Terrarium Care Instructions
Maintaining terrariums is easy. They require much less care than house plants and as long as they have the right amount of light and moisture - they can be left alone for months at a time.
Placement
A terrarium’s placement is one of the most important elements to its survival. Place your terrarium in a spot where it gets bright indirect sunlight. If your terrarium is exposed to direct sunlight (sun rays actually hitting the glass) even for a short period of time, this could lead to the plants overheating and dying.
PRO TIP: Water will condensate on the coldest surface of your glass. By placing your terrarium next to a window, the humidity will condensate closest to the window, down the back side of your terrarium, leaving the front side clear and visible.
Watering
Being in a sealed container, your terrarium’s moisture has no way of getting out so it is vital not to overwater. Therefore, we mist terrariums and never use a watering can/bottle. The aim is to keep the substrate slightly moist, but never wet. If in doubt, less is always best! As a general rule of thumb, the substrate should feel like a sponge that has been rung of all its water; as if you were about to wipe a dusty surface.
Use distilled, rain, deionised or reverse osmosis water for your terrariums as tap water contains chemicals and minerals that build up in the soil and stain the glass.
The terrarium’s rain cycle will cause condensation on the sides of the glass in the mornings and evenings. The water then trickles down to water the substrate. If you never see condensation, it is likely that your ecosystem needs a bit more moisture.
Springtails and Mould
A terrarium mimics a tropical environment in a closed glass container. Unfortunately, mould and unwanted bacteria also thrive in these conditions. We combat this by adding tiny white creatures called Springtails that act as the ecosystem’s clean up crew. Give these little Hexapods some time to chew away at any mould if an outbreak occurs. Springtails also recycle nutrients by feeding on fungi and any decaying matter, thus keeping your terrarium healthy and clean from dead leaves.
However, if it gets overwhelming, you can dilute 3ml of Hydrogen Peroxide with 100ml of water and use an earbud to wipe down mouldy surfaces. If the outbreak occurs on the mopane wood, you can remove the wood from the terrarium and soak it in the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture.
Pruning
Allow the plants to grow and don’t prune too quickly or heavily; plants need to grow to develop and maintain vigour. All plants grow at different speeds so naturally, some will need more frequent pruning than others. By knowing exactly what plant you have, you can make an educated decision on how to approach pruning.
PRO TIP: Don’t let leaves sit against the glass as they can rot when condensation forms.
While I have listed a few important topics here I certainly haven’t covered everything. If you have any issues you need help with don’t hesitate to get in touch.