Wonderful Larry. How big is it? Do you plan on adding any animals

Hi Diane,

Thanks! The terrarium was constructed in a 10 gal. aquarium. I decided not to go with frogs or any other animals. They are just too high maintenance, especially the frogs. Besides this is my first attempt at anything like this. I just want to see if this will work. lol

Larry

Wow, Larry!

That is really cool! I can't believe that is only a 10 gallon aquarium. All of those plants must be pretty small - but they all look so healthy and lush. Congratulations, you should be very proud!

-Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Thanks! Yes, the plants are all miniature. I got most of them from Rob's Violets and the others from black jungle. I already had most of the tillandsia. They had been in a little garden hanging from the ceiling. I dismantled that and put them in this terrarium. The flowers in the middle are microminiature sinningias. Wood nymph and pusilla. I got them at the local gesneriad show on Saturday.

Yes everything does look lush. I hope it stays that way. I really want this to work. Fortunately I have some resources that I can call upon if I get into trouble. Otherwise it really should just about take care of itself. I will be monitoring it quite closely. It is in the same room that the computer is in. I will be looking at it several times the day. Life is good! :o)

Larry

Wow Larry, is that ever stunning! If I had something so beautiful, I too would want it sitting somewhere where I could see it for most of the day. Enjoy your lovely eye candy :)

Larry- Your terrarium is a FABULOUS work in progress. I mean, you could stop here and it would still be a showstopper. Please keep posting pictures as you add new things. Wow!!!!

GH

Your terrarium looks very nice, Larry. I've never thought to put Tillandsias in one. Great idea.

It looks wonderful, Larry! Your patient planning and research have paid off well, and your eye for design is wonderful!
Is your cork a single slab? It looks seamless, which is really nice. You're right-- in that nice bright humid atmosphere, things will grow up the back rather quickly.
Please tell us about the 3 back-row plants that aren't Tillandsias -- the cute viney thing on the wood, the plant with long narrow leaves center back, and the one far right that looks almost like a tiny, lance-leaved ivy. They're all really pretty, and great in their spots!

It is wonderful. Makes me want to get the old aquarium out of the attic and put one together myself.

I've had terrariums with frogs, they are high maintenance.

Very nice larry

Hi,

Thanks all. This project was and is so much fun. I was really hoping that it would be. Off and on I will go lurking over on the terrarium forum and covet the wonderful terrarium's people make over there. About a month ago I showed my wife some of the wonderful projects people had finished. Some of you know about my fibromyalgia in my hands and shoulders. This disability makes it very difficult for me to make something like a terrarium by myself. I figured that my wife would just consider making a terrarium one of Larry's dream projects. Something that would never happen.

Much to my surprise a day or two later she told me that she would like to help me with the project as long as she had some input in the design. Before she had a chance to change her mind I was researching plants and supplies. Then we sat at the computer and picked out plants. All of the plants and supplies arrived last Thursday. During last week I glued the background on the aquarium and mounted the tillandsia on the background and wood pieces. By Thursday we were ready to put everything together and you can see the results. Although we conceptualized how it would look, one never knows when he or she actually gets the plants and positions them. Some things work and other things don't. If I had made it myself it would have looked a little different. I'm glad that my wife had some input though. I think it's a better design with her help. We are very pleased with how it looks.

Jen,

Here are all of the plants in the terrium. 18 in all:

On Background
Tillandsia stricta

Back row
Poganotherum crinitum "variegata" - far left
Poganotherum crinitum "variegata" - at middle
Cissus amazonica - far right

On/under wood piece:

On top:
Peperonia panama species 1
5 Tillandsia ionantha

Underneath:
Bacopa aff. monnieri

In front:
Euonymus japanicus
African violet "teeny bopper"
Sinningia "wood nymph"
Sinningia pusilla
Salaginella kraussiana "brownii"
Tillandsia filifolia
African violet "Love bite"
Nephrolepis "fluffy ruffles"

I am really thinking about putting a couple of cuttings of a columnea for vining on the back wall.

