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Tropical Terrariums - Plant With Cass
74 Plays3 days ago
Good Friend, Business woman & Tropical Terrarium expert Cass from Plant with Cass joins us in The Lodge to chat all about the wonders and ease of closed lid Terrariums.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Gardener's Lodge Podcast
00:00:08
Speaker
Step into the gardener's lodge with me, Michael Hoare. Let's explore the fascinating world of gardening, nature and ecology through conversations with experts, thought leaders, passionate enthusiasts, and of course, some real good friends, all from the cozy heart of the lodge.
00:00:25
Speaker
Come on in.
Acknowledgment of Traditional Landowners
00:00:28
Speaker
The Gardener's Lodge podcast is created on the traditional lands of the Darug and Gundungara people in the Blue Mountains. We pay respect to all First Nations elders, past and present.
Michael's Passion for Indoor Plants
00:00:40
Speaker
G'day and welcome to the show. Now, it is no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with indoor plants. I love the way they make me feel. i love the routine they give me of caring for them. I love watching them grow. I love watching them bloom. I love almost everything.
00:00:57
Speaker
No, not almost everything. I love everything about indoor plants. But I know that's not the case for everyone. A lot of people struggle. a lot of people struggle.
00:01:09
Speaker
But I don't think it has to be that way.
Meet Cass, the Terrarium Expert
00:01:11
Speaker
Today I'm talking with Cass from Plant With Cass. She is a terrarium expert. She runs workshops helping people build tropical closed-lid terrariums.
00:01:24
Speaker
They're so low maintenance, as we're about to find out, that literally anyone could keep these guys alive. I'm so excited to share this episode with you. I've known Cass for a number of years and I've been enamored with her work, her artistry, as it would be.
00:01:39
Speaker
i think you will be too. Make sure you check her out and have a look at the work that she produces and the terrariums that she builds. They're absolutely
Cass's Rapid-Fire Q&A
00:01:47
Speaker
stunning. But before we get into the main chat, of course it is time for our six rapid fire questions so that you can get to know Cass just that little bit better.
00:01:56
Speaker
Are you ready Cass? Sounds good. Gosh, I'm nervous. Okay. Yep. Everyone gets very nervous at this point. Okay. Favourite plant? My favourite plant would have to be the monstera.
00:02:09
Speaker
Favourite way to connect with nature? favour My favourite way to connect with nature would have to be going on hikes and bushwalks. What is the most beautiful garden or natural landscape that you have visited?
00:02:23
Speaker
Oh, gosh, that's a tough one. um Anywhere in the Blue Mountains, although actually in saying that, I have hiked through, um you know, parts of Darwin and Kakadu, and I have to say yes that that is very amazing when it comes to, you know, nature.
00:02:43
Speaker
Favourite garden tool? don't know it's a favourite garden tool, but I do use it in the garden, is those kneeling mats. If you could be one. what would it be? a plant or an animal?
00:02:56
Speaker
Oh, I would have to say, ah an animal. I do love my animals. Perfect. So when you're looking to research anything garden related, where do you go for the most sound and reliable information? Oh,
00:03:13
Speaker
I guess I start at a Google search, really. YouTube even as well. Where did you actually find your passion for plants and gardening?
Cass's Gardening Journey and Online Sharing
00:03:23
Speaker
You could say my lover plan started when I was quite young and I was always in the garden with my dad. I think there's even ah photo that my mum pulled out just a couple of months ago and I'm there like literally watering the garden and I would have been maybe about four, age four,
00:03:41
Speaker
So yeah, it definitely stemmed from a very young age. And then I guess, you know, as I got older, you know, I got married, had my own home. i had, you lots of different plants in the house.
00:03:53
Speaker
I loved indoor plants. My dad was more of an outdoor, you know, veggie gardener, whereas I i like veggies and I do have my own small veggie garden. But, you know, my primary gardener,
00:04:05
Speaker
enjoyment is indoor plants and tropical plants. So probably about going on more than five years ago now is where I found out about tropical terrariums.
