How To Make a Terrarium: An In-Depth Tutorial

making a terrarium can seem difficult and complicated if you've never made one before but after watching this video you'll learn exactly how to make your own I'll be covering everything from making the drainage layer creating the substrate mix picking out the right moss and plants and much more I'm going to start by picking out an appropriate container to build the terrarium in although all of these would make great terrariums some will be a lot harder than others this glass bottle for instance has a very tight narrow opening this makes it difficult to get any materials inside that's not to say it can't be done and long tweezers such as these will make the job possible but it's definitely a lot harder and can most certainly test your patients so for today's build we're going to pass on these two containers here micro terrariums in glass bottles such as this one can be great fun to make however they can be quite fiddly and do require a little more maintenance for them to thrive this is a glass spice jar making a terrarium in something like this is a great budget-friendly way to upcycle otherwise useless household items I'm not using it today but I've made one in the past if you want to check that video out another great option to use is something like a drink in glass they're very affordable and come in lots of different shapes and sizes however unlike this jar they obviously don't come with a lid this is a quick and easy solve by using something like a clear acrylic disc they're very affordable and make great lids for terrariums here's a drinking glass terrarium I made six months ago and as you can see it's thriving although it would work great I want to use something a little larger for today's beginner build these three containers here would all make great terrariums they all come with a lid they're easy to get materials inside and they're a good size to start off with for today's build I'm going to be using this glass cookie jar I got it from Ikea and it's roughly two liters in size it has a lid with a rubber gasket which will provide a Tight Seal one important thing to point out before starting this build is the glass seam although it's hard to see on camera this is a line that goes down either side of the glass make sure you position these lines on the side so they don't block the front view now I'm going to move on and start making the drainage layer this is a layer of stones or rocks that will sit at the bottom of the terrarium where excess water can sit to make this layer you have many options this is pea gravel it's very affordable and can be found at most garden centers and hardware stores this is leaker it's a little more pricey but it has the added benefit of being extremely light and porous the most budget-friendly way is to Simply find Stones outside this is just three examples but when it comes to what you can use your options are unlimited so long as the rocks and stones are relatively small in size they would do a great job these rocks here are obviously too big and would not make a suitable drainage layer [Music] although all three of these would work great for today's build I'm going to be using leaker as I briefly mentioned earlier it's very porous this means each Stone will be able to hold water which will ultimately mean that there is a greater volume of drainage in the terrarium it's also very light which will keep the weight of the terrarium down this comes in very handy in large terrariums after pouring in a generous amount and passing it down into place the drainage layer is complete for a terrarium this size the drainage layer only needs to be about two to three centimeters if I was to put the substrate in now it would fall through all the gaps and cracks in the drainage layer this is certainly not ideal but there's a simple solution this is Windows screen mesh and I'm going to use it to create a substrate barrier this will sit on top of the drainage layer and prevent the substrate from getting through obviously it needs to be cut to size which can easily be done with a pair of scissors I placed the terrarium on top of the window screen mesh and then roughly cut out the shape then I take it and neaten it up a little bit there are other materials you can use for a substrate barrier such as weed blocker fabric but I found window screen mesh to work best it holds the majority of the substrate back while still allowing a good flow of water it hasn't got to be perfect and can even work better if it's cut a little bit too big the substrate will have a hard time getting through the small holes with the drainage layer and substrate barrier in place let's move on to creating the substrate mix I'm going to use my usual mix which I've used to make over 2 000 successful terrariums these are the materials you'll need I'll explain the ratio as I make the mix you'll also need a tub to mix everything up and a tub to measure the parts let's get started I'm going to start by taking the cocoa fiber brick and rehydrating it in water be aware that it does expand a lot about 20 minutes later it's fully hydrated and ready to add to the mix I used the cup to measure out one part cocoa Fiber One part is simply whatever size cup you are using one quarter part will be one quarter of the cup and two parts would be two cups obviously as I mentioned we only need one part cocoa fiber I'm then going to measure out two parts sphagnant Moss as I make a lot of small terrariums I like to trim up the sphagnum Moss into small pieces this is easily done with scissors I then add a quarter part of orchid bark a quarter pot of charcoal and a quarter part of worm castings and then I mix them up all together here's all the ratios up on screen if you want to take a screenshot all the components come together to make the perfect terrarium substrate it holds moisture it's resistant to compression contains nutrients for the plants and is well draining these are all key characteristics of a quality terrarium substrate if you like me and make a lot of terrariums why not make a big batch time to get the substrate into the terrarium I use a cup to pour in a generous amount of substrate if you're enjoying this build or finding it useful why not drop a like And subscribe so you don't miss any future builds once I had a decent amount of substrate in I used the back of my hand to gently Pat it down into place as you can see I've created a slope that goes up towards the back of the terrarium this is a simple and easy way that will help improve the sense of depth also when looking at the substrate barrier you can see that it's doing a great job at stopping the substrate from getting into the drainage layer now it's time to move on to my favorite part which is The Hardscape when it comes to Hardscape there's pretty much Endless Options which you can choose from here are a few of my favorites this is Dragonstone it's a very popular hard skip to use and I can see why lava rock is also a very popular option and you can get it in a black and red variety cereal Stone can also look great in terrariums and creates a nice contrast to green moss and plants although I don't use them much Granite Pebbles create some nice textures and