I am making a terrarium, and i was wanting a soil part to it, but i dont know where to place it i have a pic)?

Question

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v660/i_love_hilary_duff/IMG_1732.jpg

What should i do for the soil part??

I am going to put dirt in this somehow and i am also putting in water for the "pond" part, but the rocks need to be a little higher but i dont have any more pebles...what should i use to elevate it more that wont look weird? or that i can cover up with plants or something

I am putting ivy's in there and this other plant my mom has in the house...

what should i do????????

Answer 1

lets look back at what you learned in school.

there is what is called the hydrological cycle, that is water evaporates, condenses and falls back to earth as rain. (in your terrarium, it will come back down as a sort of dew that forms on the sides and top of the thing assuming you have a sealed top.

your pond will have to have a way to recharge for the water lost.  some people put in a small dish and that eventually dries out.

now, there is what is referred to as soil percolation (or water that migrates down through the soil) until it reachs a non-porous substrait, rock, clay or something else.

the substrait that the water encounters becomes an aquafer.  when people drill wells they drill into that layer.

your terrarium will also produce something similar depending on the amount of water.  the problem is that water can become rancid and bacteria filled and make your terrarium sick.

you would do well to put in a good bed of gravel under your plants and perhaps a fabric to keep the soil from migrating into the water.

capillary action will allow the water to climb up the sides of rocks and the aquarium so give that some thought also.

what i would suggest is to use plants that have a good resistance to lots of water and to use ample charcoal to help keep the thing sweet inside.  (you can use a hammer to break up the charcoal).

as for how you put it together,  draw out on a piece of paper what you want it to look like.  water usually can present a reflecting pond, and some plants are very short and would do well beside your pond.

use of clays as water barriers and ponds will work well.  Some clay works better than others, so do a little research and you can also reinforce the clay with some type of stainless wire.

copper wire can kill some organisms so the use of copper might be contra-indicated. then again, you might be able to control some bacteria with some prudent use of copper.

if you decide to have a flowing fountain, make a back flow preventer and use an air pump to move the water with bubbles up to your fountain.

a little experimenting and you should have a nice display.

as for the bulb, i don't feel qualified to answer on that. I have always used grow lights for the plants and a thermostatically controlled incandesant bulb for heating.

good luck