Bottle garden - What am I doing wrong ?

[WinterBerry40]

So I have been trying to do a bottle garden ( see image , not mine ) but I've tried 3 times now . I got the correct compost , stones for the bottle , a level of charcoal ext all as suggested when I looked it up .

Watered the compost planted the mini plants ( purchased from Dobies ) sealed the bottle as you can to make a micro climate and as all online tells you it then becomes self sufficient and only needs added water very rarely . They died .

So thought maybe the plants are not for a sealed bottle so bought the same type of small plants as suggested is suitable for bottle gardens / terraniums . Watered them , kept them unsealed and misted them weekly . They died .

So what am I doing wrong ?

sorry the image won't paste .

What type of compost are you using, what mixture of plant material, how damp was it when you sealed it up and whereabouts in the home do you keep it?

When the plants died, were they diseased, crispy, mildewed etc? Did they rot from the roots up or was it a leaf issue?

This type of bottle garden .

I've posted the type of bottle . It was indoor type compost and was recommended .
They look overwatered , kept in my lounge not near a radiator and not in direct sunlight . I also turned it every week or so that the plants had light from the window .

What were the varieties of the plants you used in your bottle garden?

Some are less suited than others.

Isn't it supposed to have a lid on it? I thought with bottle gardens the approach is to create a micro-environment where the bottle is sealed. You water it when you set it up then you seal it. The environment inside the bottle stays damp and shouldn't need extra watering.

@Lindy2 Yes you are supposed to have a lid on it, but only if it contains plants that like a damp and humid atmosphere. Some plants, like the succulents in the photo shared by the OP, would die in no time at all in that environment. They like it warm, dry, with gritty free-draining soil, and need to be in bright light. Which is why I've asked which type of plants the OP put in hers.

Check which plants you're using, some are better for open terrariums and some are best for closed terrariums. Could you be over watering? A mistake I made in the past with closed terrariums was using wooden lids (mould). Also check where you're keeping it - is it in indirect light away from major fluctuations in heat? Do you have a proper drainage layer with a barrier between the soil?

I've tried both , sealed and unsealed . The photo is not mine it's just to show the type I mean.
I one I have is actually an orginal 1970s one and bigger.

Yes , gravel stones on the bottom , compost and a layer of charcoal .
The plant's I'm buying match the ones in terrarium in Dobies and are located near where they sell them and everything that makes one up.

To be honest Dobies isnt really the best place to take advice from or to try and copy what they sell. The ones they have will sell and probably die after a few weeks as well. Go to a proper independent garden centre where there will be people with knowledge as to the conditions the plants need.

Can you put Venus fly traps and pitcher plants in? They like to be damp. Need to be dormant in the winter so you’d have to keep the jar somewhere cold. And let it dry out.

I've looked online and found a company that specialises in terrarium plants and will send you them based on sealed or unsealed so I will go for them .
Thanks for the advice .

Venus fly traps and pitcher plants eat insects. In a sealed terrarium they would run out of food.😂

No, they photosynthesise like any other plant. They catch insects for nitrogen because they live in poor soil. You can feed them mealworms or locusts, which we have in the house because of reptile pets anyway. Actually.

But don’t seal the jar, they like air flow