How To Water a Terrarium - EVERYTHING You Need to Know!

[Music] if done incorrectly water in a terrarium can result in it looking like this in this video you'll learn everything there is to know about water and terrariums so yours should look a little like this I'll be covering everything from water in new and old terrariums how often to do so and even how to fix an overwater terrarium be sure to make it to the end as this video is packed with value let's start with how to water a new terrarium I just made this terrarium and haven't watered it yet for the purpose of this video it's extremely simple but it will work as an example what I'm going to do is look at the substrate as it hasn't been watered yet it's relatively dry what we want is the substrate to be damp but not wet or soggy to water the terrarium I'm going to be using this fine mist spray bottle in my opinion this is the best tool to use for watering another good option is a pipette as you can easily control the amount of water going inside as I mentioned earlier we want the substrate to be damp this is an example of a terrarium with a wet and saturated substrate which is definitely not what we want and it's the reason it died a quick point I should add is that this Tyrone did not die because it doesn't have a drainage layer super healthy long lasting terrariums can be made without a drainage layer so long as the terrariums are small their small size make it unbelievably easy to regulate the perfect amount of water in the substrate making a drainage layer unnecessary in larger terrariums a drainage layer is very effective and should definitely be used but in smaller ones it can often be misleading and lead to a false sense of security the drainage layer can be empty and free from water but yet the terrarium can still be over watered and die here's an example of a Terrain with a drainage layer but is still very much over watered I'll be showing you how I fixed this over water terrarium later on in this video without the way let's get back to water in this newly made terrarium I used a spray bottle to give it several light sprays of water I stopped spraying before I think the terrarium's got enough water it still looks relatively dry but a lot of water is on the glass and in the Moss and it will make its way down to the substrate so what I'm going to do now is leave it there and close the terrarium for 24 hours [Music] 24 hours have passed when looking at the substrate now you can see that it's damp and at the perfect moisture level it should be although I thought I underwatered it yesterday it turned out to be the perfect amount if it did need more water I would give it a few more light sprays with the spray bottle close it up and then check it again tomorrow another leading factor that can impact the amount of water you need to give your terrarium is the substrate if your substrate mix is extremely dry you will need to give your terrarium more water and if it's very damp you will need less I like to keep mine on the drier side here's a mature terrarium that I made a few months back I'm going to show you how I go about watering it firstly I determine whether it needs water at all when filling the Moss it does feel pretty dry and when looking at the substrate it's also looking drier than I would like this means this terrarium needs to be watered once again I'm going to take the small spray bottle and give it a few light sprays keep in mind that a mature terrarium will likely need less water than a newly made one once again I stopped before I think there's enough and then check the substrate a day later if it requires more I'll add so accordingly but this one ended up perfect this is a terrarium that is completely dried out due to lack of watering this is obviously not ideal and should be avoided it's a good idea to check up on your terrarium's health every couple weeks and determine if it needs to be watered it likely won't but it's good practice to check it goes without saying that if it doesn't need water don't water it here's a visual comparison of a terrarium that's been overwatered and one that has the perfect amount as you can see the difference is clear and for another reference here's the underwater terrarium you're probably wondering how often you should be Watering your terrarium unfortunately I can't give you an exact answer as every single terrarium is different this one for instance has an acrylic lid which means it's not airtight this means it will need to be watered more frequently than something like this terrarium here which has a gasket and will provide a 100 airtight seal terrariums like this very rarely need to be watered as no water can evaporate and escape the jar due to the airtight seal in my experience terrariums with cork Lids do not provide a complete airtight seal and should therefore be watered more frequently this to roam is about a year old and I water it every three months or so also I just noticed this Tarone has a tiny mushroom growing inside which is a great sign that the terrarium is healthy as I mentioned water in frequency will vary from every single terrarium this terrarium here which has an airtight seal likely won't need to be watered for at least a year whereas this one I water it every two to three months due to the lid which is not airtight another key factor is the Moss and plants that you have used faster growing species of moss and plants will use up more of the available water to grow this means watering will be a little more frequent compared to an identical terrarium with slow growing plants the best thing to do is check up on your terrarium every two to three weeks and note down how it's doing note down how the substrate is doing does it appear damp or does it look like it's beginning to dry out note down whether the glass has any condensation on it if it has none at all it may be a sign that it needs to be watered soon also look at the Moss and plants the Moss should not look like it's drying up and if it is it may be a sign that the terrarium needs to be watered writing all this down will give you a catalog of information to look back on and will help you accurately determine when the Tarone needs to be watered and to better learn its watering routines taking pictures to look back on can also be super helpful if you're finding this video useful you might be interested in checking out my 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 now as promised earlier I'm going to show you how to fix this over water terrarium it's very important to address an overwater terrarium as quickly as you can as left as it is its days are numbered if the terrarium begins to smell or its Moss starts to turn brown it may already be too late I'm going to start by taking some tissue and wiping off the condensation from the inside of the terrarium this is a great and easy way of removing water from the terrarium's ecosystem with the condensation removed I'm now going to leave the terrarium open for one to two hours this will allow water to evaporate from the terrarium [Music] for a couple hours I take the terrarium place the lid back on and monitor it for about 12 hours or so if the problem remains repeat the process again as you can see 12 hours later this is looking slightly better but it still contains too much water I'll once again remove the condensation and leave it to sit for a couple hours so some more water can evaporate and then close it up Monitor and repeat if necessary here's how it's looking after I went through the process several times as you can see the substrate is now looking damp which is ideal and this over water terrarium has been fixed I can't talk about water and terrariums without talking about what types of water we should be using regular tap water should be avoided as it contains harmful chemicals such as chlorine that will do no favors for the terrarium's health instead use one of the following the chlorinated tap water rain water bottled water RO water distilled water or filtered tap water these are much better options to use and your terrarium will definitely be thankful for it if you're on a budget and don't want to be spending money on the chlorinator or extra water in general you can simply fill a container with water leave it out for a few days so the chlorine evaporates and then it's good to use thanks for watching this video and I really hope you found it useful if you've got any questions drop them in the comments now check out this video for six must-know tips for making and keeping healthy terrariums thank you

Channel: Terrarium Designs

Views: 26,949

Keywords: Terrarium watering, How to water a terrarium, How much water does a terrarium need, What type of water does a terrarium need, Can a terrarium have tap water, Can i use tap water for a terrarium, How to water a new terrarium, How to water a old terrarium, When should i water my terrarium, When should i water a terrarium, Terrarium tips, Terrariums for beginners, Beginner terrarium, How to care for a terrarium, How to fix a overwatered terrarium, Closed terrarium, Dying terrarium

Id: -CG8Cxjwk8o

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 26 2023