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| Terrarium best as decoration and good as educational material. |
Terrarium usually made from small container (clear/glass
materials) that will allow light get through it. The container can be open or
closed and small opening to allow care for the plants grows inside it. Even though
terrarium is very beautiful as ornamental it is also very important for
education to understand more about plants growing process and behavior.
Construction of the first terrarium is produced
inadvertently by botanist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in 1842. He made observations
of insects and the insects left the flask unattended. As a result, spores
contained in the flask grow and produce terrarium. This later became a favorite
at the time (Victorian Era) among the
British people. But at first it was not known as terrarium but as 'Wardian Case'.
This finding was used by Ward to send the
plants from England to Australia by building a bigger 'Wardian Case'. Even after traveling for months at sea, the plants
were found to be in good conditions. The same method was also used to bring
plants from Australia (Sydney) to England (London). This method proves that
plants can be stored in a sealed container without ventilation and are capable
of living.
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| Terrarium more popular for decoration. |
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| Closed terrarium provides moist environment for the plants in it. |
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| Among the plants that are suitable for terrarium. |
Even so, before you build your terrarium, there
are few things that you need to pay attention. This because you need to think
about a few important factors to allow the plant stored in your terrarium can
produce enough cycle for itself to continue its life. In fact, several other
factors should also be considered before producing the terrarium; container
size, container type, species of plants, location of the terrarium, the amount
of moisture, the plant material (soil, sand, stone, fiber, etc.) and the budget
of the terrarium - if you planning is right, your terrarium may endure for a
very long time.
Closed Terrarium
Closed terrarium suitable for indoor tropical
plants like orchids, mosses, ferns and ‘air plants’ that need high moisture as in
tropical forests. However for its care, it may have to be opened once a week to
reduce excess moisture in the walls of the container, this also able to prevent
the formation of fungus that can affect plants inside your terrarium.
Terrarium should be watered when the soil
moisture is decreasing (without the formation of water vapor on terrarium’s
wall). The use of plant materials (medium)
also carefully sorted to reduce infections in plants. Appropriate plant
material used is 'peat moss', 'vermiculite'
and also 'perlite'. These materials
should also be in "sterile"
for killing micro-organisms that can cause infection.
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| Terrarium provides a very good environment for these tropical plants. |
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| Terrarium for tropical and aquatic plants. |
Open Terrarium
Open terrarium is more suitable for
water-storage plants (succulents) that are not suitable for damp and closed conditions
like cacti and other dried plants. Open terrarium allows excess water vapor to
be removed from the terrarium. Another thing open terrarium also ideal for
plants that require a lot of sunlight, where it avoids excessive heat from sunlight
trapped in the container.
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| Open terrarium easily maintained but at risk of infection. |
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| Terrarium with various sizes of plants in it. |
Terrarium not only beautiful as a decoration/ornament,
but it also allows the growth of plants to be observed more closely. Cyclical
process of moisture, air and water vapor in a closed terrarium indirectly
describes the process air cycle in the earth's atmosphere and the importance of
plants in that process. So if you are unable to make your own terrarium, maybe
you can just buy it to get all of its benefits.
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