Читать книгу Creative Terrariums - Enid G. Svymbersky - Страница 8

Terrariums are an eye-catching way to bring the whimsy of nature indoors. These mini indoor gardens are a great way to maximize space while adding a touch of greenery to your home. The conventional definition of a terrarium is a self-sustaining living ecosystem inside a sealed glass container. The high humidity inside an airtight container provides the right conditions for many tropical plants to thrive in your home all year long.

While there are some extraordinary exceptions, terrarium displays are not forever. Even with regular pruning and maintenance, plants tend to outgrow their containers and need to be repotted into larger containers. This means you get to go out and buy new plants for a new display, and that can be really exciting!

Take into consideration that not all plants can be kept under glass and not all species can be planted together in a terrarium. Tropical plants are best suited for closed containers while succulents, tillandsias, and cacti need the airflow that an open vessel provides. While not all the terrariums in this book are conventional terrariums (in fact most stray far off the beaten path), it’s important to understand some fundamental workings of a biosphere to really appreciate how amazing it is to cultivate life under glass.

Everything happening inside a terrarium is a miniature representation of all the amazing phenomena we experience in our own natural world. I’ve found that having some knowledge of plant biology is very helpful in maintaining healthy plants indoors. While we all learn about photosynthesis and the water cycle in grade school, I thought a little refresher would be helpful.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) + Water (H₂O) + Sunlight = Sugar (Glucose) + Oxygen (O₂)