hey everyone and welcome back to another
traran build today we'll be making a
bottle terrarium in this container right
here this terrarium is going to be a
little bit different than what you guys
have seen on the channel thus far and
that's largely because of the way that
the container is shaped typically I
would landscape with twigs and sticks
and different elements like that but I
really want to pack this tightly with
plants and have them be the Showcase
rather than Landscaping now of course
I'm still going to landscape it's just
not going to be as drastic as I
typically would anyways I hope you guys
enjoy this demonstration and as always
thank you for watching with most of my
terrariums I like to start out by making
a false bottom also commonly referred to
as a riparian layer if you've watched
any of my videos you've probably seen me
do this before there are a lot of
different ways that you can make a false
bottom however this method by far seems
to perform the best for closed
terrariums I'll explain why in a second
anyways let's begin by cutting some mesh
I'm using some carbon fiberglass window
screen which is cheap and readily
available there are alternatives that
you could use but I strongly suggest
using something that isn't biodegradable
you also want something that is
relatively porous but not porous enough
that substrate can fall through the
holes we'll be putting gravel underneath
of the mesh so it's best to cut it
slightly larger than the diameter of the
bottle you should end up with something
like
this now at your mesh is cut cut you'll
need some gravel you can use aquarium
gravel or Pebbles from a hardware store
it doesn't really matter you want your
false bottom layer to be around 3/4 of
the depth of your substrate this is not
a roll just a suggestion I like to use a
funnel to get my gravel into a container
like
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this next use a paintbrush or some
tweezers to even out the gravel now that
we have a nice layer of gravel let's put
the mesh in place you can simply fold it
up like CLI this and drop it into the
opening then use your tweezers to open
up and flatten the mesh by the way I got
this set of 12in tweezers on Amazon for
around
$10 before I move on to the next step
I'll briefly explain the purpose of the
false bottom and why I'm such a
proponent of it when creating a closed
terrarium like this the idea is that it
maintains itself after you water your
terrarium the water will build up in the
bottom however we don't want this water
to remain here forever we want it to
evaporate condensate on the container
and then fall back down into the
substrate in effect replicating the
water cycle this will continuously water
your terrarium further the false bottom
keeps said standing water separate from
the substrate this is important for the
long-term success of your terrarium if
the substrate is continuously in contact
with the water in a closed environment
like this it will quickly become putrid
the substrate will also compact around
the roots of the plants along with a
host of other potential issues this
leads to why from personal experience I
feel that this is the best false bottom
for a closed terrarium you could simply
fill the bottom of your terrarium with
gravel sand or some mixture of the two
over time the substrate would inevitably
work its way into the rocks and make the
false bottom layer of non effect sand
however does work long term but it
doesn't allow the water to evaporate as
efficiently this is a problem because we
want the water cycle to continuously
occur on The Daily this leads me into
the next step of the build here I have
some crushed up lumpwood charcoal you
could also use activated carbon or
rinsed bondfire coals do not use
charcoal briquettes though they contain
unwanted chemicals we're going to put a
generous layer of charcoal on top of our
false bottom this will filter the water
every time it passes down through the
substrate so the combination of the
charcoal layer and gravel false bottom
will simultaneously create a mini water
cycle and filter the water now let's
move on to the substrate or soil layer I
prefer to use this tropical substrate
mix for my closed terrariums you could
use soil from outside if you want or
potting soil be advised the soil from
outside can contain pests to eliminate
this problem simply bake the soil on 350
for 15 to 20 minutes to see how I made
the substrate mix follow the link again
I'm simply using a funnel to get the
substrate into the Container you want
your substrate layer to at least be the
same depth of your false bottom after
after you get enough substrate into your
container use your tweezers or stick to
smooth it
out next let's bring the terrarium to
life with some plants here I have a
fonia red vein initially I thought I
would be able to fit this into the
terrarium but as is it was just too
large luckily we got a little worm out
of the deal we'll set him aside for
later since that didn't work out I
decided to start out with a stick I will
use this to separate my terrariums
background and
foreground then I got this patch of
temperate Moss for my collection
unfortunately I have no idea what
species it is I sectioned it off and put
it in some nice
locations as I said earlier I want this
terrarum to be packed with plants since
the opening is so small we will add some
young plants here's a cryptanthus pup in
time it will get fairly large and take
up a decent amount of the
terrarium of course I would also want to
add some Oakleaf creeping fig in case
you didn't know this plant is one of my
personal favorites it creates good
ground coverage and will eventually grow
throughout the entire terrarium the
small leaves will also add some nice
contrast against the larger
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plants
next I'm adding a baby follow dendron
silver which will eventually grow up to
look like this I'm hoping that it wasn't
a mistake to add something this large
but time will tell I could always trim
it and keep it pruned enough to fit I
felt that it was worth a try because I
think that this plant could create the
look I was going
for next I'm adding some sanella unata
cting these will also create some good
ground coverage and grow nicely amongst
the other
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plants
then I added another piece of wood to
finalize the design in time this
landscape will change drastically this
is largely because these plants will
quickly fill up the
enclosure now we are going to add some
springtails I know some of you don't
like these but they will help ensure the
success of the terrarium they are not
necessary but they help cure common
issues such as mold and they will also
create a natural decomposition cycle
this decomposition cycle will not only
clean the terrarium but it will also
fertilize the plants if you're using
soil from outside that wasn't baked
springtails will eventually show up
naturally for more about springtails
follow the
link now let's get our buddy from
earlier and set him up in his new
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home
to complete this build let's add the
water I'm simply using a spray bottle
filled with some distilled
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water here's a tip on how you can tell
if you watered your terrarium properly
if you notice condensation on the glass
all day long then you've overwatered
your terrarium simply air it out or wipe
off the excess condensation with the
paper towel until the problem ceases
however you want to see some
condensation in the morning and evening
hours
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I know that a lot of you may be curious
about how the critters get oxygen and
how the plants get carbon dioxide in a
nutshell plants create oxygen and carbon
dioxide as you probably well know plants
convert carbon dioxide into oxygen
during
photosynthesis however once plants don't
have access to sunlight they will stop
converting carbon dioxide into oxy oygen
in effect the plants create their own
CO2 and oxygen cycle and of course the
critters receive oxygen from the
plants that about sums up this terrarium
build find a window sill with partial to
bright sunlight or use artificial
lighting for your terrarium a terrarium
like this can last indefinitely with no
maintenance whatsoever it should never
need opened or watered unless you choose
to do so