Plant Care · London
Your terrarium is a small, self-sustaining world. Once it settles it asks very little of you — but the first couple of months, the settling-in period, are where a little attention makes all the difference.
Three things to keep a gentle eye on. Get these right and your terrarium will mostly look after itself.
Every home is different. Terrariums do best in a bright room with plenty of natural light — but keep them out of direct sun on the glass. Direct sunlight overheats the inside, causes heavy condensation, and stresses the plants. A normal room temperature of around 19–21°C is ideal.
Your terrarium recycles its own moisture: the mosses and substrate hold water and release it through a natural humidity cycle, which is why we don't add extra water when we build them. A little condensation on the glass is normal and healthy. If it's so foggy you can't see the plants, there's slightly too much moisture — lift the lid for a couple of hours, then close it again. Aim for a faint mist, never soaking wet. In a very dry home, air it far less often.
A terrarium has no fixed schedule like a potted houseplant — it's all about observation. The free-draining soil should never be wet. If leaves start to wilt and the moss turns pale, open the lid and feel the soil; if it's dry, give a small drink. Use a spray jet, pipette or syringe and water at the base of the plant, avoiding the leaves. Replace the lid and watch over the next few days. Most of our terrariums need watering only a couple of times a year.
Springtails are tiny (1–2mm) soil-dwelling creatures that have lived in leaf litter for around 400 million years. They don't fly, bite or touch your plants — they live in the soil and moss and quietly do the housekeeping. In a closed terrarium they're the most useful thing you can add after the plants themselves.
Open the lid of your terrarium and the culture pot. One of our BioBoost pots is enough for two good-sized terrariums, so use roughly half per terrarium.
Sprinkle the culture onto the soil or moss — they'll disappear into the substrate within minutes. For a tidier transfer, add a splash of water to the pot, swirl gently, and pour the springtails floating on the surface into the terrarium.
Close the lid and carry on with normal care. You'll start spotting little white specks hopping on the soil and glass as the colony grows over the following weeks.
White spores like these are usually harmless saprophytic fungi — a normal part of a humid, enclosed ecosystem. The golden rule for everything below: observe daily, and act in small steps before anything gets worse.
A few of the humidity-loving plants we use. Not a full list — but a good sense of the cast.
Our plant-care and design service. After your 30-day guarantee we can replace a single plant or fully redesign your terrarium — whatever it needs to thrive.
Every purchase includes a 30-day guarantee with free replacement plants if needed. Botanical Boys cannot guarantee plant lifespan and is not responsible for a terrarium once it leaves our store; this guide reflects our own experience and research. Enjoy your beautiful terrarium garden. Plant photographs sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY / CC BY-SA).
From the Botanical Boys studio
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Looking for live plants? Visit our shop at Unit 76, Coal Drops Yard, King's Cross, or browse all our plant care guides.
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