I can't think of any additional questions to add, but I think that some of the answers could use some revamping (no offense). The list of suggested beginner plants is woefully short, and I don't think we need a separate FAQ entry for fern & moss, houseplant, and ariod terrariums. No one here has ever asked that specifically that I can recall. Why not just make a single list of good plants for terrariums? We could use DianaMay's list for starters.

Also, the definition of a Wardian case is inaccurate. Wardian cases are basically fancy terrariums. 'Fancy' in the sense that they are made from cut glass panels of various shapes and put together like a stained glass window; with leading or the copper foil and solder technique. They are not generally for orchids. The original Wardian cases were for all kinds of houseplants. They are basically mini greenhouses or conservatories. Some even have stained glass in them.

Also, why have an entry for 'good cacti or succulents for terrariums', to which the answer is basically 'there aren't any', and then refer to desertariums in other posts? I think that Viv_guy talks a bit about successful desertariums on his website, so perhaps he could recommend a few plants? I'm sure that there are some succulents (probably no cacti) that would do well in terrariums, or other desert plants like sago palms (while they are small, of course). Peperomias are really succulents, and they are used in terrariums all the time. Jade plants are pretty tough as well. The main thing would be to emphasize that they are not suitable for SEALED terrariums, but could be used in certain vivariums that have desert animal inhabitants, like leopard geckos or bearded dragons.

As for bonsai in terrariums, it is possible, as long as one chooses a tropical tree, like ficus, and keeps it in it's pot, and doesn't mind the constant maintenance.

Dried or live sphagnum moss should be added to the C.P. terrarium media list.

Vermiculite, bark chips, coconut husk chips, and some orchid mixes should be added to the list of media for standard terrariums.

'How often should I water my terrarium' needs a better answer. Of course it depends, but indicators should be given, like 'You want there to be some condensation on the glass, but if you are getting lots of water droplets, open the terrarium to let some of it evaporate' and 'Water/mist your terrarium when the glass becomes dry (no condensation at all)'. It should also be added that one should have a very light hand when watering. I believe this is also mentioned elsewhere in the FAQ. Oh yeah, and the goal of watering is to keep the soil evenly moist. Not soggy or soaking wet (with the exception of some cp's), and not mostly dry. It's okay to let the top of the soil get dry (how far down will depend on the size of the container), but the mix should generally be evenly moist. Pretty much all good terrarium plants like to be constantly moist. Sufficient aeration to the roots should be provided by the correct substrate.

Add N. ampullaria to the list of good neps for terrariums.

A Paludarium is not defined as a biotope tank, but rather as a tank with an open water area in the front, as if it were a cross-section of a river or lake. Biotope tanks can be vivariums, paludariums, terrariums, or desertariums.

I did finally think of some new questions and answers to be added. 1) some discussion of artificial lighting, with a general guide to watts per gallon for low light plants (give a few examples), med. light plants (examples), and high light plants. Make sure people know that incandescents are useless! It would also be very helpful to have a photo tutorial for hooking up your own lights, or at least links to other sites that offer this. 2) Same goes for hooking up a fan. 3) how to build a false bottom. 4) Some discussion of the waterfeatures that one may do. Basic instructions for a few different ways to make your own waterfall, pool, and stream. (expanding foam, carved styrofoam, painting with acrylics or covering with silicone and pebbles/bark/corals/whatever, etc.

I know that these ideas of mine don't apply much to simple bottle terrariums, but it seems that most people here lately (every since I've joined anyways) are more interested in complex set-ups with artificial lighting and water features, so I think that we should 'keep up with the times' so so speak. =) And let me commend you on your strong stance on the needs of the animals in terrariums! Too many people add them as an afterthought.

Oh yeah, and several of us here have found that african violets don't do well in terrariums (they stop flowering), so perhaps they should be removed from the list.

Hmmm, no other suggestions? Well then perhaps that first 'go around' wasn't too bad after all.

Thanks for the input sahoy.
"need a separate FAQ entry for fern & moss, houseplant, and ariod terrariums"? At the time that is what folks had suggested. And in a way it does make some sense from an organizational stand point. Perhaps DianaMay's list, if it hasn't already been broken down into groupings [& if such a break down is still seen as useful], then just that list could be posted. Btw, happen to know where the list is? [Ya I know I'm being 'lazy' here but I so rarely seem to get the time to do much online anymore. Heck, I just finally got around to reading through 2 weeks of emails -- boy stuff accumulates fast!]

Where did you get your def of "paludarium", sahoy? I had been unable to find one at the time. Think someone else had provided me with the def I wound up using.

