Zero Cost Terrarium (How to make a terrarium from your backyard)

In this video, I will be making a zero-cost terrarium using available materials and plants from our overgrown garden here at my hometown. I am currently visiting my parents at my hometown and thought of taking up this project while I am here. I will be using this kitchen container for my build today. It is a one liter glass jar with a transparent lid. Let me start by collecting some plants from the garden. The first pick will be this fern growing on a stack of bricks. It is a native species and grows in abundance here. I pull out one more and drop them inside a Ziploc polybag so that they do not get dehydrated. There is an infinite supply of creeping fig in this garden. They are growing on the fencing wall, on the tree trunks as well as on the ground. I collect a few cuttings and place them inside my Ziploc bag. There's a Palaeonia repens growing alongside this wandering Jew. I take a few cuttings from the stems that are bearing smaller sized leaves. I have recently had some success with Coleus in my propagation bins back home. They come in a variety of colors and patterns and are pretty low demand. I proceed to take two small cuttings of the plant. I'm looking forward to trying them out in a terrarium. The Boston ferns are too big for my project but I was able to find a tiny pup for my build. This is Pilea microphylla. It grows like wild weed here. I really like this plant but they do not work in closed terrariums as I have experienced in the past. Growing amidst the carpet of Pilea microphylla is Mazus pumilus. It is a native plant that grows in these regions. It has not worked very well for me in the past but I'm willing to give it another try this time. Using my mini trowel, I carefully dig out two plants for my project. Not much moss grows around this time of the year in the garden. I did locate some on the brick edging. Before I collect any, I will have to relocate this tiny garlic snail. They are fascinating creatures and can be found everywhere in the garden. Using a knife, I carefully scrape out a few patches of moss from the surface of the brick edging at different locations within the yard. Just like the plants, I place the moss inside a ziplock bag and proceed to collect the rest of the materials. I scoop out some gravel from the backyard and drop them into the container. This will act as a drainage layer and will store any excess water in the terrarium ecosystem. I collect some soil from the yard for preparing the substrate. To this, I add some dried leaves after crushing and tearing them with my hands. I found some river sand and added it to the soil. Finally, I also added a few scoops of cocoa fiber to the soil and mixed everything together. My terrarium substrate is now ready. For my hardscape, I'm picking up a few stones of varying sizes. I want to keep it simple and minimalistic. I start adding the substrate on top of the drainage layer. I usually add a layer of activated carbon in between the drainage and substrate layers for filtration. Since I do not have it at the moment, I proceed directly with the substrate. I slope the soil towards the back to create some depth. I position one of the bigger stones and add a smaller one in the front. It will support the bigger stone and prevent it from sliding downwards. I try adding another stone at the back in a slanted position but it kept falling over. I pour in some more soil so that I can get it to rest at an angle. I use a brush to model the substrate around the stones and lock them in place. I start the planting process with the fern and realize that the green and busy backdrop is making things a bit challenging visually. I move to another location with a neutral background for a better visibility. I replant the fern in the background and place a cutting of the paleonia repens in front of it. Next, I plant a coleus cutting in the mid-ground. The masus pumilus is planted in front of the coleus between the two stones. I was aiming for an S-shaped planting, keeping a degree of variation in color and texture between the plants. I feel it has come together pretty well. I start placing the patches of moss in the foreground and gradually move up to cover the rest of the ground around the stones. Another cutting of paleonia repens is placed in the background to create more contrast. I give the terrarium a thorough misting at this point to prevent the plants from drying up. Planting is continued with the tiny fern in the mid-ground. Two small cuttings of the creeping fig are placed in the foreground. Another paleonia repens cutting is planted in the background. Time now to add some detailing. I collect a few aerial root cuttings from a ficus microcarpa bonsai that has been defoliated recently. I use these roots to add some detailing in the foreground. I also add tiny bits of dried leaves to create some interest. The terrarium gets a final round of misting and the glass is wiped up. In the end, I decide to add one more fern in the background to fill up some of the negative space. The jar is closed with the lid and the terrarium build is now complete. Here are some shots of the terrarium in different locations within the garden. I hope this video inspires you to build your own terrarium with available resources. Thank you for watching and see you in the next one.