Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Moss Terrarium

February 16, 2012

Hypothesis: I’ve killed every houseplant I’ve ever owned. But the moss terrarium is so green and cute, so I want to give my green thumb one more try. Can I keep this fellow alive and maybe even flourishing?

Experiment:

First off, I need to create my terrarium. I grabbed a mixing bowl, a spoon and a squeeze bottle from my kitchen and got to work. Most everything I needed was included in the kit– dirt, moss, bottle & stand. But it did take a little bit of dexterity to get my terrarium up and running. Some assembly is required!

I activated the moss with in a quick warm water bath.

Gave the dirt a quick mix. Doesn’t this look like the beginning of a cake recipe? I know, I know… you just got totally grossed out. But Martha Stewart’s got a pretty impressive dirt cake recipe

Then I used my mixing spoon to spread out the dirt along the bottom of the wine bottle, and layered the moss on top with the included pair of chopsticks.

Here’s my finished terrarium, hanging out next to the last lonely tendril of parsley.

Results: Since the time this picture was taken, my parsley has since died. But my beautiful moss terrarium has stayed green, and I only need to spritz it with a spray bottle a few times a week. I did move my terrarium away from the window. I missed those instructions to keep it out of direct sunlight, and now that it’s hanging out with my favorite Beatles action figures, my terrarium just might make it through the winter.

Conclusion: If you’re worse at gardening than I am, don’t despair. The moss terrarium kit is a chance to redeem yourself and bring a bit of nature indoors.

The Moss Terrarium Bottle is $38, and you can dress yours up with handmade terrarium creatures, $34.

2 Comments

  • Reply Gustavo April 21, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    Hey Julia,

    I bought some miss recently, and divided it in different containers. I keep it outside out of direct sunlight, but I debate if I should bring it indoors. I wonder what area do you live, here in Florida, it is very humid but then again it is very hot. I guess I want to know the living conditions of your moss to kept mine alive too : )

  • Reply Gustavo April 21, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    Hey Julia,

    I bought some moss recently, and divided it in different containers. I keep it outside out of direct sunlight, but I debate if I should bring it indoors. I wonder what area do you live, here in Florida, it is very humid but then again it is very hot. I guess I want to know the living conditions of your moss to kept mine alive too : )

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