'cacti or succulents for terrariums'...
From what the folks on the Cactus Forum told me [& some other folks too] there really don't seem to be any "good" desert candidates both due to watering difficulties as well as humidity problems. Some of the succulents like peperomia are not desert dwellers and can handle quite a bit more water & so didn't seem like desertarium candidates. : ) Also because desertariums, though possible, seem to be quite a bit more difficult than other types of terrs, & since I expected that the FAQ would mainly be for beginners, & since no one was able to supply a list of good choices there just wasn't anything to recommend. *sigh* Now if Viv_guy could be persuaded to supply some info that would be very very cool! If your out there Viv_guy ...hint hint hint : D

Good ideas for addition to medias.

Watering was another of those troublesome issues simply because so much depends on the type of terr being created. [That and trying to keep answers brief in the FAQ. : )]

Don't really wish to remove AV's, sahoy. Though flowering may be difficult for some folks, AVs do seem to grow like gangbusters in a terr. Ease of growth and a bit different style of foliage still, IMO, makes them worth using in a terr ... especially for beginners desiring easy, smaller [with some varieties], inexpensive plants. As to flowering, as w/ any plant, not flowering indicates something just isn't quite right. Whether the following will be of any use for those of you with AV flowering probs I don't know but...
I gave a buddy of mine a standard AV to plant in his terr. He did have difficulty getting it to bloom at first. Light was provided by a 2-bulb 4ft shoplight probably about 12+ inches above the substrate. The media was not merely moist but literally sopping wet. [He had a "river" running from one end of the terr to the other.] Interestingly enough, though the AV would not bloom, growth-wise it took off big time, forming multiple side shoots and completely taking over its 'plot' of land. Having 'conquered' its territory it commensed blooming and has been blooming almost nonstop ever since [for over a year now]. My guess is that it had been taking advantage of the opportunity to expand vegatatively before entering a blooming cycle.

Some of your "Questions to Address" may run into the prob of being too lengthy [Spike had requested keeping FAQ responses brief -- which really makes the picture tutorial a toughy]. But I am game if the rest of you are. : ) So how about it folks? Any answers for the following:

1) some discussion of artificial lighting, with a general guide to watts per gallon for low light plants (give a few examples), med. light plants (examples), and high light plants. Make sure people know that incandescents are useless! It would also be very helpful to have a photo tutorial for hooking up your own lights, or at least links to other sites that offer this.

2) Same goes for hooking up a fan.

3) how to build a false bottom.

4) Some discussion of the waterfeatures that one may do. Basic instructions for a few different ways to make your own waterfall, pool, and stream. (expanding foam, carved styrofoam, painting with acrylics or covering with silicone and pebbles/bark/corals/whatever, etc.

Paul
I think you did an admirable job with the FAQ .Given the many,many different types of "terrariums" When you add "Paludarium,Orchidarium,Desertarium,Vivarium,Semi,Aquarium and let's not forget "Bottle gardens"lol The definition of these have considerable overlap and it's almost impossible to define each one.
I worked in a pet shop for a while and found that most people defined "Terrarium " as a place to keep animals mostly frogs.Which to my mind is actually a Vivarium.Now in a "garden shop" just the opposite was true ."Terrarium" was a place to keep plants mosly orchids.lol Of course the conditions necessary were quite different for each.
I tried to find out as quickly as possible which one they
were reffering to and what size they had in mind and how far they wanted to go to maintain the necessary conditions.
This led to the potential hobbyist becoming disgusted with how complicated and expensive they are to setup lol.
Seems that in this forum the average person is meaning either a "Bottle garden" or a modified aquarium with either very little or no standing water??
Afraid I can't help you very much but on the whole I think you gave very good guidelines to what the average person has in mind. Look forward to reading what you come up with !!! lol
Gary

African violets flower freely in my terrarium. I think you need fluctuating temps.

Trey here ... lurker. I've set up five successful terraria in the past six months with the aid of this forum. I think a useful FAQ on sterilization would be nice. It could address the proper cleaning of containers and sterilization of media/driftwood/rocks. It's been my experience that several hours of prep time sterilizing my materials has made all the difference.

I would love to see a list of terms. For example, what is an "epiphyte"? Or a "nep"? Even "VFT" threw me for about 15 minutes.

Also, y'all use a lot of [X]. [species name] -- as a complete newbie, I have no idea what genus the [X] stands for most of the time. A list of common genuses and what types of plants they are would be helpful. (Even better, if you could spell out the genus the first time you mention it, that would help muchly.)

