General Care

Acclimation

Most terrariums take around two weeks to acclimate to new conditions. While your terrarium adjusts to the temperature and lighting in your home, it’s completely normal for plants to lose some leaves.

As you admire your terrarium, pay attention to any dead or dying leaves, removing them as quickly as possible to prevent rot and mould. Your terrarium is home to a diverse group of plants, so even if entire plants are lost in the acclimation process, with the right adjustments, the remaining plants will grow to fill the space.

Light

Terrariums can thrive in low to bright, indirect light. It’s best to keep terrariums away from direct sunlight, as the glass magnifies both light and heat, and this can burn the plants within.

Terrariums can withstand short periods of exposure to dappled or filtered sunlight (no more than 30 mins). This can even be good for your terrarium, but remember glass magnifies heat and light, so the temperature inside your terrarium will be a few degrees warmer than room temperature.

Terrariums can also flourish in low-light spaces, so long as they are exposed to a couple of hours of artificial light every day. Lamps with energy-saving bulbs and LED lights work well as they don’t release too much heat.

Condensation

Condensation is key to a healthy ecosystem and will appear on the inside surface of your terrarium, either on the side closest to a wall, or horizontally along the bottom of the terrarium.

You want to see condensation covering no more than a quarter of the glass appear twice a day, usually in the morning as the room brightens and warms up, and in the evening, as the room darkens and cools down.

Give your Terrarium a light mist of water if you notice the Moss looks/feels dry (generally once every 2-4 months).

If you have a closed terrarium, you can use the lid to regulate moisture level. If you notice too much condensation, simply remove the lid or leave it ajar to allow moisture to escape for a couple of hours a day until you reach a healthy level of moisture. Alternatively, you can wipe some of the moisture away using a microfibre cloth.

Checking the consistency of the substrate (soil) layer is also a good way to check the moisture levels in your terrarium. You want to aim for a moist, but not wet consistency. Something along the lines of a freshly baked moist cake. This is also the main moisture indicator for open terrariums.

There are no hard and fast rules on exactly how much condensation to aim for, and the level of moisture will fluctuate depending on temperature and lighting, but using these basic indicators will help you maintain a balance of elements in your terrarium.

Remember that you are more likely to end up with an unhappy terrarium with too much water than too little, so if in doubt - less is more!