Terrariums

JoJo: I can’t wait to go outside, Joe Me too, I want to plant flowers and corn and…. Gary: Look…I know it’s the winter months and you want to get out in the garden. But there’s got to be something better than this. JoJo: This is all we’ve got. Gary: Hey, here’s a neat little project I found for beating those winter blues: make a small terrarium. A terrarium is basically growing a plant in a jar, either closed or open. Almost any glass container will work. Other materials needed include aquarium gravel, glass pebbles or pea gravel, some river rock, and of course…. plants. I’m going to start with a layer of blue glass pebbles for a pop of color. Next a paper disk goes down……followed by a layer of the river rock for a size contrast. Now comes the fun part; putting in the plants. There’s a wide selection of succulents grown in 2 inch pots that can be used. I also like using pretty grafted moon cacti. After placing the plants, I add aquarium gravel that has a natural looking color to fill in around the plants. Watering is easy, simply adjust a spray bottle to stream. Every couple of weeks direct the stream of water to the plant root balls, we don’t want to water the rocks. If you want more information and ideas for making terrariums see the MSU Extension publication: “How to Design a Closed-System Terrarium." So next time you get desperate because the winter weather won’t let you get out in the garden, making an easy terrarium might just scratch that itch. JoJo: C’mon Joe…. let’s make another one Gary: I’m horticulturist Gary Bachman and I’ll see you next time on Southern Gardening.