Making plant research more difficult for me is the fact that local sources for plants *rarely* label plants with their correct taxonomy! A list of good plants should include what y'all figure are the most frequently used common names along with the genus/species.

leaf: I would recommend that you go out and buy a good book on houseplants. Most, if not all, of the plants we talk about on the forum are common houseplants, the smaller ones. A good book that I have is called An Illustrated Guide to Popular Houseplants. It's by three different authors, with sections on flowering houseplants, foliage plants, and cacti and succulents. It has a very good drawing to go with every plant it mentions, and also sections of colour photos of pretty much all the plants. It's a little old, so a few of the botanical names have been changed, but mostly, it's accurate.

To answer you specific questions though, a 'nep' is short for Nepenthes. These are carnivorous pitcher plants. They vine, as opposed to Sarracenia, also pitcher plants, that grow in a somewhat rosetted form on the ground and are native to North America. Most neps come from Asia. Epiphytes are plants that grow up in the air, mostly attached to trees. Lithophytes grow on rocks. Terrestrials are those that grow in the ground. And while it may be confusing for you at first, you can take comfort in the fact that it will eventually become second nature to you. I've been into plants seriously for about 5 or 6 years now, and only in the past two years have I really remembered botanical names. Also, I really don't want to type out 'Nepenthes' every time, when most people know what 'nep' stands for. If you don't know, then just ask! =) We don't mind answering questions on this forum. =) And no one will think you're dumb.

Paul: I can't find the site now, but I was just cruising the 'net one day and came across some kind of aquatic plant society that had annual photo competitions, and one of the categories was paludariums. So that's where I got my definition. A Biotope tank is simply a tank that seeks to accurately represent the flora and usually also fauna of a specific area. The amazon seems to be quite popular for biotope tanks. So a paludarium could be a biotope tank, but so could a terrarium, vivarium, or desertarium.

I've linked DianaMay's list below.

If there are truly no plants suitable for desertariums long-term, then perhaps that entry should be entirely removed from the FAQ?

As for AVs, perhaps it should be added that some people have success with them and some do not, or that it is best to keep them in their pots so that they are pot-bound and will continue to bloom, or that they may need fluctuating temps. Still, it would seem that if one needs to do so many things to get AVs to bloom in terrariums, then they really are not good plants for newbies to put in their terrariums, and they should indeed be removed from the list.

Regarding watering, I don't think that my answer (above) is too lengthy for an FAQ. Spike didn't neccessarily mean that everything had to have a one sentence anser in the FAQs, he just didn't want an entire page addressing every complexity of every issue.

If links are okay in an FAQ, I know that Homer made a site on building a false bottom, and even beyond that into placing driftwood and planting it up. We could also link to Black Jungle's tutorial. Here's Homer's page: http://www.frognet.org/gallery/False-Bottom-and-Waterfall-Assembly

I don't know how to hook up a fan, but perhaps I can get my husband (he's an electrician) to write that one. Though from what I've read on the forum, you know a lot about that one, Paul! All people would need was simple instructions, like a supply list (fan, AC/DC adaptor, wire, switch) and then basically how to put it together (which wires go where).

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants on DianaMay's list

sayhoyaref, others...
re: african violets, lighting, cleaning, substrate.

My neighbor has good luck with a small african violet in a cool terrarium (which I built). I'm really enjoying the new streptocarpus (related to african violet) in my big warm terrarium. Too new to know if it will bloom continuously, but growing fast and flowering. The star of my terrarium is a common summer garden begonia. Many gracefull sprays of flowers, always blooming.

Lighting--My guess so far, based on a little experience, is 20-40 watts / 15,000-30,000 lumens cool or daylight fluourescent per square foot. Might depend on temperature

Substrate--I'm not sold on this. I'm contrary. All of our plants have very shallow roots and I only use 1-2 inch soil/peat moss. I want my plants to bloom and not grow three feet tall! If you have a waterfall splashing, that'a a little different.

Silicone--The type that lists acetic acid in the caution statement (and often says "FDA approved for food surfaces" in the USA) appears to be the right kind. Most silicone now sold in hardware stores is not that kind! Do other people have trouble finding it?

----David F

ps-must borrow the digital camera again.

Hi all,
Figured I'd give this thread a bump and see if anyone can provide info to address the follow questions/topics. Feel free to add additional topics & better yet provide any answers you have discovered ;-) )

1) artificial lighting -- a general guide to watts per gallon for low light plants (give a few examples), med. light plants (examples), and high light plants.