details a super cheap but effective option is slate stone it has really nice horizontal Textures in each piece spyderwood can no doubt completely transform The Hardscape of a terrarium and comes in a huge variety Driftwood can also look great on its own or in combination with rocks and stones and last but not least is cork bark it's a budget-friendly Hardscape which looks great inside terrariums there are plenty more options that I haven't listed here and if you're on a budget you can even go outside and find your own Hardscape for today's build I'm going to use spiderwood in combination with slate stone I think the gray of the slate stone will contrast nicely with the brown of the wood instead of just putting some stones in and calling it there I take some time to experiment with different layouts and structures until I find something that I'm happy with here's what I came up with it's a very simple layout that incorporates three pieces of slate stone and one piece of spiderwood I think this is a nice simple skeleton that can be brought to life with moss and plants I'm going to take the spider wood out for now so planting is a little easier now it's time to talk about moss before picking one I'm going to show you three great options that all work great inside terrariums this one here is Fern Moss it's one of my favorite species to use in terrariums it really gives the terrarium a deep foresty look which I love the only downside is in low light conditions it can grow quite leggy and stretched out this is cushion Moss it's a vibrant green species of moss that loves to grow inside terrariums it's a very slow growing species of moss as can be seen in this six months old terrarium this isn't necessarily a negative as it means less maintenance will be required this here is mood Moss it's very similar to cushion Moss only it grows faster this terrarium needs a clean and a light spray but the mood Moss has done a great job growing inside here all three of these mosses will work great but for today's build I'm going to use cushion Moss I start by combing through the mask I'm removing any sticks and twigs inside [Music] I then use my hands to gently tear the Moss into smaller chunks next I'm going to take some scissors and cut off the base of the Moss this won't hurt the Moss at all and it will allow it to sit closer to the substrate which will result in a better looking terrarium quick tip the base section can be used as a substitute for sphagnum moss in a terrarium substrate mix I'm going to use some long tweezers to plant the moss inside the terrarium they're not essential but are most certainly helpful I'll put a link in the description to a similar pair to these once the Moss was in I used my finger to gently press it down onto the substrate this will help it Wick up moisture from the substrate layer which will Aid in its growth if you're finding this video useful you might be interested in my terrarium make and ebook it's packed full of useful information which I'll throw some of up on screen now if you want to take the guesswork out and avoid all the mistakes new terrarium makers go through this is the book for you it's currently on a limited time offer so now's the perfect time to grab it I'll put a link at the top of the description or in the pin comment if you want to check it out now let's get back into the build even with just the moss in the terrarium has really been brung to life I'm now going to take the spider wood and place it where it was back inside the terrarium now it's time to start adding some plants I've got a few different species here some of which have been pulled out from other terrariums this is for Tonya and it's one of the most popular plants to use inside a terrarium as you can see it comes in a variety of different colors and leaf shapes this here is a species of peperomia when mature it has these beautiful dark red deep rich leaves I'll also be using another tiny peperomia this is hydrocotyl an unknown to some this is an aquatic plant that grows great inside terrariums I'm going to start by taking some cuttings from the white photonia this plant can easily be propagated from a cutting I will plant the stem up to the first set of leaves and it will send out new roots in no time I'm going to start by planting the largest peperomia towards the back I use the tip of the tweezers to make a small hole through the Moss down into the substrate I then take the plant and plant it inside [Music] next I planted the photonia cutting just behind the spiderwood as I just mentioned these cuttings were root and grow in no time and the closed ecosystem of the terrarium actually provides perfect conditions for them to do so next I planted the tiny peperomia on the right side of the terrarium I followed the same process as before next I planted the red photonia in the center of the terrarium to add a pop of color when it comes to choosing plants for terrariums it's important to choose ones that are suitable for the conditions plants that originate from tropical humid environments tend to do well in terrariums next I placed in a few cuttings of hydrocotyl around the terrarium this is a fast-growing small leaf plant that will add some nice texture and detail to the terrarium with the plants in it's time to move on to the next step these are springtails they'll help make the terrarium a true miniature ecosystem they'll do this by eating any mold or decaying matter that they can find they then process it and poop it out in the form of fertilizer for the plants in return the plants and Moss provide sufficient oxygen for them to survive you can find spring towers in most reptile and amphibian shops but you can also get them online if you really wanted to you can also find them outside under damp Leaf litter time to move on to watering this step is very important and is often where people go wrong I like to use a small misting bottle and give the entire terrarium a light spray down it's very important that you don't over water the terrarium in most cases you should stop watering before you think the terrarium's got enough water remember it's much better to underwater a terrarium than over water it when looking at the substrate it should be damp and not wet or soggy as this terrarium has a seal on the lid very little moisture will be able to leave the jar this means it will need very infrequent watering I won't be looking to water this terrarium for at least a year when it comes to lighting you have a few options you can either get a display LED light such as this one and turn it on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours this will provide a reliable light source year round alternatively you can place it in a bright spot in indirect sunlight just make sure you avoid direct sun a good care practice to get in the routine of is to open the terrarium every one to two weeks this will let some fresh air in and give you the opportunity to check up on its overall health let me know in the comments if you found this video useful and thank you for watching

Channel: Terrarium Designs

Views: 373,297

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

Id: 9B7aIULFjrc

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 22 2023