I bought these beautiful succulents hoping to plant them in my terrarium. They were the smallest plants the store had, small enough to fit. When I looked for advice on the web about terrariums and succulents I learned that you can do it but it's not such a good idea. I know I should have done more research before buying the plants. I was just too eager to get started.
I learned the reason why succulents are not so good in terrariums is because they require a dryer atmosphere with air circulation. The terrarium is damp and closed in. If I use the succulents it might still work out, at least for several months. But I want a longer life without watching the plants die.
I fell in love with these plants and did not have the heart to return them. Besides, they only cost about three dollars each.
While I was at the store I bought a bag of colorful stones for the bottom of the glass container. This will be a place for the water to drain. I bought activated charcoal to keep the terrarium fresh. The same activated charcoal that's used in swimming pools.
On the box:
"Removes heavy metals, odors, discoloration, organic contaminants."
I also bought some gravel to put on the soil between the plants for an attractive appearance.
A few sites suggested putting small decorative figurines. As long as it doesn't look silly I might try it. One site had a tiny plastic cow in the terrarium! That's not for me.
Now what am I supposed to do with these great looking plants?
I'm going to put them in regular pots while I look for plants better suited to terrariums.
I'm going to put them in regular pots while I look for plants better suited to terrariums.
I'll let you know how things are working out. I need to clean out some old flower pots to make new homes for the plants.
My mother loved succulents but had not had much luck with them. She finally planted a little garden of them around the base of a tree in the back yard. Of course they began to look like they were dying and she was thinking of digging them up. Then we had a big rain. All of the plants came to life and flourished after that. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good idea. I'll try it if they start to die.
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