The cork backing comes in 12x12, 12x24 and 12x36 inches. They take a ground up flat piece of cork. Kinda like a bulletin board. They take several pieces of cork bark and press them together. They then glue the pressed cork bark onto the bulletin board. It's really nice. The thickness is about 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. It's really nice to work with. I cannot imagine what it would be like to try to splice individual pieces of cork together. I found it a little difficult to cut with a utility knife, but it's not unmanageable.

Larry

Great job Larry!

I too have a large terrarium kicking around that I've been trying to get rid of! Might have to reconsider:-)

Diane

I think something climbing up the back wall would be fantastic! (and maybe some plastic frogs or lizards?:-)

Larry, your terrarium really came out nice! How are you lighting it? I have a 10 gal. aquarium with no top; now that I see what it could look like, I'm all anxious to give it a shot.

Korina

Larry, I have Fibromyalgia too, and I just wanted you to know that I feel your pain and I totally understand you not being able to do things by/for yourself.

I didn't know there was a Terrarium board here....

Hey Larry,

When I came to GW I came because the Accessible gardening forum caught my attention. I was looking for ideas to try to get a disabled family member involved in gardening. It didn't pan out because I became more interested in it than the family member I was here for. I too started a terrarium but I lost interest in it and only have a staghorn fern and a couple of AVs in it. But your last post got me thinking that you should (if you haven't) repost your post and pic in the accessible gardening forum to give people an idea of what alternatives there are to planting and growing in the ground.

Your pic has inspired me once again and maybe I'll start on my terr this winter.

Larry, your terrarium is simply beautiful..I love it..it looks much larger than a 10 gallon. Please post a pic when you're done with it.
About the Cissus, do you know they grow really large? Will you prune to keep in a manageable size?
What type of light is your terr in? Sun and bulbs?
It's also great you and your wife are sharing. Keep us posted..Toni

Great job Larry! Love the cool colors of the plants and the cork backround. Love to see it again when you have finished, or, start a brand new one!

Billy Rae

Thanks all for the kind words. We are definitely pleased with the results.

Korina,

You and I have talked about this project off line for a while now. I finally did it! As far as the lighting is concerned, it is in the middle of the room, so it is far back from the window. Its main lighting source is a tabletop light stand that has a two 20 watt fluorescent bulb fixture. The terrarium just fits perfectly underneath the light stand.

BoS,

I'm sorry to hear that you have Fibro too. I have lived with the disease since 1983 or for almost half of my life. It would be eight years and a divorce (she didn't want to be married to a cripple) before I would get a correct diagnosis. With a correct diagnosis I have been able to find a team of doctors to treat my disease. It's still debilitating, but they see to it that I am as comfortable as possible. I met my present wife around the time of my diagnosis and she has been wonderful. She is totally supportive. I am also very careful not to overload her with the problems of my disease. She is very good about helping me with the necessities and I am very careful not to burden her with things that are basically luxuries for me. For instance, things that are my hobbies are my responsibility. It is very important for her to have her hobbies and "her time". That is why I was so surprised when she offered to help with the terrarium. It was never, "I would love to have a terrarium. Hint. Hint." I don't do passive manipulation. It's not fair.

MTB,

I have never visited the accessibility gardening forum. I guess I figured it to be outside gardening, which I don't do. All my plant activities are confined to inside the house. I may have to check it out though.

Toni,

I don't know much about Cissus amazonica. The leaves are not supposed to get any bigger. How fast it grows though I don't know. I figured there will be some maintenance involved in keeping this thing going. Dead blooms must be removed from the gesneriads. If the Cissus grows too fast I may have to take it out. Maybe then everything else will have grown up.

It was sure fun to do this project with my wife. We make a good team.

BoS, MTB and Diane(canttype),

Go for it!