00:04:16
Speaker
And it was actually online. And funny enough, it was um a guy from um the UK where I found out about tropical terrariums. And I was like, wow, this is actually really interesting, you know, basically being able to grow plants um inside a glass jar.
00:04:33
Speaker
And, you know, with minimal care, minimal maintenance. um And I was like, wow, this is fascinating because, you know, I used to post on just my personal Instagram about plants and my gardening. You know, people used to call me the crazy plant lady um and they used to ask me questions about plants.
00:04:50
Speaker
And, you know, and they're like, oh, you're so helpful. You're so knowledgeable. And um yeah. And then, you know, a lot, basically a lot of people would say to me and I used to have conversations with so many people about how,
00:05:03
Speaker
hard it is to take care of plants, you know, they don't have time, they're over water, you know, and lots of other things. And so many people say the same thing, even now that they can't take care of plants and they kill them all.
Understanding Terrariums
00:05:14
Speaker
I guess that's what fascinated me when I found out about tropical terrariums all those years ago, because, you know, it's basically a mini ecosystem, more so obviously the closed lid terrariums, mini ecosystem takes care of itself You know, you spray it a couple of times a year and that's it.
00:05:31
Speaker
And you leave it alone pretty much. Yeah. so that's so fascinating. Yeah, that it is fascinating. We're going to actually dive so deep into how to build them, how to care for them, the maintenance that they need and everything like that.
00:05:45
Speaker
But do you remember the first terrarium that you ever made? I do, yes. It was when I first found out about it about five years so ago. And, you know, I was following um this guy um on Instagram. And then also I started researching about them as well. And I can tell you now, when I first started creating terrariums, you know, five plus years ago, they look very different to what i create um today. I guess back then I was learning about tropical terrariums, you know, testing, um trying to actually work out how, you know, tropical terrariums, closed-lid terrariums more so ah work um and how the ecosystems work. So guess, yeah. Well, you've certainly developed your skills now because the ones that you create now are just beautiful. They're little ah pieces of artwork from the layers in the soil to the plant selection. They're stunning.
Cass's Indoor Plant Collection
00:06:41
Speaker
Yeah, thank you Thank you. And I do, i do really enjoy it. um It is, you know, a big passion of mine now. But not to say that I don't love indoor plants. I still have, I've got about 80 indoor plants, just indoors, and then I've got all my patio plants. So that's, um you know, on top of my 80 indoor plants.
00:07:02
Speaker
ah Good on you. I counted mine recently and I'm about the same as you at the moment. And I've still got a couple of your terrariums in my house, actually. oh Oh, bless. That lovingly tend to. Although one of them I did put in front of too close to a window and the moss in it did kind of not like that. But anyway. Yeah, fair enough. and As long as the plant's still alive. Yeah.
00:07:22
Speaker
but Yeah, exactly it is. It is. I probably need to tend to them and give them a little trim back. um So let's rewind and go right back to basics.
Building a Terrarium: Step-by-Step Guide
00:07:32
Speaker
What is terrarium?
00:07:35
Speaker
So I guess the way I like to explain what a terrarium is, is a mini ecosystem, something that takes care of itself. It basically mimics nature just in a very small form.
00:07:48
Speaker
That's probably the simplest way that I explain what it from yeah a closed lid terrarium is. closed lid, which is your area of expertise. i'm So let's talk about the actual craft of building a terrarium.
00:08:01
Speaker
Starting from the start, we're going to do closed lid terrariums. How do you choose the right container or glass jar? I guess what look for is glass clarity.
00:08:14
Speaker
You know, making sure the glass is actually nice and, yeah you know, as clear as possible. You don't want anything frosted or anything that magnifies anything inside the terrarium or just doesn't make it look nice and clear. Yep.
00:08:28
Speaker
So i look for glass that has some, you know, clarity ah to it. Does size matter? No, you can make a terrarium out of anything. I've made terrarium out of necklace at one stage and yeah, so, and I still sell those, but yeah, so you basically, it's a little, little, little vial necklace and it basically has live moss inside. So you can make them out of anything, any size, it doesn't matter.
