A Mossy Terrarium

Terrariums have lately become a favorite winter activity of mine. I started a few years ago, planting a few plants inside a fish bowl. My son, who was 2 at the time, helped me by placing some toy dinosaurs in it. It looked adorable. Since then, 3 of the 4 plants have died.  I assume the conditions for those particular plants just weren't right for them. And then of course, my son wanted his toys back! So now, I'm re-working all my terrariums.

Last week I ordered "terrarium moss" from a website called Moss Acres. Included in the shipment were three types of mosses that apparently grow well in a terrarium: Cushion Moss, Rock Cap Moss and Sheet Moss.

In the fish bowl terrarium, which is not a closed terrarium, I already have an African violet growing and its got new growth, so I'm thinking its happy in there. I also have miniature fern that stands upright, to give the arrangement some dimension, and a small cutting of Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina).

In here, I placed some of the sheet moss. I didn't want to cover all the soil with it, but I placed a good chunk of it off to one side. Here's how it looks:

The other terrarium is closed, meaning I keep the lid on it nearly all the time. Every few days, I will remove the lid to let in some fresh air, but mostly its closed. My sister had given me a decorative golf ball glued to a tee. I thought it might look best nestled among some grass or various mosses. So I arranged all three types of mosses at the base of this container and put the golf ball right in the middle.

Since I had a lot of moss left over, I decided to create an all-over moss terrarium. It's an open container, wider than the fishbowl but with a smaller mouth/opening. Again, I used all three mosses and made a patchwork of sorts. Here it is:

They are looking good so far! The moss was shipped in a box and each piece is completely dried out in a dormant state. All that's required is to put them onto moist soil and water well. Indoors, moss enjoy lots of indirect light (a contrast to their love of the shade when outdoors). Until they get established, I'm trying to raise the humidity by covering the opening of the terrariums, a few hours every day.

I'm hoping the moss will enjoy their new homes and flourish! I find moss fascinating (as you'll remember from my "Beauty of Moss" post a few months ago) and now I can enjoy it indoors during the cold winter months.