Terrariums: Indoor Gardens for Small Spaces

What do you do with a green thumb during those cold winter months indoors? Houseplants are one option, but the heat and dryness of furnace-pumped warm air can bake a poor African violet in no time, and those pesky whiteflies too often spread devastation over softer leaves. Not to mention the long stringy stems reaching for the sparse winter light. No, what you really need is an indoor greenhouse with warm moist growing conditions for your little beauties. The answer? Glass bottle terrariums!

This ingenious concept was invented by Victorian age explorers, who would take plant and insect samples from faraway lands and store them in corked glass bottles for the journey back to Britain…. If the balance is right, plants can live indefinitely inside a closed glass environment. Put in just a small amount of water and cork the lid â€" the roots will take in the liquid, and then respire it out through their leaves. The moisture then collects on the glass surface of the jar, runs back down into the soil, and the process begins again. Terrariums make lovely windowsill gardens, tabletop accents, and friendly bedside companions, and are a great way to bring a garden to a small space if you live in an apartment without a yard. Best of all, you never need to remember to water them!

To build a healthy Terrarium:

Select a glass jar or bottle with a sealable lid.
Old canning jars work best, or kitchen bottles with wide necks and corks. You need something with a neck large enough to fit your hand through, or else you'll be stuck trying to tend the plants with long tweezers. Choose one that is a good size, typically 6 to 12 inches tall, and 4 â€" 6 inches in diameter.