2) hooking up a fan -- a general guide [this one I should be able to get out of the way myself]

3) how to build a false bottom -- a general guide

4) waterfeatures -- a general guide

5) list of common terms and their def

6) Sterilization
What have people found to be the most effective for:
media?
driftwood?
rocks?

Btw, sahoy, couldnt find DianaMayÂs list [link didnÂt work] so if someone perhaps copied it...

Sahoy a couple of questions for clarification if you could:
"Dried or live sphagnum moss should be added to the C.P. terrarium media list."
Used how? [ex. as top dressing? mixed with media? as THE media]
"Vermiculite, bark chips, coconut husk chips, and some orchid mix should be added to the list of media for standard terrariums." Added to mix?used alone? Particluar plants found to be good for?

Thanks for all the input -- especially 'answers' so far provided!

I meant sphagnum as THE media, yes. It's used in pots to grow neps and VFTs quite a bit, so why not in terrariums? Live would obviously be superior to re-wetted dried moss, but since dried moss has a tendency to 're-grow' through spores, it's still a good idea.

Vermiculite, et all would be examples of substrates on their own, as with the sphag. moss for CP terrs. Vermiculite can also be added to a soil mix, but I use just bark, and I love it! All of my plants also love it, from the selaginella to ferns to broms to orchids, terrestrial or epiphytes. It is just a good substrate, that's all. =) CHC would be better than bark (doesn't break down as quickly), but it is much more expensive.

DianaMay's post much have slipped off the edge! I really do hope someone copied it. . . I may have, I'll have to check tomorrow.

Sterilization: Media: all good potting soils are sold already sterilized. This does not, however, guarantee that you won't get mold growing in your terrarium after you have set it up. But you might also get little ferns and mosses growing (I did), so perhaps it's not such a bad thing. Bark chips/mulches/CHC, etc. are not sterilized to the best of my knowledge, but I have not found sterilization to be neccessary for these substrates.
Driftwood: if the piece is small enough to fit into your largest pot, cover it with boiling water and boil it for at LEAST 5 minutes. Make sure the wood is wet through, so that the entire piece of wood reaches 100 degrees C for at least 5 minutes. If the piece is large, I have found soaking it in a chlorine bleach solution works. Put it in your bathtub (for truly large pieces) or in a rubbermaid container, and cover with water and bleach. Let it soak for 24 hrs, then drain and rinse. Soak in fresh water for another 48 hrs, doing at least 2 complete water changes in this time, to leach out any chlorine residues. One could try adding a dechlorinator to the rinse water as well, to detoxify any remaining traces. The wood itself may actually bleach (turn white), so if you would not find that attractive, don't do it. Try soaking in soapy water (will kill bugs and eggs) instead. Do more rinse water changes if you use soap, because soap residue is more harmful to vivarium animals than chlorine.
Rocks: just wash them like you would dishes. If they are textured and/or have lots of ridges, use an old toothbrush or similar item to scrub every nook and cranny. If you're really paranoid, you could also bleach your rocks. Again, make sure everything is well-rinsed.

David: aquarium silicone can be found at most pet stores, and if not, then all specialty fish stores should have it. It is more expensive at a pet store though, so if a hardware store has it, get it there!

Low light plants: pothos (aka devil's ivy), ferns (eg. Lemon Button Fern), Fittonia, lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderana), parlour palm/neanthe bella (Chamadorea elegans), China doll (Radermachia sinica), Dracaena deremensis and cultivars, english ivy, Ficus (?), most non-variegated (plain green) plants.

Med. light plants: african violets, selaginella, java moss, anubias, ferns (eg. Rabbit's Foot Fern), some variegated plants (white only, yellow and other colours need more light), many bromeliads, syngonium, green tillandias, Pilea (aluminium plant).

High light plants: 'low light' orchids (Phals, Paphs, some species; anything rated at 500-2000 ft.c. of light), polka-dot plant, nepenthes, other carnivores, silver tillandsias, cryptanthus (to keep good colour), anthuriums.

Very high light plants: more light-demanding orchids, like oncidiums, cattleyas, etc.

