was to be sitting in the substrate it would quickly stagnate which is definitely not ideal to make the drainage layer you have a ton of options this is leaker it's very lightweight and porous making it perfect for drainage although it's a bit heavier and not porous pea gravel is a low-cost alternative that also works great this here is some small decorative aquarium gravel if you're on a budget you can even use rocks and stones from outside just be sure to give them a rinse first and try to avoid any that are too large try to avoid using fine sand as water will have a very hard time getting through as it compresses very easily for this build I'm going to use the decorative aquarium gravel [Music] and I'm going to use this terrarium tool which is simply a stick with a cork in the end to flatten it out try to make sure it's nice and even with no high or low points for a terrarium this size the drainage layer really doesn't need to be that deep and I could probably have got away with it being half as thick typically at this point I'll place on top some window screen mesh to act as a substrate barrier the purpose of this is to prevent the substrate from getting down into the drainage layer but if you look at the drainage layer the gravel size is small enough that the substrate will have a very hard time at getting through this means a substrate barrier is unnecessary in this case if I was to use the leaker or the pea gravel the gaps between the stones would be too large and the substrate can easily fit through this means I would have to use a substrate barrier to prevent this from happening with the drainage layer complete let's move on to the soil mix more commonly known as the substrate layer this is the lifeline of your terrarium's health so it's important that you get it right I'm going to show you my mix that I've used to make thousands of successful terrariums it's made up of one part cocoa fiber two parts Magnum 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 if you can't make this mix most pre-made terrarium substrates tend to work well I'll put some links in the description after pouring a good amount in you can see just how well the small sized gravel is doing at preventing the substrate from getting through now once again going to take the terrarium tool and gently Pat the substrate down into place as you can see I've created a slope with it being shallower at the front and deeper at the back this will help create a good sense of depth with the substrate in it's time to talk about The Hardscape Hardscape is the term for things like rocks and wood that are put inside a terrarium for decorative reasons it's often used to help improve the aesthetic of a terrarium and even recreate nature on a miniature scale all these rocks stones and wood I'm showing you here make great Hardscape materials but if you're on a budget you can find and use Roxanne wood from outside just make sure you avoid any wood that's showing signs of rotting although Hardscape is great and it can definitely make your terrarium look better you certainly don't have to use it to make a beautiful natural terrarium and that's exactly what I'll be showing you today instead of Hardscape I'm going to take advantage of different size textures and shapes of different plants and mosses I'm heading out to my garden as there's some nice masks growing out there I've used this species of moss before many times so I know that it grows great inside terrariums unfortunately I can't say the same for every species of moss as some just don't get on well inside terrariums it's definitely a case of trial and error but that's all part of the learning process the Moss was very dry so as you can see I've placed it in a container and I'm going to rehydrate it with water I always like to rehydrate Moss from outside before using it inside a terrarium whilst the Moss is soaking in water let me quickly tell you about my terrarium making ebook it contains everything you need to know to make and keep a long lasting healthy terrariums it would definitely help you avoid some of the unfortunate mistakes that all new terrarium makers go through and will give you a head start to making some beautiful miniature ecosystems it contains loads of information that you can continuously refer back to throughout your terrarium making Journey from 25 of the best moss and plant species a drainage depth chart the best microfauna to introduce and much more if you're interested it'll be at the top of the description and in the pin comment the Moss has been soaking for about 20 minutes and it's fully hydrated I'm now going to take each piece of moss and squeeze out the excess water as you can see each piece was fully saturated with water [Music] now all the Moss is ready I'm going to use some long tweezers to carefully place it inside the terrarium I'm then going to use my fingers to gently press it down onto the substrate this will help it Wick up moisture and prevent it from drying out I tear off small chunks and fill in any gaps around the front if you're enjoying this build or finding it useful be sure to give it a like I didn't end up needing it all so I'm going to go ahead and place these bits back where I found them for the background of the terrarium I want to use a mask that's a little more wild looking and will give it a dense foresty look [Music] Fern Moss is the perfect species for the job it has an extremely natural appearance with a wild looking growth as you could probably have guessed from its name it's the leaves resemble miniature ferns I used some long tweezers to plant it inside at this point you can clearly see why I sloped the substrate up at the beginning it really helps create the illusion that the terrarium is deeper than it actually is I'm using some small bits of fern Moss to create a more natural transition from the lower Grime Moss at the front to the higher more wild looking Moss at the back I think it worked out really well if you wanted to you haven't actually got add any plants and you can leave the terrarium there and it still looks like a miniature slice of nature I'm not going to do that today as I want to add a centerpiece plant in the middle the plant I want to showcase is this beautiful red photonia obviously I won't be planting this whole thing inside but instead I'll be taking a cutting I chose the piece I wanted to use and then used some scissors to snip it off I'll be planting it up to the first set of leaves it will soon root itself and begin growing this is known as plant propagation I'm going to take this long stick and carefully poke a hole through the Moss down into the substrate I'm then going to take the photonia cutting and plant the stem into the hull however once I got it in I felt like one of the leaves looked too big and out of place I simply cut it off and then planted it back inside the terrarium I really like the pop of color that the photonia brings to this mini ecosystem next I'm going to add some tiny bugs which will help keep the terrarium clean and healthy these are springtails they eat things like mold and decaying matter which can be harmful to the Fine balance of a terrarium's ecosystem the mossen plants provide sufficient oxygen for the springtails to survive in return they keep the terrarium clean and healthy and their poop would even be used as fertilizer by the plants I love how the terrarium is looking so far but it's not finished yet I'm going to use a small spray bottle to water the terrarium as you can see the substrate is quite dry which is not ideal I'm going to give the terrarium a few light sprays until the substrate look stamp that looks much better when spraying the terrarium it's very important that you don't over water it all that's left to do is to put on the lid and place the terrarium under an LED light or in a bright spot in an indirect sunlight make sure you avoid direct sun thanks for watching this video and I hope you found it useful now you know how to make a terrarium check out this video for 10 essential tips to keeping it healthy [Music]

Channel: Terrarium Designs

Views: 53,011

Keywords: How to make a terrarium, Beginner terrarium build, Easy terrarium tutorial, Terrarium guide, Terrarium makeing, Terrariums for beginners, Bioactive terrarium, Simple terrarium, Live plant terrarium, Self sustaining terrarium tutorial, How to make a Terarium, Teranium build, Step by steps terrarium, Live terrarium, Moss terrarium, Peperomia terrarium, Fittonia terrarium, Mini ecosystem, Ecosystem, How to make a ecosystem, Ecosystem build, Beginner ecosystem, Simple terraruim

Id: r5QRETn5O7I

Length: 8min 19sec (499 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2023