Here are the two african violets that are growing in my terrarium. Only one of them has bloomed for a long time. But now Little Creek girl has bloomed. Here is a photo of her.
Jesse
African violets in the terrarium
And here is an update of Mini Papa. Look at the little Strawberry begonia that is growing at the bottom right corner.
Jesse
WOW Super WOW
Jesse those look Fabulous in your terrarium!! Oh I keep telling myself I need to try making one.All your plants are so gorgeous! : )
Nancy
Jesse, that is such a pretty terrarium. Your blooms are so pretty. And I love that baby begonia, very beautiful. Thanks for sharing the pic with us. I would love to see a full shot of the whole terrarium so I can see how it is set up. I don't have any terrarium experience and would love to see how it looks.
Just beautiful. They really seem to love where they are.
Very nice Jesse.Thee plants sure like where there growing
Jesse~ You sure know how to grow them!! Always a pleasure to see your pics :)
maureen, here are a few pictures of my terrarium. The first shot is taken from the rear of the terrarium.
Jesse
The next two are taken from each end of the terrarium. I have 3 different fittonias in it along with two AVs and one small strawberry begonia. I have seen a couple of little tiny green things starting to grow but I'm not sure yet what they are.
Jesse
Here is a photo taken from the other end.
Jesse
How do you light your terrarium plants? Do you keep a cover on top?
I bought a plain aquarium hood. They come with either an incandescent or fluorescent bulb. Make sure you get the one with the fluorescent bulb. I bought mine from Walmart and it wasn't too expensive. I have had it for a while and the bulb is still going strong.
Jesse
Thanks, Jesse...all look so pretty, healthy and happy.
I recall your photo when you first made it Jesse all your plants have grown so much ! I forget are your AV's in pots ?
I'm going to have to hit some yard sales for old aquariums.Those are some beauties.
P
Allison, mine are not in pots. I potted them right in the soil in the terrarium. What I did was use regular MG potting soil on the other ones and then I made a hole and put some AV potting soil with perlite to sit the AVs in. Then I gave them some VF-11 and boy did they take off.
Jesse
Awesome Jesse ! Their beautiful ! I know Mini Pappa was blooming when I sent her out and you placed into terrarium :)) Has she ever stopped blooming what a beauty ! Have you put leaves down !
I feel your right they do love VF-11 and your giving them nice light and good care :))
Yes, she stopped blooming for a while and then I planted her in the terrarium and it took her a little while to bloom again but she is doing great now. Thanks for sending me such a beautiful AV.
Jesse
Jesse ..your aquarium of plants are beautiful ..Because of your beautiful Filttonia's i went out and bought me some starts ..I have a 55 gal that i want to put dirt in but would like some episcia's in it also ..thanks for sending the pictures we all love to see how they are doing..Faye
Fittonias really grow so fast in the terrarium. I have had to cut them back 3 times now. But they do so well that I just keep cutting them back. When I first started growing plants a couple years ago, a Fittonia was one of the very first plants that I bought. No one told me it was hard to grow them and they just grew and grew. But I made sure that they got enough humidity by misting them once a day. They really love humidity which is why they do so well in terrariums. I would love to get a bigger terrarium so that they could have more room to grow. In my terrarium, they fall over and where ever they touch the soil they would put down roots and start to grow a new plant. In fact, I removed two of them the other day but just gently pulling them up and the roots came up with them. Now I have two new plants. I plan on buying a larger terrarium soon to put them all in.
Jesse
Here are a couple photos from the front of the terrarium. You can't see the plants as well but you can see more of how it is set up. I think I put the rocks in first, then the charcoal, then the soil. I used regular MG for containers for everything except the AVs and I put my perlite/AV soil mixture in the spot where I planted them. If that AV on the left keeps growing it is going to get too big. Now that it has started blooming, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Jesse
Here is another photo taken of the front. I just love the way the AVs in the terrarium are growing. I can't wait to get a bigger terrarium to plant a lot of my minis in.
Jesse
Jesse do you make new plants from your Fittonias cuttings ? I've never heard of this beautiful plant ! Each day I enjoy looking at the new Plant File photos . Then I find new plants I'd enjoy trying and it lets me know if any Vendors have them for sale :))
Have your Epsicas been getting stolons ? Have they bloomed ?
First picture I ever saw in an old plant book was a Flame Violet ( Epsica) large and full all stolons draping over hanging in a tree. And they said when it was hot and humidt it would put on a show of beautiful flowers. Thats when I bought my first one Aussie Alice.
There are just too many wonderous plants out there my dream list could gone on forwever.
Allison,
Yes I do make new plants from my Fittonia cuttings. In fact, I pulled up two new ones the other day out of the terrarium. They had fallen over onto the soil and rooted all by themselves. And the ones that I cut back, in order to keep them from over taking the terrarium, I put in my bubbler and make new ones from those. I think I'm going to make a hanging basket with some of the ones that I have rooted and hang it in the bathroom.
Fittonias produce tiny yellow flowers on spikes but these are insignificant and should be pinched off. That is what I do with mine. They love low light and high humidity. Many people keep them in the bathroom since they love the humidity. They were one of the very first plants that I bought when I started gardening. Right now I have 3 growing in my terrarium. I have "Red Vein", "Stripes Forever", and "Red Anne". There are a lot more of them. I am on the lookout for some of the other varieties. I hope this helps.
Jesse