If you want to enjoy a small piece of nature in your home, you can make an eternal terrarium or eternal terrarium. It consists of adding a series of plants to a well-sealed glass jar, in such a way that we will never open it again. Plants are able to subsist with the few resources they have inside.
In the 1960s, David Latimer, a fan of plants, wanted to see if they were capable of surviving inside a glass jug. He reopened the jar 12 years after creating the ecosystem to water it and resealed it hermetically. 40 years have passed and the terrarium is still preserved.
NECESSARY MATERIALS
– Gravel: we need stones about the size of a marble or a little smaller. Substrate for aquariums works.
– Coal: some pieces of charcoal for barbecue. We must break them into small pieces.
– Land: Depending on the container we want to use, we will need more or less soil. Ideally, it should be from a natural area and be moist. For example, it can be land from the garden, because that way it will have life and we will be able to see some invertebrate walking through our terrarium.
– Floors: lichens, mosses, small plants that we can find and that do not grow much.
– Bark, small sticks, mossy stones.
– Sprayer with water: if possible, that it does not have chlorine.
– Glass jar: we can use a large container with a cork stopper or, failing that, some kind of airtight seal.
– A candle
– Matches
Step by Step
1. Take the jar you have chosen and place about two fingers height of gravel. Note that this will depend on the size of the container. The function of the gravel is drainage, to prevent water from pooling on the ground.
2. Next, take a finger height of pieces of Coal. Its function is to keep at bay the microorganisms that live in the soil and that help decomposition. They are necessary for the ecosystem but should never be in excess.
3. The next layer is Earth. The amount will depend on what we want to plant. A good idea is to start with moss and lichen, which are very resistant. We must also leave enough space for air, since the container is airtight, no air from outside will enter again.
4. We place the stones with moss and branches that we have gathered, and then the rest of the selected plants.
5. With a atomizerpour a little water around the edges of the jar and close.
6. We must check the jar for a few days and check in the morning and at sunset if the glass becomes cloudy with water. If it is in excess, it means that we have overdone it. With a cloth, we dry a little of this water. If there is little that can be seen and we can see the plants inside without any problem, it is perfect.
7. To finish, we close it and if it is a cork lid we can seal it with candle wax after a few days. It is important to only do this when we see that the humidity is ideal.
very importante: we must place it in a place where it does not receive direct sunlight, but it does have clarity.
As you can see, it is something very simple to do and it is a worthwhile experience, even to do with children.
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Toni’s garden