Terrarium failing miserably

17 years ago

Maybe someone can give me some tips on why my plants are currently dying. I constructed a small terrarium out of a 3 gallon aquarium. My drainage layers are composed of a layer of aquarium gravel, topped with activated carbon, then a layer of reindeer moss and finally, soil amended with sand for more drainage. Plants are a young hypoestes and small variageted ivy. Once planted, I topped the soil with more reindeer moss for decoration, which is probably where my problems began. I watered a bit, and waited for the container to condense. This never happened, even after taping over every opening. So, I kept misting the sides with water and finally, went ahead and moistened the soil, itself, since it looked as if the plants were wilting. 2 days ago, I pulled out the top layer of reindeer moss, thinking it may have been absorbing to much of the moisture (thereby, no condensation) and I've left the top off the tank for two days now. The soil is damp, not wet, yet the ivy is shriveled to almost nothing. The hypoestes may survive, but it's lost a lot of leaves, as well. What can I do to save this terrarium?

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Comments (4)

paul_
17 years ago
Hello lalique. :)

Sorry to hear about your terr prob. I suppose if the roots of the plants dried out too much the roots may have died before you got the moisture issue fixed. The plants may still recover. The moss shouldn't be a problem. How "damp" are we talking? Just barely damp or moist enough that the media stays in a ball if squeezed?

I do wonder if temperature might be a problem. You didn't say where this terr is located. Small terrs like that can overheat very quickly.

What is your light source?

Taping over every opening is not necessarily a good idea. Most plants require some air circulation otherwise molds and bacteria begin to be problems.
lalique
Original Author
17 years ago
Hello,
I just wanted to thank you for your helpful advice. I discovered that the temperature wasn't warm enough to encourage condensation; leaving the hood light on during the day remedied this. However, I did take your advice and removed the tape from some of the gaps. I may replace the reindeer moss once I regulate things, since I did like the look. Hopefully, I can get my ivy to start producing leaves, again. If anyone has any advice on taking care of ficus pumila, please share. In any case, thanks for your feedback!
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tropichris
17 years ago
o.k, so....if youre using reindeer moss, then it's not actullay moss, but a lichen. A lichen is a dual organism that is bassically fungus and algae. If you are overwatering, some of this algae can leech into the water, forming a perfect place for it to breed. Well, at least thats what it looked like in my terrarium. I put some lichen in, watered it, and then the water left on the lichen was green. Hope this helped~chris
dirtmonkey
17 years ago
Hi Lalique, the Hypoestes and ivy are both best in a very bright but cool place with lots of fresh air. I've seen them in terrariums, but I think they are usually just temporary in that situation.

The Ficus pumila on the other hand should be easy. They really enjoy a close humid terrarium and are fine with fluorescent lights. It isn't too picky about temperatures. Once it's rooted in well, it can take some drying out, but it likes moist (not soggy) soil best. I only grow the 'quercifolia' because the others tend to take over unless you are good at keeping up with trimming. I think the variegated one with small leaves is supposed to stay controllable, I just haven't grown it.

I wouldn't worry about whether your terrarium is condensing or not. As long as the soil is moist but not really wet, the plants can do well. The 'condensation cycle' idea is a leftover concept from 1960's & 70's 'bottle gardens', which usually turned into a bottle of dark murky brown and green stuff pretty quickly!

A little fresh air as mentioned above can also help the reindeer moss from molding too quickly- but it will very likely grow some mold eventually.

Vincent