I was experimenting with an open terrarium style for my fern setup and left the glass off overnight, then all my mood moss went from bright green to sad yellow in about 48 hours. Turns out moss is super picky about humidity drops and mine basically dried out and started dying before I even noticed. Has anyone found a way to save yellowing moss without just starting over from scratch?
I spent last Thursday through Saturday trying to get a vertical moss wall to stay attached to a piece of driftwood in a 20-gallon terrarium I was building for a client in Portland. The moss kept sliding off no matter what glue I used, and I finally figured out that the driftwood had a weird waxy coating that nothing would stick to until I sanded it down. Has anyone else run into a surface issue like that on a big project and found a quick fix that actually worked?
I kept wondering why my moss was turning brown and slimy after a week, then I noticed the bottom inch of my jar had standing water. Turns out I was adding too much water every time because I thought the soil looked dry on top, but the charcoal layer underneath was totally soaked. Anyone else learn the hard way that less water is more?
I built two identical jars back in March with the same soil, moss, and fittonia. One got a half inch layer of activated charcoal under the drainage pebbles, the other I skipped it figuring it wasn't needed. The one without charcoal got that nasty swamp smell around month 4 and the moss started going brown and mushy. The one with charcoal still smells fresh and everything is growing like crazy. Has anyone else tried skipping charcoal and regretted it later?
I built this really nice moss and fern setup last weekend in a big jar I found at Goodwill. Went to shift it to a shelf and the glass just cracked right in my hands - water had pooled at the bottom and made it slippery. Lost about an hour of work and all my live moss. Anyone got tips for adding a drainage layer that actually works without taking up half the jar?
I was showing my terrariums at a booth last Saturday and someone pointed out my moss was already browning after just 3 days. Now I'm wondering if I need to switch to preserved moss instead of live - has anyone else dealt with this at outdoor events?
I built two identical succulent setups 6 months ago, one open and one sealed, thinking the closed one would keep humidity up. The closed one got moldy fast while the open one is thriving, but I see tons of posts online saying succulents do fine in sealed terrariums. Has anyone else had better luck with one style over the other?
I've seen three builds this week where folks used regular potting mix with perlite and it's gonna turn into a moldy swamp within 2 weeks, has anyone else had luck with a simple sand and peat mix instead?
I was pretty skeptical about buying that fancy live moss from a specialty shop for $12 a bag. Figured regular stuff from my backyard would work fine. After my third terrarium got that gross white fuzz all over it, I caved and ordered the good stuff. Turns out the moss people sell for terrariums is actually grown to resist mold and rot. It's been three months now and my glass jar is still green and healthy. Has anyone else had their homemade moss just fall apart after a few weeks?
I've been building terrariums for about 8 months now and I finally tried a closed setup last week after 5 open ones. My open terrariums with succulents and sandy soil? They thrive with almost no effort. Just water every 2 weeks and they're happy. But that closed jar with fittonia and moss? It got mold on day 3 and I had to rip everything out. I think the humidity control is way trickier than people admit. Open ones let you mess up and still bounce back. Closed ones seem to punish every little mistake. Anyone else find one approach clearly better than the other?
I was skeptical about using plain aquarium charcoal instead of the fancy $20 terrarium stuff but after 2 weeks without any musty odor in my closed jar I'm completely converted, has anyone else tried this hack or found something better?
I was wandering through their big conservatory and saw they had these tiny terrarium displays tucked into the corners. They were using old mason jars with these little mesh screens on top instead of lids. Why would you not seal them? Doesn't that let all the moisture out? Has anyone else tried that method for something like a fern?
I had a little terrarium going for about 4 months that was looking super healthy. Then last week I noticed my springtail population dropped to almost nothing. Started digging around online and found a few forum posts saying certain isopod species will actually hunt springtails if food gets scarce. I had no idea they did that. Has anyone else run into this with their cleanup crew?
He was so sure about it at the nursery in Portland last spring, but has anyone else found that their local tap water works fine as long as you let it sit out for a day?
I started making terrariums about 12 years ago using nothing but pickle jars and pea gravel from the garden center. Back then you just layered stuff and hoped for the best, no fancy drainage systems or false bottoms. Last month I built a new one using a proper false bottom with mesh and charcoal, and the difference in water clarity after 3 weeks is night and day. I guess the extra $12 was worth it, but sometimes I miss the chaos of those early jars. Anyone else stick to the old ways or did you switch over to the new stuff?
I always thought moss was the easiest thing to grow in a jar so I filled a big pickle jar with nothing but moss from my backyard. After sealing it up everything turned brown and slimy within 14 days. Turns out moss needs way more airflow than I thought and I should have mixed in some gravel and charcoal for drainage. Has anyone else had luck keeping just moss alive in a sealed setup or do you always add other plants too?
I was making a closed terrarium in a narrow flask and that stupid fern root kept snapping every time I tried to angle it in, finally just tossed the whole thing in a bowl instead lol. Has anyone else rage quit a project mid-way and switched to something way simpler?
I was building a closed terrarium for a friend last month and someone in the club told me my pebble drainage layer was actually making things worse for a humid setup... they explained that with no airflow, the water just sits in the rocks and grows mold. I switched to a false bottom with a divider on my next build and the difference in clarity after 2 weeks was night and day. Has anyone else ditched the gravel layer for certain container types?
Last week I finally got three closed terrariums to stay alive for a full 7 days with no mold. My trick was switching to a plastic container for the false bottom instead of rocks. I added a thin layer of charcoal from my grill, then sphagnum moss I boiled for 10 minutes. The humidity stayed at a steady 80 percent the whole time. Has anyone else tried using charcoal briquettes instead of the expensive stuff from the store?
I was reading this blog last night from a guy in Ohio who runs a terrarium shop and he said springtails do 90% of the cleanup work while isopods mostly just add visual interest. But then I see people on here swearing their powder blue isopods keep mold away better than any springtail colony ever could. So which one actually carries the team in a closed terrarium? I'm setting up a 5 gallon jar this weekend and don't want to overload it with both if one does the job. What's your experience been?
I was showing off my new closed terrarium at the local succulent swap and this older dude said I only had half an inch of pebbles at the bottom. He explained that without at least two inches of drainage, the roots would rot in a few months. Has anyone else had to redo their whole substrate setup after getting feedback like that?
I kept seeing people online swear that bottom watering is the only way to keep terrariums healthy. So I tried it for 3 months with my sealed jar setup and all my moss started browning at the edges. Switched back to a gentle mist from the top once a week and everything greened up in 2 weeks. Has anyone else had better luck ignoring the popular advice?
I built this closed terrarium back in March with a fittonia and some moss I found near my mom's place in Tacoma. It looked great for a few weeks, but then everything started turning brown and mushy. I kept thinking I added too much water or not enough drainage, so I even tore it apart once to add more pebbles. Last week I finally noticed the lid I used was a glass cloche with a rubber gasket on it. That gasket was sealing it completely airtight, so no evaporation could happen at all. I swapped it for a loose fitting jar lid and now the condensation cycles properly. Has anyone else had a terrarium fail because of some dumb seal issue?