Hello! I'm a first-time poster here. My daughter won an 8" round covered glass terrarium, and is thrilled to pieces with her prize. (She's also very proud that her 'prize' reflects her initiative to use a volume equation to estimate the number of items in a large jar instead of guessing. Woo!)
Mom here has never been too interested terrariums before; I guess creating a humid environment seems redundant as we live in Florida. But I am an experienced gardener. I look in this charcoal-and-marble-bottomed wonder she was lovingly handed at an earth day event, and things appear more and more amiss.
First, the mix of plants seems incompatible to me. I see what appears to be a leggy begonia, an equally leggy portacula, aloe vera, pink polka-dot plant, and a grass growing from a corm. Will these plants actually live together in a terrarium or is this a hot mess?
Next, I was concerned that nearly all the plants have soft, brown shriveled brown areas on their leaves that looked almost like a wilt. I pinched them off just now. If it is a wilt, fungus, or other weirdness how do you deal with it in this biosphere setup?
Finally, how should this smell? When I lifted the lid it smelled mustier than expected, to point of slightly soured. Is that normal, especially with just charcoal and glass in the bottom? (btw I have no idea what kind of water has been used)
This is sitting smack-dab in a place of great honor, the middle of the breakfast room table. It gets filtered indirect sunlight at least 10 hours.
I chuckled when I saw a heading about a fifty-something year old terrarium. Our sweet, glass-ensconced centerpiece is looking somewhat questionable to me after about that many hours.
What are your thoughts? Will this work? I'm sure my daughter would like to keep it intact (if possible). Any suggestions? Thank you!
paul_
paul_
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