Make an AWESOME Terrarium for FREE!

[Music] [Music] what's going on guys Tanner here and back at it again with another native terrarium built out here in the great outdoors I'm a little bit out of breath because I ran to this location but spring is officially sprung all the plants are starting to come back to life birds are chirping and I have even heard some American toads calling back here I'm not sure if we'll get a chance to see any but it would be pretty cool if we did before I get into all of this and start collecting materials I always like to walk around and kind of just see what's going on get inspired by the landscape that's around me and you guys know that whenever I'm trying to make terrariums and stuff I'm always just kind of trying to replicate nature just make things look as natural as possible because that's kind of why I make terrariums it's an appreciation for nature and I like to bring nature indoors I find join it and all that good stuff so I just kind of walk around and see what's going on you know I think I've just about finished surveying the land I've seen some pretty good items that I want to take back with me and there's a few main things that we want to get number one plants of course I'm gonna get predominantly mosses because that's really mostly what's alive right now and I know that they'll work in a terrarium too is hard scape elements so whether that be stones sticks bark different elements like that then of course we got to get dirt for our substrate layer and then some rocks for the false bottom so let's start collecting some items while exploring I came across this dead tree that was shedding all of its bark I collected a few of the fallen pieces and put them in a ziploc bag I like to incorporate stones in my terrariums they had great texture and aid in creating a natural look when used properly I was really inspired when I stumbled upon this pile of rocks and had to gather some for the terrarium next I had to get some smaller stones to use for the false bottom in doing so I collected a variety of different stones from this pile here I think it's easier to collect smaller stones but if you can't find any you could get a larger stone like this and break it into smaller pieces when selecting driftwood I often like to find pieces that have been baking in the Sun like this one here they tend to be more dense and as a result lasts longer I also like this piece here because it has some nice texture to it since it's still early in spring most of the plants haven't grown in yet also since I live in a temperate area a lot of the plants that I can source locally just won't work while in a terrarium luckily there's moss everywhere and it works great in the terrarium so one of the first specimens that I found was a nice patch of star moss then I found a piece of wood covered in hypno moss under the leaf litter near the same area I also found some dead moss and liverwort liverwort isn't a moss but it works really well in terrariums next I harvested a few clumps of sphagnum moss now we have to get some substrate in doing so I like to uncover what's under the leaf litter this substrate tends to have a lot of twigs and other debris in it that help with drainage this substrate is also completely alive it's full of various microfauna and other organisms such as spring tails and over time you will start to see various critters pop up in your terrarium finally let's collect some accent elements I like to get little twigs acorn caps and other items that I think will help create a lot of texture [Music] we're back at my house now and I hadn't talked about it yet in the video but based on the title you know that we're gonna be making a train for $0 today that said all the materials that we just gathered no expense was paid on those because of course we're getting them outside they're totally free but what about a container what I have here is an old sauce jar you can use various different jars you can use a pickle jar really any kind of food jar like this now the thing is you're gonna say we had to spend some amount of money to get this jar and that is true but you need to eat so you're gonna be buying something like this pretty much no matter what so that expense is not included in our train so zero dollars even still why don't we go and clean out this jar I recommend simply washing your jar with some hot water and soap keep it simple [Music] make sure to wash your jar until it doesn't smell like anything that being whatever was in it previously and the soap of course with the jar will cleaned up let's remove to label there are a number of ways that you could go about doing this but I like to scrape them off with the razor blade I'm using a razor blade scraper to do the job but really you just need the blade so if you have an old box cutter lying around the house you could do with that anyways the only part that actually needs scraped is where the label is glued on to the jar [Music] and with a few passes of the blade the glue is all gone [Music] now that we've got our container just we'll go over all of the materials here real quick and then we'll kind of prepare them for the train as we go through the build first off we've got the substrate now keep in mind that this substrate is totally alive there's bugs living in it I see an isopod crawling around right there and as I said whenever you're selecting this try to select a substrate that has a bunch of dirt in it so obviously that's like the brown stuff the decomposed elements or dirt and you also want little twigs different things like that so it's similar to what we would normally use in our terrariums to allow for drainage we will of course add some of this bark into here to allow for more drainage but we'll talk about that later on then of course we have our stones here we've got little rocks for our false bottom and then we have the hard scape elements here and these will kind of be what I'll use to landscape the terrarium or that's what my intention is at least then we've got the bark here I'm gonna use some of this for hard scape as well and then as I said I'm gonna mix it in with the substrate we also have our accent hard scape elements here which are acorn caps little sticks this little piece of bark had some moss on it different elements like that and then of course we have our hard scape sticks here they're pretty large we're probably gonna have to break them to fit into the terrarium or you might not even use them at all I'm not sure and then finally we have our plants of course I have the grasses mosses liverworts different things in here something to keep in mind is that I don't plan out my terrarium builds I just kind of grab elements and let the terrarium take shape as I'm constructing it of course as I was out there I was gaining inspiration from different things in nature and I kind of have those in mind as I'm setting this up but I don't look at something and say yeah I want to create that exact thing I just as I said let it take shape so not sure if we're gonna use all of the elements here but I tried to grab things that I thought we could make a cool terrarium with to begin we'll start with the false bottom as is these stones have a lot of debris in them which we really don't want in the false bottom so I poured these stones into a bowl and then added some water the majority of the debris will float which means it can simply be dumped out with the water [Music] after repeating this process a few times I took the stones outside and thoroughly rinsed them with the hose and a strainer now we've got ourself a bowl full of clean stones it's important to get them as clean as possible so that we minimize the