00:09:00
Speaker
Yeah. As long as it has a lid, um And that's another thing that's quite important is the type of lid. So and with a closed lid terrarium, you don't want to be using timber too much. What I found over the years with testing is that with timber on the inside, because timber doesn't like moisture so much.
00:09:21
Speaker
um It actually can mold. So mold can form and bad mold spores can form on the actual inside of the lid. And then those mold spores can then sort of get into your terrarium and sort of wreak havoc. So you don't want anything with a timber lid. I mean, look, there are terrariums out there and they use timber lids.
00:09:39
Speaker
And depending on how sort of the timber is lacquered and treated, you can. But I tend to steer away with anything with a timber lid. So I usually go for more something, mainly glass lids. Or you can use Perspex lids and cork.
00:09:56
Speaker
Cork lids work well. They are a bit porous. So um moisture tends to escape a little bit bit faster um in a trim with a cork lid over something with like a glass lid.
00:10:10
Speaker
That's what i was going to say. So does the does the seal matter? Like, does it need to be completely airtight? I suppose not if you're using a cork. No, no. So it doesn't need to be completely airtight, but, you know, you'd want it to be 95% airtight.
00:10:25
Speaker
um Some of my terrariums do have like ah a rubber seal on, you know, the lids have a rubber seal and obviously anything with a rubber seal that closes really, really tightly, you know, there's really not.
00:10:38
Speaker
any air that's going to get in there, which, you know, there's pros and cons to that as well. Obviously, the tighter the lid, the more contained everything is and the more moisture and humidity that um is created inside the glass jar.
Free Resource: Australian Garden Design Palette
00:10:54
Speaker
Hey, if you like native plants as much as I do, I have a special treat for you. I've created a free Australian native garden design or planting palette. What it is, is a collection of beautiful Australian native plants that are very adaptable to all different climates within Australia. So if you're stuck with what to plant in your native garden, download your free Australian native garden design.
00:11:17
Speaker
The free download also comes with a bunch of extra information on the steps you'll need to make it flourish. If that sounds like something that you'd like to take advantage of, the link to the free download is in the show notes below this episode.
00:11:30
Speaker
Check it out.
00:11:33
Speaker
Can you walk me through the process step by step from obviously now we've got our jar all the way up to planting. Firstly, you want some type of drainage layer.
00:11:45
Speaker
um you know Obviously, the drainage layer is really important because there is no holes in the glass jar. So you want to create that drainage layer. So that's where we use something like rocks or pebbles. Then you sort of go on to a mesh layer. And that is basically just to separate the rocks and sort of everything else that we're going to put in.
00:12:05
Speaker
Is that like a piece of fly screen or something? Yeah, there's there's a couple of ways that you can actually create a meshing layer. So you can use like a fly screen with, you know, really small, small holes.
00:12:17
Speaker
um Or you can use sphagnum moss. Okay. So yeah, so sphagnum moss is basically dried moss and you can get it in bags, um you know, from your local nurseries and, you know, there's certain way that you need to use that as well. You can't sort of just put it in dry.
00:12:35
Speaker
And then I guess then from there, from that meshing layer, then you go on to charcoal. Now, obviously you need to use horticultural charcoal. You can't use barbecue charcoal. People have asked me in my workshops, can I use barbecue charcoal? And I said, no, you cannot.
00:12:51
Speaker
ah ah Good to know. Good to know. Yeah. I guess the way that horticultural charcoal and barbecue charcoal, um are they're treated very differently. Okay. So yeah. So you need to make sure it's horticultural charcoal. And then from that, then you want and a good soil, like a good terrarium soil.
00:13:09
Speaker
You can use your indoor general indoor potting mix. If you're just sort of an everyday gardener that wants to make a terrarium. However, i so I sort of tend to steer people away from just already made indoor potting mix.
00:13:23
Speaker
I actually make up my own terrarium soil. Okay. Yeah. What's that made up of? um So that's made up of a few different components and a few different ratios.
00:13:34
Speaker
so I use Japanese volcanic rock, which is called Akadama. I use pumice stone. i also use coconut coir, which is basically the coconut husk by dried.
