Surfer Girl & Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara: Terrarium (part 3 - end)

Hey Greensters! 

Patricia here :)

A few days ago when I was in an event with Surfergirl and Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara, I held a workshop with them and also with Bintang Felinia (Surfer Girl's Green Ambassador for the years 2014-2015. I made a terrarium while Bintang made recycled paper. 

Now what is a terrarium? Terrarium is the art of planting in a transparent plastic or glass container. This art of planting was first introduced to us humans by Nathaniel Bashaw Ward in his book called ‘On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases’ that was published in the year 1842.

Patricia made a terrarium

TERRARIUM

Ingredients:
1 transparent plastic or glass container
1 cactus (or any other plants that don't need that much sunlight)
Coloured pebbles for decoration
Charcoal, mash it roughly
Medium sized gravel
Fertile soil


Tools needed:
1 gardening shovel




How to make it:

1. Prepare the cactus that you will plant in the terrarium. Clean it well from the excess soil.
2. Place the gravel in the container as the base for your terrarium. It is important for you to put the gravel in it because it is used to store excess water.

   

   Simple terrarium

3. On top of the gravel, place some charcoal. It is used to absorb poison that is given out by withering plants so that it would keep the plant healthy and your terrarium clean.
4. Above the charcoal, you can layer it with coloured stones to make your terrarium look pretty and attractive.Above that, add a little bit of soil first, then plant the cactus that has already been cleaned in step one and then you add more soil until it is half the height of the container.
5. Decorate the terrarium with the coloured stones or with sand as you like to make it look pretty.
6. Your terrarium is now ready to be placed in your room or anywhere in your house (or sell it).

Easy right? Just remember, use a plant that doesn't need that much sunlight such as cactus, aloe vera, sirih gading (English: Devil's Ivy), small palms and lots more. It’s good to put it out in the sun once a week if you want your plant to look super fresh and healthy. Once a week, spray your terrarium on its edges with water so that your plant can get enough nutrition for it to grow. Don't over water it though because that could cause your plant to wither and die. If your home has an air conditioner in it, make sure you water your terrarium more often because the coldness can dry out your plant.

Mrs. Rusma from Surfer Girl with our books

For more craft ideas and if you live in Indonesia, you can read one of our books titled 'Craftpreneur Junior: Serunya Menghasilkan Uang dari Kerajinan Tangan" (How to earn money from crafting). 

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.


Love,
Patricia Cornelia

Surfer Girl's Green Ambassador 2012 - 2014

Founder of Green Team Indonesia