Hot take: drainage layers aren't always the right call

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?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.emma29d agoTop Commenter

Started swapping out my gravel layers last year after the same mold issue you had (it got really bad in a jar I forgot about for 3 months). The false bottom with a divider seems to work way better for closed setups, but what about open terrariums? Have you tried that same divider approach in something like a wide dish garden or a completely open bowl?

ninab9529d ago

I tried the divider in a wide ceramic dish garden I have on my kitchen counter and it actually helped keep the moss from getting that soggy nasty look. Even with no lid, the extra airflow underneath made a big difference for me.