Table Top Terrarium PART 1: Forest Floor

One of the first activities that drew my attention to plants was creating terrariums. When I finally started understanding what my plant's needs were along with the realistic expectations and limitations of terrariums, I believed my overall skill in creating them improved drastically!

When Root & Vessel reached out to me about their products, I was instantly drawn to the Tri-Pot Terrarium and Napa Tray. I felt they were so unique, and I thought it would be amazing to share two different ways I would go about using them in the apartment.

PART 1: Forest Floor

Lately, I’ve been very inspired by moss, and as a result, I wanted to create something that felt whimsical as if you had a piece of a magical forest floor sitting on your table. So, I’m so excited to share with you how to make this beautiful forest floor terrarium using Root & Vessel’s “Tri-Pot Terrarium and Napa Tray planter.”

Now you can really make this your own so feel free to change around the foliage to whatever you would like. I think the greens I used here really work seamlessly. I originally added some pink foliage plants but decided to take them out, and I think this worked out really well for my overall vision. OK, let’s get started!

Supplies

1. Tri-Pot Terrarium (Taupe color, *coupon code below*)

2. Napa Tray (Taupe color, *coupon Code below*)

3. 6 small terrarium plants

4. Soil mix

5. Rocks/ Pebbles

6. Sphagnum Moss

7. Small Rock Pebbles (Granulated)

8. Fairy Bark (Chopped Orchid Bark)

9. Dried Green Moss (optional)

10. Spray Bottle

11. Decor Crystals (optional)

Save 10% on your order of Root and Vessel by using coupon code Botanist10

I’m including a link to my Amazon Storefront where I’ve put a list of the supplies for Terrariums

Let’s Meet Plants!

Saxifraga cuscutaeformis

Dwarf saxifraga

Ficus pumila quercifolia

Oakleaf fig

Heixine soleirolli

Baby Tears

Ficus pumila minima

Creeping fig

Eleocharis radicans

Bonsai grass

Selaginella kraussiana ‘Brownii’

Pincushion spikemoss

All these plants I found at a nursery that had a terrarium section, so they were all small and a perfect size for this project. All of them do well in average humidity.

My Terrarium Soil Mix

Here I have a loose soil mix for the terrarium plants. I want it to retain some moisture, so there is a bit more soil in the combination than I would typically use. I tend to just eyeball it, but here you want a pretty even mixture, except not that much perlite, just a bit.

Here’s the breakdown:

-Finely chopped orchid bark

-Horticultural Charcoal

-Soil (I’m just using miracle grow)

-Perlite

-Chopped Sphagnum Moss

You can find a lot of these items here on my Amazon Store Front

Let’s Start!

-Rinse and dry all your containers and set the Napa Tray and dome cover aside. We’ll need it again later on.

Don’t forget to rinse all your containers!

-Flip your Tri- Terrarium planter over, and pull out the plug. Since we are potting plants in here, we do want the opportunity for water to drain out

-We are going to keep the black drain tray at the bottom for extra drainage. If you keep the plug in, this would act as your water reservoir.

-Start placing some small river rocks on the bottom. Just a thin layer would do.

-Next, grab you sphagnum moss. Be sure to wet your sphagnum moss and squeeze it out so it’s nice and moist.

-Start taking little chunks and breaking them apart.

-Begin to evenly spread the sphagnum moss on top of the pebbles. Once you’ve laid it all down, press around to make the surface flat and even. A nice compact layer is what your trying to achieve.

-Next, grab your soil mix and start building it up. Don’t fill it all the way to the top. Keep in mind you still have to plant and lay a surface cover to the top.

-Time to grab your plants and start cleaning them off. I usually try to take as much dirt off as possible. I also rinse the plants and roots off. Just take your time so you don’t tear off viable roots.

-Go ahead and do this for the rest of the plants you are going to use.

-Once your plants are clean and out of their nursing pots, you can go ahead and start creating you surface. I wanted mine to look natural, so I went ahead and started creating levels by adding more dirt to half the planter.

-Start planting. Fill up the space and add dirt as needed.

-Carefully start to add the chopped (fairy) orchid bark to the top of the surface and around all the plants. I think this part really helps take it to the next level so take your time on this step

-Next, I took a beautiful little quartz crystal and added it to the surface. I really love how it pairs with the plants. This step is totally optional.

-For some final touches, I added the small granulated pebble/rocks. I placed them in little sections and tried to just make it look as realistic as a forest floor.

-I then grabbed my Napa Tray and added pebbles around the planter and added a bit of water. This is totally optional, but I wanted to have an easy solution to create more humidity if I needed it.

-After adding all the components together, I then gave the plants and surface a quick spritz with the spray bottle.

Here’s how it turned out!

The great aspect of the dome part is that it has vents for air flow and circulation.

It also really helps keep the plants happy with humidity.

I hope you enjoyed this step by step guide to creating your own Table Top Terrarium inspired by the Forest Floor. Let me know in the comments below or tag me on instagram, @apartmentbotanist, if you give this project a go, I would love to see what you create!

Don’t miss PART 2 and my other unique way to use this Tri-Terrarium.

You can save 10% on your order of Root and Vessel by using coupon code Botanist10

_Alessia