I was very excited when BiOrb contacted me to see if I was interested in trialling their new BiOrb AIR 30. This is a smaller sized terrarium than the BiOrb AIRs you’ve seen in my earlier BiOrb AIR Trials (see my Miniature Orchid BiOrb AIR Trial, my White Orchid BiOrb AIR Trial, my Madagascar BiOrb AIR Trial, and my Long-term BiOrb AIR Trial).
This is a planting list with a difference! To find out more about a particular plant, simply click on the plant’s name to discover more information about your chosen plant. On each plant page, you’ll find information about that individual plant, and if you scroll down to the bottom of every plant page you’ll also find links to every article I have written that features that particular plant on PumpkinBeth.com.
Bring positivity to a dreary autumn day by forgetting the outside world and focussing on creating your own miniature plant world! My step-by-step terrarium planting guide will help you plant your own long-lasting indoor centrepiece to enhance your home this autumn and winter. Get ready to make the most of the longer evenings getting busy designing your own plant paradise!
Terrarium plantsA terrarium creates a perfect environment for small plants that thrive in low light levels and high humidity.
Back in January I moved house. It was a nerve wracking and anxious time, made more difficult because I grow a lot of plants inside terrariums, bottle gardens, and orchidariums, which I can’t bear to be parted from. These enclosures all needed to be emptied and washed up, and the plants and glassware required careful packaging and wrapping.
This is Deinostigma tamiana, a truly marvellous plant that thrives inside terrariums and bottle gardens. Deinostigma tamiana is a Gesneriad species from Vietnam. If you’ve not seen it before, yet Deinostigma tamiana looks somewhat familiar, it’s probably because these plants are related to African violets (Saintpaulias).
Growing Deinostigma tamianaDeinostigma tamiana is an easy going, adaptable plant that’s content growing in a range of terrarium environments.
I’m currently in the process of setting up a new terrarium, which is very exciting! Don’t worry, I’ll take you on a tour of my new Tall Orchidarium in due course. However, today I wanted to tell you about something unexpected that happened to me, while I was gathering together the materials for this new enclosure.
Sciarid flies are teeny, tiny flies, from the family Sciaridae, they’re also known as fungus gnats, or by their genera’s scientific names of Bradysia or Lycoriella. Although sciarid flies live outdoors, as the flies are so minute in size, you’re unlikely to notice these insignificant little flies outside.
In March 2018, I commissioned Rich, from Rainforestvivs (now The Rich Rainforest), to build this fabulous, custom built Rainforest Terrarium for me. I designed my Rainforest Terrarium to fulfil my requirements: I needed to provide an enclosure that would house as large a number of orchids as possible from my National Collection of Miniature Aerangis and Angraecum Species and my National Collection of Miniature Phalaenopsis Species, within the limited space I had available.
In this my first update, you can discover how the Aerangis, Amesiella, and Angraecum orchids that are housed inside my Rainforest Terrarium have grown and developed over the past eleven months – from April 2018 to March 2019. Discover which plants have died and which orchids have thrived during this time frame, in my first plant update for this custom built terrarium.
I find that a little sparkle is especially welcome at this time of year. With this in mind, I’ve produced animations of some of the orchids I’ve grown that produce crystalline flowers, to hopefully bring some sparkle and plant related joy to your Christmas!
These absolutely fabulous orchids, produce flowers that naturally have a little hint of a sparkle within their petals – their flowers glisten in the light.
I love looking at this orchid; I so admire Angraecum distichum‘s shape and form, this plant’s simple, leafy stems are a thing of beauty. I love to see young and old Angraecum distichum specimens; whatever the plant’s size, I find Angraecum distichum utterly mesmerising!
Angraecum distichum is a miniature to small sized epiphytic orchid species. Angraecum distichum plants can be found growing upon a range of tall trees in a variety of different environments including: rainforests, humid forests, deciduous forests, and plantations.
It’s so wonderful to be able to share these photographs that I have taken of my orchids’ latest flowers with you – these photographs are of the very same inflorescences that are open now – these are the orchid blooms that I am enjoying today – I hope that you’ll enjoy these miniature orchid flowers with me.
I planted this glass terrarium especially for the readers of October 2018 edition of Vantage Point Magazine. This is a simple glass globe, planted with some attractive, but easy to find terrarium plants. You can see all of the plants that I used for this terrarium, in the planting list below. If you’re interested in any of these plants, click on an individual plant page for more information, where you’ll also find links to every article I have written for pumpkinbeth.com
I just adore creating terrariums, vivariums, and bottle gardens; I’d love to share my love of indoor gardening with you! If you’re looking for some fabulous plants for a bottle garden, terrarium, or vivarium that you’re creating, I hope that my list of gorgeous plants that are perfectly suited to the growing conditions found inside these enclosures, will help you create a beautiful indoor garden.
In April 2018, I set up my Rainforest Terrarium. I’ve created this planting list, so you can easily find and learn more about each of the plants that are currently growing inside this terrarium, if I add any new plants in future, I will also add them to this list. I’ve listed the all of the nurseries and suppliers where I purchased my plants, cork, and mosses, for this terrarium at the bottom of this list.
If you’re setting up a terrarium, vivarium, or bottle garden, and you’re looking for miniature orchids to add to your indoor garden, you may find that it is not always easy to tell which orchids are truly miniature and which aren’t.
Many orchids that are sold as miniatures are miniature sized when they are young, but as they grow and develop, many of these plants will soon outgrow a traditionally sized terrarium or bottle garden.
In November 2017, I conducted a large scale reorganisation of my orchids, moving plants from one terrarium into another. My intention, and the end result of all of this disruption, was to group my orchid plants more interestingly: placing plants from different orchid species that originate from the same genus together wherever possible.
Earlier this year, I decided to create an Orchidarium with an automated misting unit, LED lights, and fans, to house some of my miniature orchids and provide them with automatic care. Here is an update as to how the automated features that I installed have performed and how the plants have grown and developed. If you’re interested, you can read my step by step guide as to how my Orchidarium was created here.
I love growing Restrepias! Restrepias are elegant and strikingly beautiful orchids, which despite their exotic appearance are easy to grow. For me Restrepias bring a sense of wonderment and awe as each of their exquisite blooms open.
I have grown a variety of different Restrepia species inside my BiOrbAir terrariums, these miniature epiphytic orchids have flourished inside the humid environment that this specialised terrarium provides.
Gastrochilus retrocallus is a species of miniature, epiphytic orchid that originates from the Ren-ai Township, Nantou County, in Taiwan. Inside this precious, beautiful nature reserve, Gastrochilus retrocallus can be found growing on trees, in areas of cloud forests. This particular area is very rich in flora and fauna; there are many other special plants that originate from this area, including other orchids, such as Cymbidiums.