Larry

Hi,

I added a few more plants. I decided that the background was just a little too clean. I put a few tillandsia on it. I was a little afraid to add any more; that it may make it too cluttered, but I think it is an improvement. I think I will leave it for now and see what happens as things grow.

{{gwi:64732}}

Love it.

Hey, Larry. I have grown C. amazonica and really, really liked it. My plant, I got through a trade, and the leaves were less long more triangular. While it was growing, it really popped up... but then, the cooler, drier winter weather hit, and poof, once again, went my Cissus.

I suspect that a Terrarium would be the perfect, stable environment, but if it isn't... I know a place you can dump that plant!

Thanks for sharing these pix!

Awsome job. Keep us updated on the changes, and growth.

Very cool. It looks like an underwater scene with anemones attaching to coral. Maureen

all those times scrolling down the forum directory and this is the first time i saw the houseplant forum and i am certainly glad i did. first post i read was this one and larry, let me say, it certainly is a treat. now that's an A+ aquarium! the last time i ventured one was back in the day when water cooler bottles were actually made of glass. i just can remember what every happened to it -- too many years inbetween LOL

thanks for sharing your project and a little of yourself, larry.

be well,
maryanne

Wonderful eye candy Larry. I would like to make myself little and go for a hike in there! Great job to both of you.

Hi all,

Thought some of you might have wondered if this little experiment worked for the long haul. Here is the terrarium after five months.

{{gwi:100901}}

Great terr, Larry!

Question for ya. About the backing,, you said:

"The cork backing comes in 12x12, 12x24 and 12x36 inches. They take a ground up flat piece of cork. Kinda like a bulletin board. They take several pieces of cork bark and press them together. They then glue the pressed cork bark onto the bulletin board."

So if I may inquire... who is the "they"? I've been wanting a background like that.

: )

Larry, that is a truly amazing sight...gorgeous. Your plants look healthy and happy! Beautiful... Enjoy!

Hi Larry,

Really lovely! What's the beautiful flower on the right? Looks like an AV, except the blooms are so much higher than the foliage, perplexing, yet gorgeous. Thx much for the follow-up.

Hi Paul,

Thanks! Who are they? They are Black Jungle. Black Jungle has all kinds of terrarium supplies and plants. It's a really cool place! The plants are a little small and a little pricey, but this was the only place I could find some of the plants, so I was willing to pay the price.

Nature Lover,

Thanks, you are always so kind with your complements.

Pirate Girl,

Thank you for the complement also. You are correct. The plant does look like an African violet, because it is an African violet. It's Rob's Love Bite. I'm really pleased with the effect! That side of the terrarium has filled in very nicely.

Larry

Wow! I was going to put fish back into my 75 gallon, this makes me want to put plants in it!

How beautiful!

Well, Larry, in your case there's no effort involved. You terrarium really is stunning. That African Violet in there really adds that extra touch. I'm not surprised to see it there since Violets are your expertise. The project you and your wife have built must be oodles of fun. It's like a whole little world in there... It truly is beautiful!

Webkat5,

Thanks! I would love to have a 75 gal. aquarium to work with. Unfortunately I don't have one and if I did I don't think my wife would let me set it up. We live in a pretty small house and the shelf space to contain a 75 gal. terrarium just doesn't exist without getting rid of several other plants. at the moment I will just have to be content with this one.

But with a 75 gal. aquarium one could do some really interesting stuff. He/she wouldn't have to be concerned with only miniature plants, but would be able to have some standard size plants also. And imagined the size branch one could use and utilize. I'm already mapping the thing out in my brain. lol I had better stop before I go out and buy the aquarium. ;o)

Nature Lover,

again, that is very generous of you to say. I think that is the whole idea of having a terrarium. To make it look like a little piece of rain forest that has been carefully lifted out and put into a glass box. Like tootswisc said that she would like to take a hike in there. I would love to take a hike in a place that look like this. Maybe even bring a picnic lunch.

Larry