It should be noted that most 'low light' plants are merely TOLERANT of low light. They will grow much faster, and more compactly, in better light. Do NOT go by how bright your tank looks to you, as the human eye is easily deceived. Pay attention to your plants. If they are leaning or stretching towards the light, or have very thin and gangly growth, or variegated plants revert to plain green (on new growth), they need more light. If plants look compact and robust, are growing at a good rate, keep their colour, or even develop a 'tan' (some orchids will get more purple in their leaves), you have good light. And no matter which bulbs you choose, always use a good reflector, or you will be loosing 50% of your light (the half of the bulb that faces away from your terrarium). As for watts/lumens per gallon, I have about 1W (CFl)/4W (Incandescent equivalent) per gallon, or 66 lumens/gal. That's four 23W Philips Daylight screw-in compacts evenly spaced over my 85 gallon terrarium. That is high light, enough to rebloom my Paph orchids, and low-light species like Bulbophyllums, but not enough for a polka-dot plant to maintain good colour. (Not good enough for me, anyways). Feel free to add more plants to my examples.

Here is what I found that I had saved from DianaMay's post. I don't know if it was the post on plants or on terrariums in general, but here is the part that deals with plants:

PLANTS IN A CLOSED TERRARIUM

What you DONT want in a terrarium

- Plants that grow too fast.
- Plants that need a lot of sunlight.
- Large-leaved plants.
- Plants that change character as they mature.
- Soil, which encourages the growth of bacteria.
- A too-fine-textured growing medium that packs down and discourages air circulation.
- Plantings that leave no space for plants to grow.
- Open terrariums that have to be watered, causing compaction of growing medium.
- Terrariums in colored glass that changes the spectrum of light.

What kinds of plants CAN be used?

* Plants that can be CUT BACK.
-Plants that have nodes along a stem rather than leaves that all grow directly from the surface of the soil. (Unless they are miniatures and very slow~growing.)

* Plants that DO NOT NEED SUN.
- Plants that need more than an hour of sunlight will stretch (etiolate), becoming vulnerable to rot, and outgrow the terrarium quickly.

* Plants that CAN TOLERATE HUMIDITY.
- FERNS - good and bad.
--Miniature ferns and slow-growing varieties are good, large-leaved and fast-growing are bad.
--Some are small but have large fertile fronds when they mature. (bear's foot, brake ferns,etc.)
--Boston fern is bad- too vigorous
Smaller, slower-growing varieties of larger ferns are good.
--'Fluffy Duffy,' a miniature of Boston fern, has underground runners It is invasive but good where nothing else will grow.

- Club mosses. Selagenella, gold and green. Need bright light, no sun. There are many varieties of Selagenella, blue, very tiny, decorative.
- Wild mosses are a very useful cover for vermiculite or perlite, although they tend to grow up the glass (burned ground moss, found on rocks) or die off (velvet moss, found on damp, acid soil). If the terrarium is successful, offspring will appear in 1 to 10 years.

* Plants that GROW SLOWLY. These can be trimmed into the shape of miniature trees and shrubs for a landscape effect.
- Bella palm (Neanthe bella). Slow-growing dwarf, good when young.
- False aralia (Dizygotheca elegantissima). Excellent when young.
- Podocarpus. Very slow-growing, good.

* Plants that HAVE SMALL LEAVES.

- Button fern (Pellea). good firm leaves, slow-growing.
- Pilea varieties. Cannot take wet circumstances.
-- Creeping Charlie or English Baby Tears (Pilea nummularifolia). needs enough light or gets etiolated.
-- Baby tears (Helxine) - similar and dreadful without enough light.
-- Artillery plant (Pilea microphylla) Excellent.
-- Aluminum plant varieties: "Friendship Plant',"'Moon Valley etc. Not good. Leaves drop too easily.

* Plants to START in a terrarium, THEN MOVE when they get large.
- Rex begonia. Start from a single leaf, or part of a leaf with a vein.
-- Small-leaved Rex begonia. Leaf stem (petiole)gets very long, good in tall terrariums.
-- Miniature begonias. Begonia prismaticarpa. Need some sun to initiate blooming, then just good light.
-- Hairy varieties of Rex begonia do not do well in a moist environment.
Check with Begonia Society to get many wonderful varieties. Also African Violet Society for a complete world of gesneriads. Miniature African violets do well in a very tall terrarium, some sun.
- Runners of larger plants. Strawberry begonia (Saxifraga sarmentosa). Variegated varieties usually need more light to make up for lack of chlorophyll in white areas.

* Other SUITABLE PLANTS.
- Pellionia varieties. Red-leaved plants need sunlight to penetrate through red.
- Fittonia - large leaf, red-veined and dwarf white-veined.
- Polkadot plant (Hypoestes) Leaves very thin, tend to rot.
- Bloodleaf (Iresine) Green form OK.
- Norfolk Island pine. Baby size good, slowgrowing.
- Asparagus fern. Plumosus baby-size good, sprengeri too big. Trim regularly to keep small.