A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum any advice for a beginner?

i have been researching terrariums for a while now as i am looking into creating one out of my 10 gal (20"x10"x12"), but after the basic idea, i get exhausted about what i should do, every post i've seen here led back to the same two sites i've looked through over and over. its not that i have much against the ideas or plants on the sites but i am relatively new in learning about plants and their care. without knowing much my mind often jumps to grandiose ideas about what would look nice or what i wish would work. at the same time i am frustrated at the thought of putting a lot of work into something that in the end will be something around 200 square inches of ground cover. i've tried to resist the desire to just go to a plant store and get what i thought looked nice and what was cheapest in wanting to do things right but i'm getting there. i guess there's a point where learning comes from doing rather than reading but i just don't want to kill anything. i guess where i am trying to get is past the look and general profile of plants and get to know how they work, and which ones would work best for the conditions i have, and possibly something interesting as well, though i guess that's a matter of preference. any ideas or advice about how a beginner could start to get working knowledge? or where to start in creating a basic yet nice beginners terrarium? i appreciate any responses.

All of us began our gardening experience as beginners. And most of us have killed plenty of plants whether we were gardening outdoors or indoor pots or even with a big fancy greenhouse. We have learned from these mistakes and grown with our gardens.
The thing about terrariums and with bonsai are keeping the plants small. Choosing small to begin with is good but they all tend to grow. And those will need trimming maybe both roots and tops. All gardening is an ongoing project. And it all takes work. A terrarium to me is a living work of art, ongoing.
Are you wanting a miniature scene inside your terrarium? Like a landscape or a woodland floor? Even Mother Nature sends in her army of workers to alter the landscapes in the form of weather or fire or a little bunny to munch on things. These all work to shape and form the plants.
I am just not sure about what you are asking.

Hmmm...what conditions do you have in terms of light, temperature, and humidity? Are you going to use artificial light, or will it receive light from a window? There are oodles and oodles of plants that will work well in terrariums, you just have to get plants that thrive in similiar conditions. As far as placement in the tank, arrange them in their pots (inside the tank) to get an idea about the way they will look together. Terrariums really are fun, and even nicer to look at. Good luck!

well i wasn't sure about where to start, if i were to have more then one plant then i wanted to make sure that they go well together, a scene would be nice but i wouldn't know how to make that happen, and another thing is my ignorance about plants, for example, one site says mint is a good plant then i hear that mint will over grow the terrarium. i understand that it takes work and i apologize for the frustration i normally try to keep a cool patience.

i would say i have a medium light exposure in my house, depending on the room, medium in the living room, less so in my room. well i have light as far as from light bulbs in the house and a certain amount of sun does comes through. do you think i would have to buy a special lamp or something?

im in zone 6 i believe does that still account for planting indoors?

one of my grandiose ideas i was having as i mentioned in my first post is to get regular plants (or seeds of them) that would be outside but attempt to prune them the way you would bonsais, is this realistic? (i assume not)

i'm not against the constant attention and work, i just would like to know i'm heading in the right direction is all.

thank you for the advice so far. =D

Then here is a link again to plants by light requirements too look for and consider. They also have size and some notes about the way they grow for you there.
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/terrarium~plants.html
A lot of aquariums have lights built into their covers. A full spectrum light in one of those would give you all of the light you needed in any room. If you have that available. If not, take advantage of your windows or choose low light plants or both.

ok cool, thank you very much, ill give an update when i make my choices.. =) :wink: