Making a Bottle Terrarium + Closed Terrarium Basics

hey everyone and welcome back to another traran build today we'll be making a bottle terrarium in this container right here this terrarium is going to be a little bit different than what you guys have seen on the channel thus far and that's largely because of the way that the container is shaped typically I would landscape with twigs and sticks and different elements like that but I really want to pack this tightly with plants and have them be the Showcase rather than Landscaping now of course I'm still going to landscape it's just not going to be as drastic as I typically would anyways I hope you guys enjoy this demonstration and as always thank you for watching with most of my terrariums I like to start out by making a false bottom also commonly referred to as a riparian layer if you've watched any of my videos you've probably seen me do this before there are a lot of different ways that you can make a false bottom however this method by far seems to perform the best for closed terrariums I'll explain why in a second anyways let's begin by cutting some mesh I'm using some carbon fiberglass window screen which is cheap and readily available there are alternatives that you could use but I strongly suggest using something that isn't biodegradable you also want something that is relatively porous but not porous enough that substrate can fall through the holes we'll be putting gravel underneath of the mesh so it's best to cut it slightly larger than the diameter of the bottle you should end up with something like this now at your mesh is cut cut you'll need some gravel you can use aquarium gravel or Pebbles from a hardware store it doesn't really matter you want your false bottom layer to be around 3/4 of the depth of your substrate this is not a roll just a suggestion I like to use a funnel to get my gravel into a container like [Music] this next use a paintbrush or some tweezers to even out the gravel now that we have a nice layer of gravel let's put the mesh in place you can simply fold it up like CLI this and drop it into the opening then use your tweezers to open up and flatten the mesh by the way I got this set of 12in tweezers on Amazon for around $10 before I move on to the next step I'll briefly explain the purpose of the false bottom and why I'm such a proponent of it when creating a closed terrarium like this the idea is that it maintains itself after you water your terrarium the water will build up in the bottom however we don't want this water to remain here forever we want it to evaporate condensate on the container and then fall back down into the substrate in effect replicating the water cycle this will continuously water your terrarium further the false bottom keeps said standing water separate from the substrate this is important for the long-term success of your terrarium if the substrate is continuously in contact with the water in a closed environment like this it will quickly become putrid the substrate will also compact around the roots of the plants along with a host of other potential issues this leads to why from personal experience I feel that this is the best false bottom for a closed terrarium you could simply fill the bottom of your terrarium with gravel sand or some mixture of the two over time the substrate would inevitably work its way into the rocks and make the false bottom layer of non effect sand however does work long term but it doesn't allow the water to evaporate as efficiently this is a problem because we want the water cycle to continuously occur on The Daily this leads me into the next step of the build here I have some crushed up lumpwood charcoal you could also use activated carbon or rinsed bondfire coals do not use charcoal briquettes though they contain unwanted chemicals we're going to put a generous layer of charcoal on top of our false bottom this will filter the water every time it passes down through the substrate so the combination of the charcoal layer and gravel false bottom will simultaneously create a mini water cycle and filter the water now let's move on to the substrate or soil layer I prefer to use this tropical substrate mix for my closed terrariums you could use soil from outside if you want or potting soil be advised the soil from outside can contain pests to eliminate this problem simply bake the soil on 350 for 15 to 20 minutes to see how I made the substrate mix follow the link again I'm simply using a funnel to get the substrate into the Container you want your substrate layer to at least be the same depth of your false bottom after after you get enough substrate into your container use your tweezers or stick to smooth it out next let's bring the terrarium to life with some plants here I have a fonia red vein initially I thought I would be able to fit this into the terrarium but as is it was just too large luckily we got a little worm out of the deal we'll set him aside for later since that didn't work out I decided to start out with a stick I will use this to separate my terrariums background and foreground then I got this patch of temperate Moss for my collection unfortunately I have no idea what species it is I sectioned it off and put it in some nice locations as I said earlier I want this terrarum to be packed with plants since the opening is so small we will add some young plants here's a cryptanthus pup in time it will get fairly large and take up a decent amount of the terrarium of course I would also want to add some Oakleaf creeping fig in case you didn't know this plant is one of my personal favorites it creates good ground coverage and will eventually grow throughout the entire terrarium the small leaves will also add some nice contrast against the larger [Music] plants next I'm adding a baby follow dendron silver which will eventually grow up to look like this I'm hoping that it wasn't a mistake to add something this large but time will tell I could always trim it and keep it pruned enough to fit I felt that it was worth a try because I think that this plant could create the look I was going for next I'm adding some sanella unata cting these will also create some good ground coverage and grow nicely amongst the other [Music] plants then I added another piece of wood to finalize the design in time this landscape will change drastically this is largely because these plants will quickly fill up the enclosure now we are going to add some springtails I know some of you don't like these but they will help ensure the success of the terrarium they are not necessary but they help cure common issues such as mold and they will also create a natural decomposition cycle this decomposition cycle will not only clean the terrarium but it will also fertilize the plants if you're using soil from outside that wasn't baked springtails will eventually show up naturally for more about springtails follow the link now let's get our buddy from earlier and set him up in his new [Music] home to complete this build let's add the water I'm simply using a spray bottle filled with some distilled [Music] water here's a tip on how you can tell if you watered your terrarium properly if you notice condensation on the glass all day long then you've overwatered your terrarium simply air it out or wipe off the excess condensation with the paper towel until the problem ceases however you want to see some condensation in the morning and evening hours [Music] I know that a lot of you may be curious about how the critters get oxygen and how the plants get carbon dioxide in a nutshell plants create oxygen and carbon dioxide as you probably well know plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen during photosynthesis however once plants don't have access to sunlight they will stop converting carbon dioxide into oxy oygen in effect the plants create their own CO2 and oxygen cycle and of course the critters receive oxygen from the plants that about sums up this terrarium build find a window sill with partial to bright sunlight or use artificial lighting for your terrarium a terrarium like this can last indefinitely with no maintenance whatsoever it should never need opened or watered unless you choose to do so

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 3,547,272

Keywords: closed, bottle, eternal, tropical, terrarium, fairy, garden, environment, plants, horticulture, how to, diy, do it yourself, instructional, information, nature, natural

Id: 7Lg4tzkHgVo

Length: 9min 1sec (541 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 21 2017