Various terrarium ideas and projects.
- Miniature orchid in a bottle
I bought a cute little orchid at a plant meet, it’s an Acianthera sonderiana. Apparently they grow easily in Sphagnum moss, kept very moist, with low light. It’s an epiphytic species that in the wild (Brazil) grows on branches of trees in cool moist forests. I asked the seller and he said it would be great in a terrarium, so I’m trying a bottle terrarium. I’ve got a few discarded laboratory reactor bottles, I think a 1L one would be a good fit. I only just managed to get the little orchid through the GL45 mouth.
I used some Sphagnum at the bottom (I hope it will come to life again), some lichen covered grape vines, and some pieces of moss from our balcony. I like how it turned out, I hope the orchid likes it too because I don’t think I’ll be able to get it out again!
I’m also trying a few small vining aroids (a Rhaphidophora species and a Monstera species) with some Sphagnum in a 500mL and in a 2000mL lab bottle. I hope they take.
- Vacuum dessicator terrarium
The lab was throwing out this vacuum dessicator because the lid is stuck.
I want to turn it into a terrarium / ecosystem, but first I have to get the lid unstuck.. Things I have tried:
- Dissolving the hardened grease between the ground surfaces in alcohol
- Softening the grease with sunflower oil
- Heating the interface with a hair dryer for almost half an hour
I’m afraid to put more heat in it because I don’t want the thing to explode. I know it’s safe to -1 bar (relative to atmospheric pressure) but I don’t know how much positive pressure it could take. It’s pyrex glass though so it should be able to take concentrated heat.
Maybe I’ll have to make a wooden jig to slide the lid off with a lever, after applying the hair dryer again to soften up the old grease.
To be continued.