Terrarium: did I do it wrong?

[elephantnose3334]

My dad wanted me to combine fittonia (I had it for months) with a jewel orchid I just brought. Photos are after I just made the terrarium. I hope they go along together. Note I accidentally let the orchid lose a leaf while trying to straighten it up. I should've made a separate terrarium for the jewel orchid, but here we are. My dad doesn't want me to buy the supplies I need for terraria. Dad wanted me to use fish tank gravel as a bottom for the setup instead of the rocks that help with draining. Did I do the terrarium wrong?

 

[Colin_T]

Orchids need good air flow or they rot. It won't survive in a sealed container.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Orchids need good air flow or they rot. It won't survive in a sealed container.

Hmm... I think I did it wrong. Did I?

 

[Fish Fanatic34]

Hmm... I think I did it wrong. Did I?

Based on what Colin said you did not choose the right plants for a sealed container. As for the aquarium gravel it can be used as drainage but you should probably put some wire mesh or moss inbetween as the soil can compress into the gravel. The terrarium will still work either way just not as efficient.

 

[emeraldking]

I've kept orchids in a terrarium in the past and they thrived well. But the terrarium had ventilation. So, that's key...

 

[MaloK]

If you want to play with sealed environments, Just put enough dirt and not too much water, A small layer of medium pebbles rocks in the bottom, a piece of mesh to separate the dirt , pack the dirt on it and sprinkle little dead leaves and rotting wood on the top. Add plants. Mosses and all small plants you can find in very damp environments, a decorative rock an a couple dead branches reaching to the top.

Close the jar, don't put it in direct sunlight and watch what will happen. We did that a lot when we where young.

And sometimes really cool stuff happened in there. We called them pickled.