To buy my teen DS a terrarium

[Gumreduction]

Good present? Easy to look after? Any recommendations?!

My teen dd loves setting them up. But then she always forgets about them and they fester and all die back or just go slimy looking. I'd have thought the best but is setting them up and making them look good. What about buying him the tools to do his own? (Though they can be ££).

Cheap shops like Home Bargians have good jars to start off with (in kitchen section)

Ooh, thank you! I'm thinking that would be a good present for my son who is at uni. He wanted to take his cacti with him, but it's a bit unwieldy and lopsided so didn't bother. So a terrarium would be a good present. Off to have a look for one 😊

There is a beautiful shop on Brick Lane that sells them, but it is very expensive. If you google Brick Lane Terrarium you will find it - I can't remember the actual name but I found the website that way after walking past it. If nothing else, it will give you inspiration to make your own rather than pay their extortionate prices!

@Gumreduction - it's a slimy mess 😃.. The cactus is a separate thing, just to show that he now has an interest in plants.

Assuming the question is about not touching it, it's a sealed system.

The sealed system ones rarely work well with anything beyond very simple mosses/worts, which are not exciting to look at. It is more fun if you can see an isopod trundling about but again, hard to set up so that they are self sustaining..

The fun is mainly in the setting up I think. So perhaps a kit to build one might be a fun present... I mean, I'd like it (and I would have liked it as a teenager too), but I am definitely not representative (nor was I then!) of teenage tastes in gifts!

Terrarium kits can be got easily from a wide variety of places, Etsy has a wide choice and some come with containers, some you are given all you need but source your own container (I'd source the container first and find out how many litres it contains, then look for a kit of the right stuff to fill it with).

Bought my teen DD a closed Terrarium from here for her 15th birthday. She loved putting it together and is still going strong nearly a year later

tropicalglass.co.uk/

This is brilliant!! Where did you buy from please?

You sound like you really know what you’re talking about!

what would you recommend to buy to start off with? Any recommendations for where to buy?

@ChristmasCakeAndStilton and @WiddlinDiddlin

tropicalglass.co.uk/collections/diy-terrarium-kits/products/closed-diy-terrarium-kit-with-container-plants-and-decorations-22-cm

this one ^^?

or this one?

bloomboxclub.com/products/terrarium-eco?variant=39410320670803

The more i think about it - the more I think he will love. He grew strawberries over the summer and came quite obsessed with looking after them

ps thanks @sleepdeprivedby2

@Gumreduction
Mine is the bloombox one. They have a couple of different plant types now, iirc.

And you’re happy with it? Would you get the one with the light?

And what’s the maintenance?

Only if he’s really interested in plants. Otherwise it’s a gift for you

I’m thoroughly and utterly disinterested in anything like this?

So why do you want to buy one for him? It isn’t interesting, it’s a plant in a sealed bottle. I like plants and interior design sbd I wouldn’t find it interesting. What’s interesting about it? Plant drinks water then it evaporates out and then falls to the ground and plant drinks it again (aka it’s a plant you don’t have to water Very often)

Is there someone on YouTube banging on about them, or something?

I had never heard of them until Sunday, when DS, nearly 14, decided he wanted one…

It's quite a high maintenance choice for his first foray into houseplants even if you get a closed one, like others have said you have to work to get the conditions just right. How about a carnivorous plant or an unusual veg growing kit?

I’m totally disinterested in plants or indeed growing anything

however he absolutely loved growing strawberries over the summer

hence…

waiting to hear hopefully from @ChristmasCakeAndStilton and @WiddlinDiddlin

If he’s interested in computing as well. You could get him a chilli kit and this shop.pimoroni.com/products/grow?variant=32208365518931

Thanks @Gumreduction for the links, my laddie is ND & I think he really could be interested in something like this.. :-)

I got the light, but actually don't put it on very often - plants need dark as well as slight, imo. The photo had the light on tho.

Mine doesn't sit on a windowsill. It was fine in my South facing livingroom, but not in line with the window, and is now definitely out of direct light, so I guess I might need to boost it occasionally.

I spent the first few weeks taking the lid of frequently, as the whole thing was covered in condensation for most of the time. Think the guidance is 1/3 of the glass, 1/3 of the time.
But since then (Feb maybe? It was a late xmas present as it was out of stock for Xmas day ) I've left it be. So, zero maintenance (so far) once going.

Hope that helps @Gumreduction

Bumping this to say thank you again for the idea! DS opened his today, it's a tiny one for his desk in his room at uni, and he loves it. Took a photo to send to his friends. 😄
A shop selling them had just opened locally so I went and chose one, and the staff in there were really helpful.