I’ve always seen those cool little plant worlds in glass containers online, and my wife kept hinting she wanted one. So last weekend, I decided to figure out which terrarium style actually works best instead of just guessing.
Going Down the Rabbit Hole
Started searching online – big mistake. Tons of conflicting info everywhere. Saw fancy designs with orchids in open bowls but also people swearing closed jars are better. Got so confused I almost gave up. Then I decided to just grab supplies and physically test three styles myself: open dish, closed jar, and semi-open with a small hole.
Setting Up the Experiment
First, hit the gardening store. Bought:
- Small pebbles
- Bag of potting soil
- Tiny plants: ferns, moss, and succulents
- Different containers: fishbowl (open), pickle jar (closed), cookie jar with lid (semi-open)
Laid everything out on my patio table. Added drainage rocks to all three containers first. Then soil – packed it down firm. Finally planted the greens in each.
Open Bowl Disaster
Put the fern and moss in the fishbowl. Placed it on our coffee table with indirect light. Looked awesome… for two days. By day three, moss turned crispy. Fern sagged like wet noodles. Realized it dried out overnight under the AC vent. Watered it, but same thing happened again. Total fail for our dry living room.
Closed Jar Surprises
The pickle jar got moss and fern too. Sealed it tight and left it by the window. Week one: looked perfect. Condensation made tiny rain droplets – plants loved it. Week two? White fuzzy mold crawled up the glass. Ferns turned yellow like overcooked broccoli. Opened it and got hit with swamp smell. Too much moisture trapped inside.
Semi-Open Sweet Spot?
Used the cookie jar with lid cracked open. Mixed succulents and moss. Watered lightly. First week: succulents plumped up nice. Moss stayed green. Mold showed up slightly, but wiping the jar weekly fixed it. After two weeks, everything survived! Not perfect – succulents stretched toward the opening a bit – but way better than others.
Final Showdown
After one month:
-
Open Terrarium
- Killed plants in 3 days
- Good for desert cacti only
- High maintenance watering
-
Closed Terrarium
- Mold explosion
- Good humidity but suffocates plants
- Only works with specialist plants
-
Semi-Open Terrarium
- Plants actually lived
- Minimal mold issues
- Works with common store-bought plants
Ended up keeping the semi-open cookie jar. The moss spread and succulents even grew new leaves. Still check it every Sunday: wipe condensation, remove dead bits, enjoy my mini jungle. Wife’s happy – and I didn’t turn our living room into a plant graveyard. Worth the messy hands and soil all over the floor!
