Terrarium Tuesday!

Its a beautiful sunshiney post election day. i decided before heading to my wheel throwing class to take those two empty carboys my neighbor gave me and turn them into tropical rain forest terrariums.

Step one I clean out the carboys, gather all the things I'll need, a few things not pictured here are my home made tools and potting soil. I picked up some of the plants at Plant in Inglewood, others at Home Depot.

I grabbed the gravel, moss and activated charcoal at the pet smart nearby.
I layered in the clean gravel and charcoal etc.

Meanwhile I soaked the moss brick that will act as a substrate layer between the soil and rocks and charcoal.

I had to separate it and tamp it down with a tool i made by taping some gardening wire to a pole and making a flat disk.  I spread it evenly and this is where I felt a bit like a guy who puts ships in bottles.

Next I put in a healthy layer of potting soil and tamped it down with the tool while adding a bit of moisture. The same tool was used to create holes in which to place the root balls.

I looked all over for one of these grabber tools. My neighbor happened to be cleaning out his garage and found two, so he gave me one for my project. Win! It makes it really easy to lover and place the plants into the holes I created,  then press them down and cover them with dirt with the other tool.

Here is the first one planted with a variety of tropicals. I give it a final watering, as it should create its own habitat, leading to very little need for additional watering.

I planted the second one, they both went a lot better than I expected thanks to the right tools. I wiped the inside down with a paper towel attached to a rod and brought them back over to my place.

I placed them side by side in my living room which is rather low light but north facing. I look forward to seeing how they grow in the future. Maybe I'll make some more with the leftover supplies.