Question about Watering In a Terrarium

[Kaity]

This is probably a silly question but how do all of you water your potted plants in a terrarium? do you water them in place and let a small amount of water pool in the bottom or take out each individual plant every day?? I have a tiny tank set up right now with about 1.5" of rock in the bottom with pots on top. I water directly in the tank and let the pool create humidity. Does anyone see any issues with this set up?? The water never gets above the rocks.

[RosieC]

I don't have a terrarium, but I remember reading a discussion here on OB about getting the stuff in the bottom to gently slope towards one corner, then have a hole in the bottom at that corner which you can plug/unplug to dran excess water out the bottom.

I really don't know the details though because as I say I've never set up one of these.

[tropterrarium]

I have had your arrangement for about 3-4 years, with no problems. As long as the water level does not raise to a level where it touches the roots, you should be fine. The balance between water accumulation and evaporation to create humidity in your enclosure will depend on the room/environmental humidity and the geometry of your tank. Here in Southern California, it is about 20% so there is a big draw of humidity out of the terrarium into the surroundings, even with fairly tightly fitting lid. In S. Florida, it may be quite a different story.

Also be aware of the difference between providing air moisture with mister/fogger and true watering/fertilizing. At high humidity, condensation may form on roots and even greenery.

I was initially worried about run-off fertilizer in bottom pool giving rise to all kind of pond-scum, but those concerns were misplaced.

Last but not least, every enclosure is different. So monitor it initially quite closely, so that you know how much water you can safely put in without drowning it, or whether you should make some sort of drain.