amount of excess organic down in the false bottom from here we'll put the stones into the container for a jar of this size roughly an inch deep layer if the drainage element will be appropriate next we need a barrier typically I use and recommend using carbon fibre glass windows screen mesh but doing so one car cost so will make a barrier with the bag that we use to transport the stones earlier alternatively you could use saran wrap or grocery store bag either way I guarantee that you have some of these items lying around your house using a razor blade or scissors cut the bag so that it lays flat as a single piece [Music] afterward get something to use as a guide that is slightly larger than the size of your container in my case I'm using a roll of tape then using your guide cut out a piece of plastic [Music] next I recommend pending your plastic onto something so that the next step is a little easier here I'm using a piece of insulation foam and some thumbtacks [Music] after pinning the plastic in place I poked at four holes with the toothpick pinning the plastic on a surface like this not only keeps it from moving around but it will allow you to see where you've already made holes with a substantial amount of holes poked into the plastic it should look a little something like this this type of barrier won't work as well as some other materials but it's a viable alternative and it can be done for free after completing the barrier let's put it into the container a drop mine into the jar and flatten it out with a paintbrush then I placed a few stones on top of it to keep it from moving around [Music] now let's prepare the substrate it would work as is but there a decent amount of roots and sticks within it using a pair of scissors I chopped it up into more manageable clumps as I said before the substrate is alive its full various microfauna including springtails which i always advocate using because they eat mould and help keep the terrarium healthy overall don't believe me here's one that I was able to track down if for whatever reason you want to sterilize your substrate simply bake it in the oven next I broke up sections of the bark into smaller pieces and added them to the substrate much like the orchid bark that we would usually use this bark will help keep the substrate from compacting long-term and aid and drainage from here the substrate was thoroughly mixed together [Music] after that I dropped a decent amount into the container and evened it out with my brush then I got the stick from earlier and added it as a background hardscape this will serve as my main hard scape element and we will use it to dictate the rest of the design with this stick in place let's prepare the other hard scape elements to do so I simply poured some water into a bowl and used it to clean the rocks I didn't need to do this but I wanted the rocks to be clear of any dirt so that their natural texture would shine through using my tweezers and a paintbrush I then escaped the terrarium with these rocks while doing so I wasn't trying to expertly place these stones my intent was simply to build up a bit of landscape so by and large they will be covered up after getting in decent arrangement I proceeded to move on to the next step in order to prepare the plants I like to dip them in dechlorinated water I do this to rehydrate them a bit and to remove excess debris this is also a decent way to remove any hitchhikers but that's not why I'm doing it here now that the planes have been addressed we'll move on to play at the terrarium I started by putting some sphagnum Moss in the background since this moscar is much taller than the others I'll be using it will work well as a background plant next I added a sizable patch of star Moss to the right side afterward I placed the section of thread Moss on top of the hardscape in the back left then I placed another patch of thread Moss into the rock formation from there I added a few accent stones then I planted a sizable patch of liverwort in the foreground next I added the stick covered and hid in the moss afterward I proceeded to add more accent stones to do so I simply sprinkled a few into the container and then dispersed them with my brush I like to do this with the small accent stones because it's an easy way to create a design that doesn't look forced [Music] then I proceeded to add various other sections of accent moss patches after getting the terrarium to look how I wanted I proceeded to add the final touches these consisted of various twigs and sticks to acorn caps and some stones to complete the terrarium let's add the water I like to spray it in a way that it runs down the sides of the glass this will remove any excess debris and simultaneously hydrate your terrarium without disrupting your design then using my tweezers I thoroughly cleaned the inside of the container with a paper towel finally I polished the outside of the jar with a microfiber cloth to remove any fingerprints now let's seal the container you could easily use the lid that your container came with but what if you don't have one or want to make something a little nicer well what we'll do is grab that leftover plastic from whenever we made the barrier in the false bottom get the plastic and set it on the opening of your container then get something like this piece of glass to slightly weigh it down in the center doing so will create a slight indentation this indent will allow most of the condensation to drip from the center of the lid instead of the sides of the container then grab a rubber band and wrap it around the plastic using a pair of scissors remove any of the excess plastic as long as your plastic doesn't have holes in it this method will retain water very well however it's not aesthetically pleasing so let's take it up a notch and cover it with some burlap alternatively you could use some old fabric or something similar I set the burlap over the lid and weighed it down with that piece of glass from earlier then I used a rubber band to secure it in place [Music] next I tied some hemp cord around the neck of the bottle with a nod toward the back side of the jar then I trimmed off the excess cord and burlap finally I used some wire cutters to remove the rubber band afterward you should end up with a little something like this it looks great and I'm sure it could be done with no expense to you you could also do the same thing in order to conceal the lid that the container came with when all was said and done I ended up with an awesome terrarium that didn't cost me a cent and I know you can do the same now that you know how to make your terrarium completely free you have no excuses not to make one other than laziness I get a ton of comments from people who say that they can't make a terrarium because of finances well this should make it pretty clear that you can make a work of art from scratch with no budget so no more excuses get out there and make your terrarium already [Music] thank you so much for watching this video your viewership is greatly appreciated if you like the video and won't mind taking a second to give it a thumbs up you have my gratitude if you're new here and like what you just saw be sure to subscribe and check out my other work I have a ton of videos like this one and there's even more to come on that note I'm out of here I'll see you guys next time and peace

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 1,641,372

Rating: 4.9411025 out of 5

Keywords: terrarium, native terrarium, mossarium, free, $0, diy, do it yourself, plants, make a terrarium, bottle garden

Id: KR2Lo0rOF7g

Length: 18min 33sec (1113 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 21 2018