Tiny Things
I like tiny things.
Oak sapling, overgrown baby’s tears, grass, and an isopod!
Tiny bottles and jars, tiny plants in tiny pots, and tiny animals are among my favorites. Over the past several years I’ve kept various aquariums and terrariums, spending hours watching shrimp swim around or fawning over moss, my favorite plant.
My first few experiments did not survive as long as I’d like to admit. Mostly composed from material foraged from the surrounding area, some plants had stowaways (fungus or fauna) that upset the terrariums’ balance. Others I didn’t maintain and quickly became overgrown, choking themselves out. However, after years of experimentation, watching videos (Tanner Serpa is a particular inspiration), and reading blogs and articles I learned techniques to keep lush little worlds of moss healthy through the warm California summer.
Unidentified foraged plants, some sort of mallow, and feather moss
Gold back fern and badge moss
Drainage is paramount. I now always put a layer of hydroponic substrate, generally clay balls, at the bottom of each terrarium. Between that and the substrate is a piece of nylon window mesh. This keeps the growing medium separate from the drainage layer and helps prevent root-rot and mold by giving excess water somewhere to go. The substrate itself changes based on what plants I intend to grow; if I forage moss from a place with rocky, clay-like soil, I’ll take some of it with me, sterilize it, and put it in the mix. I generally mix a ratio of potting soil, horticultural sand, and sphagnum moss or coco fiber to achieve something that both retains water and drains well enough that there’s little risk of mold.
Once the substrate is in place I can place any rocks/features, plant whatever I’ve foraged, mist the terrarium with dechlorinated water, and seal it closed. After that, I generally never open it unless its survival necessitates a trim.
These three plastic tubs are easily one of my favorite projects simply because of the textures. I foraged small samples of at least eight varieties of moss (and one fern) from four locations around San Anselmo and San Rafael, CA. I’m lucky to live in such a bio diverse ecosystem. Taking a small piece from a large patch of moss does very little damage and is quickly grown over.
The substrate in these terrariums is relatively shallow. Moss doesn’t need that much, and some patches were harvested with the small piece of rotting wood on which they were growing.
