Tag: mossarium

Mossarium: attempt two

On By CarynIn Craft, Garden

After boiling and baking my gnarled wood that I wanted to use in my terrarium, and washing the base and all the stones, I tried setting it up again. I visited a local vintage store and picked up some interesting stones, including tiny crystal mushrooms. Mushrooms!

Photo description: wood hardscape in a terrarium base with pebbles underneath and festooned with stone mushroom and frog carvings, tumbled stone, and crystal shards.

I kept the moisture to a minimum, setting the base with dry decorative rocks and glass pebbles, and using glue dots to adhere the carvings and stones. The only moisture came from the sphagnum moss that I tucked into the two hollows in the wood where I wanted to keep plants. I even braved the shipping and ordered a jewel orchid (I used points, so am not counting the cost of that towards the project). I let the moss sit for a few days to test for mold growth. My orchid arrived earlier than expected, and when I went to mount it, I discovered mold in the hollows. Dang it.

Photo description: close up of a hollow in the wood line with white mold.

I disassembled the terrarium, again, and set the wood out to dry. It is a neat chunk of wood, but clearly not suitable for terrarium life. (I’ve read that a dilute solution of bleach could sanitize wood, but I don’t keep bleach in the house because of our aerobic treatment system.) I washed everything, again, and set it out to dry.

I can’t give up on the terrarium idea, I now have a tiny baby plant that needs nurturing. Ah, but don’t worry, I have another idea. We’ll see if the third time works.

Mossarium: what not to do

On By CarynIn Garden

I have a beautiful terrarium with a lift off lid that I originally intended for growing mushrooms. Well, it wasn’t quite big enough for that, so I put some plants I was rooting out inside. The plants grew and bumped into the top and looked crowded, so I started thinking about what else I could do with the container, a mossarium maybe? Mossariums are terrariums with a variety of mosses as the focal feature of the arrangement. Some have a few plants as well, but it is mostly moss. I have a fantastically gnarled root ball that I thought would make a fantastic hardscape for the moss. I soaked it in RO water, gathered moss from the back yard, and made a pretty cool looking arrangement.

Photo description: black base of the terrarium filled with dirt, rocks, a large twisted and soaked piece of wood with layers of moss and dirt

Turns out soaking the wood was the wrong idea. In that very moist enclosed atmosphere, the mold spores had a heyday.

Photo description: same mossarium setup, now covered with spiderweb-like mold spores

I tried cleaning off the strands of mold, but each day they renewed. Then I read that it helps if the soil and hardscapes in a terrarium are sanitized before assembly. Hm.

I disassembled my mossarium, cleaned the container and wood, then boiled the wood for an hour. To get it to dry out, I put it in the oven at 225 for an hour, then let it cool. It took three hours-long cycles in the oven to get the majority of the moisture out. I washed all the stones with soap and hot water and set them to dry. I’ll try a slightly different, dryer setup next time.