terrariums/aquariums for indoor gardens

[aqh88]

Having succeeded very well in my outdoor gardens this year I now find myself rather bored and missing all the plants. Everything is under 4"+ of snow and an inch or 2 of ice. All I have is a sad looking little mint plant cutting I clipped off at the last second after the plant had already frosted once and 2 butterfly bushes that weren't big enough to survive their first winter yet. Problem is I have recently aquired a hyper kitten (who already killed 3 other cuttings from the mint plant) and I have an 80lb akita puppy who will destroy anything on her level. That wipes out most any potted plant unless I build a fenced off area for them. My idea to protect the plants is to use all the empty aquariums I have around for growing plants in. Several no longer hold water anyway. They are already pretty much puppy proof, mesh tops to keep out the kitten can be made or bought for around $10-$30 depending on aquarium size, I have lights for all of them plus most of the house gets good light, and the smaller ones (10-30gallons) could easily be stacked to save space. My larger ones actually include a 90gallon (48"x18"x24"), 55g, and several 40g of varying dimensions. All stacked in the closets gathering dust.

First I was wondering if anyone has some info on first terrarium plants? I love the ferns that grow around the front of the house but they don't survive very long during the year. Once the spring rains stop and it gets fairly dry outside they start to turn rather brown and by fall the entire area is empty. A little year round indoor fern bed would be nice.

2nd I was thinking of trying to grow normally potted plants, mostly herb, in an aquarium. I know drainage and humidty would be an issue. I was thinking of solving that by using various layers of materials of increasing size. Such as a thin layer of large gravel, an 1" or 2" of pea gravel, sand, and then soil (potting soil, compost, etc...). Also a method I've used frequently in the past to help drain low areas of the garden or landscaping as well as horse stalls was to put a strip of fairly large gravel or decorative rock going through the middle and then slope all the land or base of the stalls toward it. I think that could be easily implemented in a variety of ways on a much smaller scale. Then if necessary I was going to stick a couple cheap computer fans along the back. Do you think it would avoid too high of humidity and mold issues? Any suggestions especially on specific plants? I'd like to get more kinds of mint. Although I might have to use pots for those unless I trim it frequently since all my mint plants outside grow so well they frequently get a bit out of hand. I surrendered around a 50' by 8' wide section along the garage to the spearmint.

[opabinia51]

Try these websites:



https://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/info_verte/feuillet_terrarium/choix.htm


https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic1457.htm

This site states that you need a high organic matter content to grow the plants, don't use pure potting soil, mix the soil with some mushroom manture and some sifted compost.

For a fertilizer use something organic like liquid seaweed fertilzer. I would advice against using liquid fish fertilizer because it smells.

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[alisios]

Interesting I was searching around for info on terrariums in the past few weeks - I, too, wanted to get something interesting going inside - but I got overwhelmed by the shear volume of options...

I found some great pictures of the little eco systems people are making:

https://www.blackjungle.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3024

cool..