Planting My First Terrarium

 I've been wanting to plant a terrarium for some time now, especially since I'd started growing my baby cacti a few months back. I ordered two cookie jars to store my pens and pencils in, but when they arrived they were a lot bigger than I'd expected them to be so all my tools fitted into one jar. I sat staring at the second jar for a while.  It was a really great looking jar. What am I going to do with it? Then I remembered my whole terrarium idea and thought, 'jar, you have a destiny!'.

Next was trying to find all the bits and bobs I needed to plant one.  I had cactus repotting mix (which you can easily buy on Amazon,) all ready for when the young'uns needed to move out of their nursery. The only problem was all the other materials that I needed: activated charcoal, gravel and some good looking moss. Activated charcoal just kept coming up online as stuff you eat (don't ask, I've no idea), gravel came in massive bags and I wasn't looking to cover five square metres, and moss, well I felt it'd be a bit cruel to pull it off my neighbour's garden walls. Also a lot of terrarium items online were shipping from America and shipping is obviously pricey.  Then I struck gold! 

 I stumbled across Geodesium Terrariums & Terrarium Kits on Etsy and thank goodness they were based in the UK so no crazy shipping costs! Also the best thing was that the kits had just the right amount of everything needed to plant a terrarium so there's no wastage at all. I got in touch with Adam (hey, Adam!) from Geodesium, to check if I could get the pack delivered for my weekend off and his response was super quick, so was the speed of delivery so thanks for that Adam!

I chose the Big Moss Terrarium Kit which included the following: Soil, Gravel, Activated Charcoal, Cushion Moss, Sphagnum Moss, Silver Moss and I also got a generous sample of beautiful crisp Iceland Moss. Included is a brilliant set of instructions too which I needed since this was my first terrarium. For everything you get I thought the price of £20 was very much worth it especially when this is the big kit! You can get other Geodesium kits for £10 and not only that, Adam makes glass terrariums by hand which he also sells in his Etsy shop. So if you're after a handmade terrarium I'd certainly head over to Geodesium. The products are made and put together with a lot of care and attention stemming from a love for the hobby and I think that's really important for any retailer, to have a passion for what they are selling. 

 So on to the planting! First here are my baby cacti in their nursery.  I'm not going to lie, there have been some fatalities, mainly taken by the dreaded mould.  There were some overcrowding in places too so some got a bit malformed... That's my fault though.  I thought they weren't growing (impatient), so bought another large pack of seeds and chucked them on top. Then they all started growing. It got a bit crazy, but these are the survivors.

 The cacti are a mix of varieties and I love them so much.  Why do I love them so much? Well look at them, they are incredibly cute. Secondly, they have tiny baby spikes.  Thirdly, I'm very intrigued to see what they end up growing up to look like (fingers crossed the growing up part happens). So anyway, this was them before the big move.

So first things first, the gravel.  I followed the Geodesium instructions and washed the gravel to get rid of all the dust and placed it in the bottom of the terrarium.  What's that old nutella jar doing there? Well that was a last minute idea to make a tiny terrarium. I'm now going to have to get a new jar for make up tools but hey, if an idea arises you just have to run with it.

Next up was a lot of mess (cleared up for the photo).  Activated charcoal is dusty but needed to help stop bacteria and therefore that killer mould that got some of the other cacti kids. 

Soil was next and I used my cacti repotting soil to give the wee ones the best chance.  The Geodesium soil is great quality stuff though and I've kept that for a future terrarium since I'm now hooked.

Now as you can see in the next photo the light has changed.  That's because the sun moved a lot while I sat very slowly repotting these tiny beasts. Now I'm no cacti expert so if there are too many in there then that's just because I'm clueless but it looks all nice and spaced out at least.  I have this image of them squidging together and forming a mighty cacti monster.  I'm not sure if that's a thing that happens but fear not, if they look cramped and distressed I'll repot them into another home. Nutella terrarium has some too. Also if you look very closely you can see my favourite. It's a tiny pink cactus, the only one.  If you look at the far left in the main terrarium there is green one then the next one in is the pink one. It's roots are so short that it was difficult to get them to hold in the soil but I think it's ok now. Survive wee one, survive!

Here is a closer view of the babies in their new home. Enjoying their fresh soil.  Stretching their legs.

Here are the Nutella cacti, settling in.

So then up next it was time to add some moss into the mix. I got such a generous amount from Geodesium but couldn't use it all due to having so many baby cacti but I did keep it all in another pot for future terrarium use.  I added a kind of mixed forest of moss to the back.  They all have very different textures and I love the colours together. I would like to add some little figures or gravel and stones but I'm going to let the cacti have a bit of space to grow first. I think it looks pretty nice as it is right now though. 

Here is my little moss pot waiting on their future terrarium. 

So there we have it! A lovely finished terrarium and it's Nutella jar experiment neighbour. I have to say I had a lot of fun doing this.  It was really nice to just sit and listen to some music and slowly build this up. I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops! I also just want to say thanks to Geodesium for existing! A brilliant terrarium shop with fantastic quality products.  I couldn't recommend them enough. 

 Disclaimer: I was not sponsored to do this post by Geodesium as I really did just honestly stumble upon their existence.  All my opinions are honest and my own.  I'm also a really rubbish gardener. I've killed many plants so my cacti planting is completely and utterly not backed up by any professional knowledge.  I'm just winging it and hoping for the best. Keep your fingers crossed for me...