As my terrarium journey continued, I had a lot of left over materials, so it was time to branch out. We live quite close to an IKEA outlet, and they have a great selection of containers that are purpose-built for terrariums, or can be used as such.
During the first iteration of this build, I used the bamboo “365+” lid that fits this model of jar. For about a week or so that was fine, but eventually I saw some mold starting to grow, dangling from the underside of the lid.
What I didn’t realize at the time of purchase, was that there is also a plastic, snap on lid. IKEA’s web site shows a glass lid option too. When I returned to IKEA, they didn’t have the glass type, so I got the plastic version and it works great: no mold!
This build features store-bought plants, local moss, rocks from a local stream. I also include leaf litter now as foot for the isopods. The leaves are baked to avoid the introduction of pests. The gray/white rock was part of my collection of nature finds over the years, though I don’t recall the original source.
Inhabitants include springtails, a couple isopods, and worms. I’m still learning about isopods, so I try not to crowd them to much. More on this aspect of things in a future post.
The original bamboo lid will fit another 365+ container, and after deep cleaning, it was fine for use – just not for plants. I am sure we’ll be seeing more from IKEA both in terms of closed and open terrariums in the future.
The lazy Susan is from Big Lots, and I now have several of them for the circular terrariums to make them easier to explore.
