Terrarium beginner - soil and airflow questions

13 years ago

I've done a few terrariums with succulents and cacti, and a few failed terrariums with other plants. I am starting fresh with a new terrarium with a maidenhair fern and some moss in a 20 gallon aquarium. This is a closed terrarium mostly - just mostly because I have a standard lighted aquarium hood on top of it, which includes very small holes for adding equipment I would need if this had fish in it.

I've learned about a lot of the stuff I'm doing wrong from this post. Chiefly I need to use less soil, which is easy enough to accomplish.

In addition to that, could I get a few recommendations on soil mixes? that post recommends vermiculite, which I'm a bit opposed to using because of the possible health effects on me and my cats - but please correct me if my concerns are unfounded.

Additionally, I've seen a few people mention adding fans to terrariums. Because of the setup I have, this would be easy to add - I could fix a CPU fan to the hood, or even run a few tubes from an aquarium air pump for minimal airflow. What are the benefits of this? Is it worth the (fairly minimal) trouble?

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Comments (3)

paul_
13 years ago
Hi Sharon,

If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend using the "Search" function on this forum. There's a great deal of good info and inspiration to be found.

Vermiculite is an inert material and should pose no health risks to you or your kitties.

Media options are legion -- depends mainly on what type of plants you have in mind. Just avoid anything with fertilizer already added. You can even use sphagnum moss as your media -- again, depending on the plants chosen.
paul_
13 years ago
forgot to add ............

Stagnant environments tend to be very good breeding grounds for fungi and some bacteria. Therefore, good air circulation can help minimize issues with these organisms.

Also good air circulation tends to prevent condensation build up/fogging on the glass msking it easier to see the plants therein.
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shaeon
Original Author
13 years ago
Paul, thanks for the info. I have searched around a bit on the forums.

So when you note that the media shouldn't have fertilizer added, I assume you mean that things like Miracle Gro potting mix would be out. Generally I've used that for other plants I've grown (houseplants, outdoor potted plants, etc.) so anything else is new territory for me. I honestly don't know what I would put a maidenhair fern and moss in other than a standard potting mix. That's the sort of information I'm trying to find, as I realize that giant thick layers of potting mix are going to lead to the fungi you mention.

I should note that when I first started experimenting with terrariums, I got directions from interior design websites - which apparently did not have the best tips strictly from a plant care point of view.

Terrarium beginner - soil and airflow questions

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paul_

paul_

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shaeon
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Terrarium beginner - soil and airflow questions

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