Most people who buy a terrarium, or a bottle garden if that is the term you grew up with, already have a picture in their head. A tall bottle with a bonsai. A small one with three mosaic plants. A wide bowl with a carpet of moss. The problem with a ready made kit is that you take what is in the box, so we made a way to decide for yourself.
On the build your own terrarium page you pick the glass, the kit, the plants, the moss and the lid, you see the whole thing rendered in 3D while you work, and we pack exactly that combination to order in our workshop.
This is the one choice that decides everything after it. Size determines how many plants fit, which lid closes it and how much room the roots get.
There are nineteen bottles to choose from. At the small end, something like Sammie at 27 cm holds two plants and looks right on a desk or a windowsill. At the other end, Drop XXL at 43 cm gives you room for a bonsai with moss and undergrowth around it. Every bottle shows its diameter and height, so you can check it against the spot you have in mind before you commit. All glass is recycled.
The kit is the part nobody sees once the terrarium is finished, and it is the part that makes it work. Drainage granules at the bottom, activated charcoal above that, then substrate. Water evaporates from the soil and the leaves, gathers on the glass, runs back down. That cycle is why a closed terrarium needs watering once or twice a year instead of once a week.
There are two sizes. The S/M kit covers the smaller bottles, the L/XL kit the bigger ones. Whichever one does not fit your glass is greyed out, so you cannot pick the wrong volume by accident.
Sixteen plants, all tropical species that like humidity and indirect light. That means any combination you put together will work in a closed terrarium. You are choosing on looks, not on whether the plants can live with each other.
Ferns and mosaic plants in six colours if you want texture and contrast. Coffea Arabica for glossy dark leaves. Ficus Ginseng bonsai in two sizes if you want one plant to carry the whole thing. Calathea for pattern.
Next to each plant you see a counter, something like 0 / 2. That is the maximum for the glass you picked. Small bottles cap at two or three, the large ones take more. Cushion moss goes on top of the substrate in portions of two or three pieces and holds moisture at the surface.
Natural cork closes the bottle and keeps the humidity in. An LED cork does the same and adds light, which matters if the terrarium ends up somewhere without much daylight. Not every cork fits every bottle, and you only see the ones that do. If it is a gift, you can add engraving to the cork with a name or a short message.
The neck of a bottle is narrow and your hands are not. Long tweezers to place plants, scissors on a long handle to trim leaves later, and a telescopic rake to level the substrate and tidy the moss. If you plan to keep the terrarium going for years, the scissors are the one you will actually reach for.
Every bottle garden is packed to order in our workshop in the Netherlands. Your glass, the layers, your plants, the moss, the lid, the tools if you added them, and a printed guide. Building it takes about half an hour.
If you would rather not choose at all, our ready made terrarium kits come in combinations we put together ourselves.
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