CARE AND MAINTENANCE
The Decorative Mini Garden Terrarium is really easy to care for. It doesn't take too much effort or care to maintain. It is a closed system that will thrive with very little care.
WATERING
Improper watering is the cause of death for many house plants. There is no hard-and-fast rule for watering so do not over water your plants.
For Terrarium (plants in an enclosed container), see if there are water droplets forming on the glass. If so, that good as the ecosystem is normal. If the soil is dry and very few droplets are forming, If no condensation forms on the glass after it’s been ventilated, open it and water lightly. If you see lots of condensation or have added too much water, leave the top off until it has had a chance to dry out. Remember to take off the top at least once a month to air it out.
For Open Mini Garden, if the leave and stem seems soft or rotten then you might have over watered so you should stop watering for couple of days and let it dry out a bit. But if it’s cactus and other desert plants then it will be ok to let the soil get a bit dry.
For Closed Terrarium, the below picture shows normal condensation. Water your pot between 6 months to 1 year period with one tablespoon of water.
This picture below shows big water droplets condenses on the glass wall. If see that happened, open the cap every week for half an hour to let the water droplets evaporate and close the cap back. The reason for doing so is that too much condensation over time will likely cause the plant to rot.
For closed and open pot. When you see that the plants "soften", its mean that you need to water the plants as shown in the below picture.
After watering, the plants should bounce back to life again unless it is completely dried out.
General guide:
- Water the plants once every 5 days to a week for Open Mini Garden around 4 to 5 tablespoon of water.
- Water the plants every 2 to 3 months for Closed Terrarium and do not pour water into the containers, just some light water will do around one to two tablespoon of water.
- Water your Cactus once every week or 2 weeks once around one tablespoon of water.
- Mist your Air Plant 2 to 3 times a week using a spry bottle and spray onto the leaves.
Note: Do not pour water directly into the containers. Pouring water directly to the plant can take out misplaced soil and plants, just some light water will do.
SUNLIGHT
These Decorative Mini Gardens are indoor plants and so to speak they do not require much sunlight. Sufficient sunlight or normal house lighting (Fluorescent lights) is good enough.
Things to note – Do not place your Decorative Mini Garden near the window or direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will cause heat to build up extremely fast in an enclosed glass terrarium. Placing your plants near the window or direct sunlight will fasten the growth of the plants which means more pruning and trimming and also the soil will get dry more easily.
PRUNING AND TRIMMING
Over the course of time the plants will grow. When you plants grow to the top of the cap, you can either trim it gently with a small pair of safety scissors. or let it continues to grow in the bottle as shown in the picture below. Over time it will continue to grow and curl in the bottle. I personally like this natural way that the plants grow in the bottle. This will keep it attractive looking and will keep the balance of the ecosystem.
Don’t fertilize your Mini Garden because you don’t want to encourage growth.
WATERING YOUR PLANTS
When watering your Mini Garden, do not pour water directly into the container as this will can dislodge lose soil and small plants. Also, because there is no drainage, by pouring water you risk getting too much in one place.
Below are some of the ways to water your plants.
Using a small pipette dropper to extract water and slowly release the water near the roots of the plants.
Alternatively you can use a small straw to extract water or a tablespoon and slowly release the water near the roots of the plants.
Water your Air Plant about once 2 to 3 times a week by spraying water onto the leaf using a spray bottle. Do not pour water directly into the containers as Air Plant does not absorb water through root but through their leaf.
