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Terrarium
Magazine ELLE DECOR Summer 2005

To have a little patch of green indoors is what must have invoked a terrarium. But the reason for its invention, by a British doctor Nathaniel Ward, was to protect green plants from pollution and smoke.

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT:
Take a clear, dry, transparent glass container with a lid. Line the bottom of the container, about one inch or one-fifth of the container, with pea-size gravel to provide drainage for water. The gravel chips used for fish aquariums are suitable. Place a thin layer (one-fourth inch) of charcoal over it. Charcoal purifies the air inside the container. Put a synthetic fabric, such as a swatch of socks, which has pores fine enough to hold soil over it so as to prevent the soil from settling down into the drainage layer. Sterilize the soil beforehand by drying it under the sun and weeding out any unwanted roots. Mix some compost manure (peat mass) with the soil in 1:1 proportion and fill about one-fifth of the glass with it. Select your choice of plant, preferably the non-flowering kind. It should be adaptive to moist atmosphere and have a slower growth rate. Choose smaller plants for smaller containers. Spray water sparingly, only enough to moisten the soil and avoid saturating it. Cover with the lid and set it where it can get bright but indirect light. Putting it under the direct sunlight will increase the inside temperature. If the inside walls of the container become foggy, remove the lid until all condensation evaporates.

MAINTENANCE:
Neglect it ! Water lightly only when soil is dry - at the most, every couple of weeks, depending on its condition. Be very careful not to over water. It is best to spray water rather than pour. If it appears too moist, take the covering off for a while to allow evaporation. Place in a bright area, where there is enough light to read, but not in direct sunlight . When the plant starts touching the roof, pinch off the newest growth for bushier foliage.

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