School is out for summer. (Or very, very close to being.) Take the extra time at home as an opportunity to introduce your child to gardening with a super-easy succulent terrarium. Succulents are perfect first plants for kids since they only need bright light and occasional watering.
Laura Caldie, a plant care expert from Maypop Coffee and Garden Shop, showed us how to build one of their popular Imaginariums. A creative spin on the classic terrarium, these bowls are filled to bursting with easy-going plants, bright sand, and a plastic animal friend to call the place home.
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Kits are sold online for $24.99 and can be delivered to your door or picked up curbside. Themes range from Jungle reptiles to Cattitude kitties. You can also visit the Maypop greenhouse to create a custom box from the terrarium bar.
“Terrariums are a great intro to gardening by mixing creativity with a foundation of science,” Caldie says. She recommends succulents for kids because they are both easy to maintain and grow very slowly. They will last for years in a tiny planter, unlike typical houseplants which can outgrow a small bowl in a year.
A terrarium needs four basic ingredients—a bowl, rocks, soil, and plants—which can be sourced from any local garden shop. Maypop’s take-home kit includes everything you need for one planter, plus sand and glass stones for decorations.
Here’s how to build one:
Supplies: 1 glass fishbowl, small succulents, potting soil, small pebbles, sand, larger stones decorations, a spoon for digging, a paintbrush for dusting, and newspaper or a trash bag
- Cover your work surface with newspaper or plastic from a trash bag to collect stray dirt and sand.
- Fill the bowl with a half-inch of pebbles. This provides drainage room — succulents do not like wet feet.
- Cover the pebbles with an inch of soil. These plants have shallow roots and do not require a lot of dirt to grow.
- Carefully remove the plants from their growing pots and crumble the extra dirt away from the roots. Push them into the soil, using a spoon to help move the dirt. Add more soil as needed to cover the roots.
- Sprinkle the top with sand. Imaginarium kits come with two colors of sand you can arrange as you like.
- Add your plastic animal and decorative rocks.
- Brush the plants clean of stray sands and soil with the paintbrush.
- Last, add a cup of water to the terrarium, pouring directly on the sand or rocks.
Need a video? Watch Caldie build an Imaginarium on Facebook here.
Your Imaginarium needs bright direct sunlight. Choose a sunny window that gets light most of the day. Succulents also need infrequent watering and enjoy a “soak and dry” method of watering. Water them thoroughly once every two weeks, and allow the soil to dry completely between soaks. Do not pour water directly on the plants, which can cause rot.
