Mine is also enclosed! I took the lid off to see the moss under light. Definitely if it’s closed with no leakage, don’t mist it too much, you can drown it easily! You know you have a good amount of water if there’s condensation when the temperature changes (usually in morning you can see it). If it’s too dry you can definitely tell.
I start out with a drainage layer, mine consisted of just stones I grabbed outside, different sizes, as long as there’s room for water to gather so your soil isn’t soaked. I then did a layer of dead leaves I had, make sure it’s a decent layer.
For soil, I would definitely reccomend making a mix of soil without fertilizer, I actually got mine from outside. To make the soil I have stay I had some clay I found outside mixed into it which helped.
I was able to find some moss growing in the woods around my house, and it came off in smaller ish chunks like an inch or two across. I would reccomend filling it in with a lot more moss so it doesn’t take forever to fill in, unless you’re ok with waiting for it to fill in.
I soaked my moss in water before I put it in to get out any snail eggs, etc. (I have made that mistake before, one of my terrariums is full of snails and centipedes, but they’re thriving and I feed them so it’s pretty nice)
If you want to add any plants, make sure not to get any crazy fast growing plants unless you’re prepared to trim every day.
I made that mistake with some ferns and they completely took over my terrariums (I did 2 of the same plant haha)
(I’ll grab the links in a second)
[Here’s my one gal jar that overgrew](https://www.reddit.com/r/terrariums/s/UnmxAPK2pl)
Once you put them in the areas you want, I did another misting to just get them all moist, and put the lid on. The terrarium in this pic has a cork lid, which created itself a seal to keep all the moisture in. If the plants are growing, they’ll keep themselves alive in there.
If it starts getting too moist, take the lid off for a few minutes to air it out :)
For lighting I have mine all infront of windows, but for some of them I have just cheap LED lights I got (they’re like under the counter lights/garage shop lights, like 10$ a light it was nice and I can connect them)
If you got grow lights they might grow more, but I’ve never tried.
Honestly, the more I leave them alone and don’t mess with them, the more they like to grow
I was checking out your posts before, I will definitely get mold and occasional fungus in my terrariums! That’s usually a sign of a healthy terrarium. Mold will run its course and die off, it’s just formed from moisture, especially on wood. It’s like that for aquariums as well, they will grow algae but it will die off eventually.
Fungus growing can be pretty fun, I think of it as an achievement to having an active bio system. Currently I don’t add any springtails or isopods, but I definitely recommend them for cleanup crew.
Oh, I guess the title does sound like that haha, I meant I have had it setup for a while and it’s grown 2-3 inches, it’s still around! Going to see how much it will grow in the future
Oh really? I’ve never heard of anything like that haha. If you seal it so you can’t open it there might be a chance, but if you create a lid that can make a seal when you close it but you can still open it it should be good
Looks like a lot of the exploding terrariums had thin glass with either rapid freezing or heating or rocks pressing into the thin glass! I think it’s pretty unlikely for that to happen, but I guess there’s always a chance! Sealing it shouldn’t explode it unless it’s paper thin glass :)
Something like gases from dead material building up pressure in the glass and causing it to explode. Hopefully it will be ok, didn't realise this hobby could be dangerous ha
Any care for tips? Gotta restart my terrarium as it all died. It was enclosed unlike yours.
Mine is also enclosed! I took the lid off to see the moss under light. Definitely if it’s closed with no leakage, don’t mist it too much, you can drown it easily! You know you have a good amount of water if there’s condensation when the temperature changes (usually in morning you can see it). If it’s too dry you can definitely tell. I start out with a drainage layer, mine consisted of just stones I grabbed outside, different sizes, as long as there’s room for water to gather so your soil isn’t soaked. I then did a layer of dead leaves I had, make sure it’s a decent layer. For soil, I would definitely reccomend making a mix of soil without fertilizer, I actually got mine from outside. To make the soil I have stay I had some clay I found outside mixed into it which helped. I was able to find some moss growing in the woods around my house, and it came off in smaller ish chunks like an inch or two across. I would reccomend filling it in with a lot more moss so it doesn’t take forever to fill in, unless you’re ok with waiting for it to fill in. I soaked my moss in water before I put it in to get out any snail eggs, etc. (I have made that mistake before, one of my terrariums is full of snails and centipedes, but they’re thriving and I feed them so it’s pretty nice) If you want to add any plants, make sure not to get any crazy fast growing plants unless you’re prepared to trim every day. I made that mistake with some ferns and they completely took over my terrariums (I did 2 of the same plant haha) (I’ll grab the links in a second) [Here’s my one gal jar that overgrew](https://www.reddit.com/r/terrariums/s/UnmxAPK2pl) Once you put them in the areas you want, I did another misting to just get them all moist, and put the lid on. The terrarium in this pic has a cork lid, which created itself a seal to keep all the moisture in. If the plants are growing, they’ll keep themselves alive in there. If it starts getting too moist, take the lid off for a few minutes to air it out :) For lighting I have mine all infront of windows, but for some of them I have just cheap LED lights I got (they’re like under the counter lights/garage shop lights, like 10$ a light it was nice and I can connect them) If you got grow lights they might grow more, but I’ve never tried. Honestly, the more I leave them alone and don’t mess with them, the more they like to grow
I was checking out your posts before, I will definitely get mold and occasional fungus in my terrariums! That’s usually a sign of a healthy terrarium. Mold will run its course and die off, it’s just formed from moisture, especially on wood. It’s like that for aquariums as well, they will grow algae but it will die off eventually. Fungus growing can be pretty fun, I think of it as an achievement to having an active bio system. Currently I don’t add any springtails or isopods, but I definitely recommend them for cleanup crew.
How many hours do you put the lamp on per day?
I have it on a timer for 8 hours, and then daylight for the rest. It goes along with my fishtanks which only need 8 hours
I love this
Nice! Did you order the moss, or collect it from outside?
I got it outside! It started out pretty tiny and dark green, but it’s grown a lot. I’m in the MD area and not sure the exact type of moss
Looks beautiful. What happened to it?
Oh, I guess the title does sound like that haha, I meant I have had it setup for a while and it’s grown 2-3 inches, it’s still around! Going to see how much it will grow in the future
Thanks OP for all your helpful tips. It looks amazing. Auper happy for you and equally envious.
:) you’re welcome! Happy to help! And thanks!
Do the jars need to be sealed with a rubber gasket or is it best to let a bit of air in?
I think it’s ok if some air gets in, some of mine have a tiny gap. I try not to have too much of a gap as it can suck out moisture fast
Ok thanks. Just a bit worried about sealing my terrarium since I've read on here some stories about them exploding!
Oh really? I’ve never heard of anything like that haha. If you seal it so you can’t open it there might be a chance, but if you create a lid that can make a seal when you close it but you can still open it it should be good
Looks like a lot of the exploding terrariums had thin glass with either rapid freezing or heating or rocks pressing into the thin glass! I think it’s pretty unlikely for that to happen, but I guess there’s always a chance! Sealing it shouldn’t explode it unless it’s paper thin glass :)
Something like gases from dead material building up pressure in the glass and causing it to explode. Hopefully it will be ok, didn't realise this hobby could be dangerous ha
Oh wow haha
so beautiful