Me and Isobelle visited a gardening center and we found a section that had glass jars with plants inside.
We thought they were cute and interesting and that we could do the same thing (for less money).
So we found an old glass jar in our home and filled it with some soil. We then took a bunch of moss and weeds we found and carefully buried them in the soil in the glass jar.
We didn’t have much expectations for it and thought that the plants inside would quickly die and rot, but to our surprise the plants started growing well inside.
The jar has a lid on it so water can’t escape, we have not done anything with the jar for more than 2 months, but everything grows well inside.
Because the jar is made out of glass we can see the roots growing trough the soil at the bottom which is really interesting to witness.
When we first added the plants to the jar, there was no grass inside, but after a few months the grass is now growing tall inside and dominating.
The weeds and moss are barely visible from all the grass. At the start there were also no insects detected, but sometimes a few tiny insects can be seen walking in the soil.
The humidity in the glass is very high. One time a plant grew against upper side of the glass where water condenses and the leaf started turning black and was then devoured by a white fungus.
After a while the rotting leaf was gone and the fungus disappeared as well.
The glass jar essentially functions like a small ecosystem and it’s fascinating to see. It is surprising how easy it was to create this glass terrarium.
Making a glass terrarium doesn’t have to be glamorous or complicated. It’s easy to do. Actually I think its best to use weeds for a glass terrarium, because weeds are usually fast growing and resilient.
The fun part about it is to see a variety of plants grow rapidly in an enclosed environment and to see how it turn out and be pleasantly surprised, just like natural farming.
I believe one of the essences of nature is to surprise us with wonder and beauty. Be it the sunrise in the morning; New blooming flowers and growing leaves; or the way plants try to grow and adapt in a glass terrarium jar.
All it required to create this terrarium was a spoon, some soil, and some weeds, and of course a glass jar.
I believe this glass terrarium jar would be a great project for classrooms and children to learn more about nature and become curious about ecosystems.
