I have published a second website that features only Seramas. The address is www.virgilwalters/justseramas/ The first site will feature (eventually) all the different varieties of poultry we have and some of Judy's cats and of course Buddy-our Jack Russel terrier that should be on Prozac and Ritalin, but isn't.

A short composting tale with my 10 YO daughter. I have a large apple tree and it was dropping apples a few weeks ago (still is actually) so I was out pulling weeds along my lilac hedgrow and she was in playing video games (takes after dad). So I yell into the house for her to come outside and help me, I get our compost scraps bucket and put it over by the tree and tell her she has to throw all the apples on the ground in the bucket. I made it into a game for her and she stayed out there for an hour at least lobbing old apples into a 5 gallon pail, when she had them all done I had her walk it over to the compost bins and dump them all in. She asked why she was doing this and I then explained to her what composting was and how it would turn into nice soil to plant our veggies in next year. She seemed to think that made good sense to do.

1) How much should I water the first time after I've planted? It is a 10 gallon aquarium so should I try to get the soil wet enough that some drains down to the gravel layer and I can see it? Hi Xiao! Unfortunately there is no surefire answer as it depends in part on what kinds of plants you use, how MANY plants you have in there, as well as the media's ability to hold water, etc. As a general rule of thumb, the soil when you you first put it in should be moist enough to stick together a bit when squeezed into a ball. Begonias tyically do NOT like realy wet soil. Impatients tend to like more moisture then the begonias. This could make this terr a challenge -- what may be nice for the begonias may be too dry for the impatients. Consider this terr an experiment. :) You didn't mention how MUCH soil you have in the tank, but assuming you have the soil at least 2 inches deep -- if you stick your finger into the soil about an inch down and it is dry to the touch then you probably need to water. The impatients will also let you know they are too dry by wilting.(Not that you want to wait that long on a regular basis -- as that is stressful to the plants) Water the plants a little bit at a time. Enough to moisten the soil surface. Let this sink in for a few minutes then if it looks like the water has not penetrated the soil deeper down, add some more. Remember that it is always better to go back to add more than to grossly over water by giving too much. Having a bit of water amongst the gravel will act as a bit of a reservoir so you can water until you see a little bit of water in the gravel area. However it isn't NECESSARY to do so. If I don't have the tank top sealed with saran wrap, will I still see any condensation on the glass? If not, is the water cycle not happening so I will need to just water more often? You might see some condensation on the glass down at the gravel or soil level but don't count on it. And yes you are correct that the water cycle will not be happening so you will indeed have to water more often. If I do need to water more often, how much should I water each time? Like a quart of water or so when the soil is dry? Sorry there are too many factors that will affect this so there is no simple answer for you -- except that a "quart" of water for that size tank with the plants you have will almost definitely be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. :) The time of year could affect how much water you need or at least how often you need it. Office air tends to be quite dry -- especially in the winter. But depending on how strong you winter light is and the temp the office is kept at over the winter you may still find you need less water than in the summer when the sunlight coming in the window is a lot stronger. Afraid you'll have to wait and see. Again plan on giving only a cup or two of water and see how that works. You can always add more later. Hope...

You may remember this thread from six years ago. It has had some periods of drought and neglect due to some of life's challenges. I've been working on my terrarium lately though. It's been interesting what I've been doing and the reasons why. Six years ago I had some micro miniature sinningias in the terrarium. After around a year they appeared to die out. I had not seen any of them, much to my surprise, until last summer when three clumps came up and started to bloom. They looked real good for several months and then when winter came they became stifled. I couldn't figure out what the problem was and then it occurred to me that the northern bay window, where they reside, gets into the middle 50 degree range at night. For rain forest plants the temperature range should be between 65 degrees and 85 degrees. The mid 50s is much too cold for them. Anyway now what to do? It turns out that I have a seedling heating mat. This mat is about the same size as my 10 gallon aquarium/terrarium. I also had the problem that the terrarium was sitting right on top of the cold bay windowsill. It's not too elegant but I put a couple of small 2x4s on the windowsill and put a plank about the size of the terrarium on top of them to get the terrarium off the sill. I will paint them later. I then put the seedling heater on top of the plank and the terrarium on top of that. I will post pictures. I figured that was the answer so I plugged in the seedling heater and observed. Oh, by the way, I went to the tropical fish store and got a thermometer that I could stick in the soil, so that I could see what the soil temperature was. Much to my horror the thermometer read 92 degrees. I was now cooking my plants. So to make a long story short (that ship may have sailed already though. lol) I bought a light timer that can be turned on and off in half an hour intervals. I may get a seedling mat heater sometime, but they are $32.00 on Amazon and that's a little rich for me right now. What I've done is turn the seedling mat on for an hour every other hour. At night the temperature goes down to around 68 degrees to 72 degrees and the daytime temperatures are round 76 degrees to 80 degrees. That temperature range is almost perfect. I got some micro miniature sinningias at my African violet Christmas party last year. I put those plants into the terrarium and they're just growing like gangbusters. One will be blooming in a couple of days and the rest are growing very fast. The original micro miniature gloxinias have not changed much but I figure as long as they don't die that's the best I can hope for at the time being. Larry This post was edited by larry_b on Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 3:08