Terrariums

Bottles, especially bottles of alcohol, are all so beautiful and uniquely shaped. I hate just recycling them when they're empty, but keeping keeping empty bottles seems like a waste of space. I also love plants, but watering them can become a chore.  So, I've taken interesting old bottles and filled them with plants.  This way I can keep the bottles, and the plants need watering less often.

So far, 750 mL bottles are a good size. They are 1/3 full of dirt and 2/3 open for the plant to grow. Each terrarium has coarse alabaster in the bottom to help drain the soil above.  Between the marble and soil is activated charcoal to help limit mold and fungi growth and release nutrients to the plants. The terrariums are left open, but with such narrow necks they stay quite damp. Plants that do well in these conditions require nearly continuous moisture. Some plants I've tried just end up dying. At first I tried sealing the bottles, but the plants quickly died. The plants in the sealed terrariums may have been too large for the container. This would cause them to use up limited nutrients before reaching equilibrium in the system. Interestingly, a similar result was seen at a much smaller scale when confining populations of cells. Chambers with few initial cells grew while chambers with many initial cells did not grow.

Slow groing plants work better. Fast growing plants tend to grow out of the neck of the bottles. Finally, they should be left to grow in bright rooms but never direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will cause the terrarium to act like a car on a hot day and cook the plant inside.