Column, ‘Dailynews Variety’: A ‘Terrarium Garden’ for your favorite, greenish, cozy house corner

Dailynews:  21 June, 2022

‘To Learn and To Share’ by Phongpan Boonlert

There are various ways of making your house connect with natural happiness including planting big and small trees around your place, decorating your living room, renovating your workroom, adorning your table, etc.

For those plant lovers who prefer to make their house look fresh and greeny with space saving and comfortable space design, miniature plant in super-mini pot is your answer. “It’s one of the closest ways of connecting to the mother nature, creating more wedded bliss and relaxation.” Assistant Professor Dr. Sukanya Chaiyapong lecturer-researcher of the Department of Agricultural Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) gave us her ideas on of how miniature plants should be taken care, how you could decorate your home, how to make your favorite miniature terrarium in pots, trays, bottles, or anything you want to put in. She explained, “I would say you can plant many different types of trees in your home but making them health is not that easy. Selecting the right plant for your home with enough sunlight, appropriate moisture and so forth is something else. Great examples of plant that may suit your home are foliage plants, for example, cacti or cactuses, which are well adapted to dry regions, can be grown in your favorite miniature pot. Another desired-plant for house decoration known as ‘Bonsai’ is growing and training miniature trees in containers that often thrive in direct sunlight. You could put your cactuses or your bonsais at any corners of your home including windows of your bedroom, center of your dining tables, or any parts of your ideal room. These botanic decoration ideas should be able to freshen up your day, keep you close to the beauty of nature, or just simply make your day.” To find perfect plants for cleaner air and better sleep for your bedroom, therefore, is significant. Dr. Sukanya made further suggestions on how to grow your miniature trees, “A variety of miniature plants could be grown in very small spaces either in pots, bottles, or terrarium but each type of plants is unique and has its own requirements. Well-grown in mild sunlight or in shades plants, philodendron couldn’t just bare 100% direct-sunlight which could certainly cause leaf scorching. You can grow them in super small containers, terrariums, or trays but these types of plant need good soil drainage. You ought to give them water regularly. In case you want to check their soil moisture, just simply put your finger into the soil and feel it. But watering too much could also hurt their rooting system. For cacti, you need to understand that they need a very well-draining and extremely porous mix mainly sand. Compared with philodendron, Cacti needs only watering once every three to four days. You should not pour water on cacti but showering them is preferred. To take care of Bonsai, you need to understand what each of Bonsai specie want. Most of them needs 100 % direct light but their soil mix should not be as porous as the one in cacti.”

She further added, “There are still some other things that you need to know about these miniature plants. Even if they are small and seem to have lesser air-purification property, having them around you could reduce your stress, make you feel more relaxed and ultimately, happier. One other unique property of miniature plants is how they could help you express your artistic idea into practice. Planting them inside the bottle is just an arrangement but it requires your creativity and devotion to create the ability to express ourselves and to communicate by drawing our own unique emotions, thoughts and experiences. In physical perspective, you could create for your dolls house, miniature scenes, fairy garden just to reflect everything your real house will offer. For psychological benefits, these miniature terrariums could make you understand more about plants, make you more focus on what you do, and somehow make you more responsible and tender. Roots and leaves of plant of this kind could easily be hurt and destroyed, handlers must have constant practice on how to grow the plant and understand what the plants need. If you can, then you will be able to plant your own miniature trees and somehow makes profit out of them such as gifts, souvenirs, or even presents, etc.” Dr. Sukunya also mentioned, “You could grow your miniature trees for several purposes including freshening up your house environment, making you room feel cozier and further more. You can also grow them in your terrariums like bottle, tray, or any kind of containers. It really depends on what your really want to do with them. No matter how you put them in single or multiples, it still makes you day anyhow. Now let’s talk about terrarium and its types. A terrarium is a miniature garden housed in a glass container. There are two types of terrariums – closed and open terrariums. Open terrariums do not require a lid. It is perfect for plants that prefer drier conditions and do not require a moist environment. Unlike closed terrariums, open terrariums do not have a water cycle since it is open to the air around us. This means that open terrariums have to be watered more frequently. While, closed terrariums have a lid or another types of cover to enclose the plants entirely within the glass container. Less frequent of watering is required since moisture from the soil and plants evaporate in the slightly higher temperature inside the terrarium. With this constant supply of water, the plants will not become too dry and wilt.

To make an opened terrarium, most commonly used plant is cacti. You can put your cacti inside an open-lidded bottle, adding lighter, temperature, and moisture sensors just make sure they will enjoy themselves there. You could also put them as part of forestry scenes in your miniature garden including waterfalls, rivers, fields, farms, etc. Don’t forget about decorating your home with miniature plants. With beautiful pots or containers, your plants will be able to grow and create soothing environment for your home. Miniature plants make great decors for your interior design, just add red leaf-plants like Calathea or green leaves, like Monstera or succulent plants like Kalanchoe blossfeldiana would be just great. So, understanding what your plants want including sunlight, moisture, soil mix, and suitable environment would be assets for your home design and furniture. Positioning these plants is just equally important. Hopefully with your attempt to place them at the right place, your house will look even more cozier and yet beautiful. Thus, you could day that mini-size trees could be a great solution for making your life at home even better, “concluded Assoc. Prof. Sukunya.