00:13:48
Speaker
i also use worm castings to give it nutrients through the soil. And, you know, there's a certain ratio that you need to use to mix up that terrarium soil.
00:13:59
Speaker
and and make it nice and airy. So you want basically a soil that doesn't come together and it's nice and airy and works well with the plants. Yeah. Free draining and that sort of thing. And then I guess from there then comes to your plants and your planting and, you know, there's specific plants that I like to use that are more hardier than others in a terrarium.
00:14:20
Speaker
And then, you know, obviously then the everyone's fun part is always in my workshops is always the decorative stage. Everyone loves the decorative stage. Of course. course. Although even itself, the layering of the different stones...
00:14:35
Speaker
substrate, all of that is actually quite beautiful. Like I see that you kind of end up with a lot of like the the layers itself are like part of the artwork really. Yeah, they are. Yeah. and And sometimes as well, what I do is, is between sort of the layers um at a certain point, I'll also put in a different color sand as well, just to give sort of a bit of a different element and sort of that wow factor. Yeah. More aesthetic, I guess, more so.
00:15:03
Speaker
But, but yeah, no, that layering, it, yeah, it really makes the trail rather sort of just, you chucking everything again
The Role of Springtails in Terrariums
00:15:11
Speaker
A heap of soil. Yeah, that's it. yeah
00:15:15
Speaker
Obviously there's specialist tools that are needed to build this because you're working in tight spaces. how do you go about getting everything in so perfectly?
00:15:25
Speaker
Well, I like to use basically containers with a large opening. So it's easy to get your hands in to actually make the terrarium. Obviously, yeah you do use tools as well. That does make it easier.
00:15:38
Speaker
you know And once you know you start getting into more narrow bottles, so I do also make terrariums out of you know recycled materials. Scotch whiskey bottles, vodka bottles.
00:15:49
Speaker
Cool. And, yeah, and but that's that's where it gets really tricky because the opening is so small. You know, you've got to use, you know, makeshift tools sometimes and sticks and things like that so you can actually get everything into the bottle and, you know, it's so precise and so, yeah, it's definitely easier working with, a lot like, a larger opening.
00:16:13
Speaker
That would frustrate me so much. Yeah. Oh, don't worry. There's been a few times where I've sworn at the bottle and I'm like, you need to work. You really do.
00:16:25
Speaker
um That's amazing. um So only because I have a bit of background knowledge from you on this, you do you still add springtails to your terrariums?
00:16:36
Speaker
I do, yes. So I do still add springtails. So what what are springtails and why do you pop them in? Basically, springtails are, as I like to explain it, these really little tiny bugs that they're white, whitish in colour.
00:16:54
Speaker
And they're sort of the size of, I guess, ants, closer to ants, you could say. Basically, they're bioactive bugs. So what they do is they help keep the terrarium nice and healthy and clean.
00:17:07
Speaker
And they're basically like a janitor for your terrarium. So what they do is, this you know, they feed off any sort of mold or mold spores, know, growing inside to a certain degree, obviously, unless you have, you know, a massive breakout of mold, then there's only so much they can control it. depending on how many of them are in there.
00:17:24
Speaker
um And, you know, basically if you've got any decaying leaves, they'll sort of munch away at the decaying leaves. And basically their role is to keep the environment and the ecosystem, you know, healthy and thriving.
00:17:35
Speaker
And they're just, they're magnificent little like creatures. And I guess the way that they breed, because lots of people ask, you know, how do you breed them? Because I actually breed the springtails myself,
00:17:46
Speaker
Oh.
00:17:51
Speaker
and that was the first culture i bought and i breed them ever since and they're so easy to breed basically they love the dark so i have them in containers with you know ah good layer of charcoal um horticultural charcoals Uh, and basically it has to be moist inside your container.
00:18:09
Speaker
And then obviously I, I've, you know, put the springtail cultures in there. Uh, and then what happens from there is, is they breed and the way that they breed is you actually need to create mold inside that container.
00:18:22
Speaker
And the reason I say that is because what happens is once they see that there's too much mold and there's not enough of them, they start breeding. oh You know, and that's sort of their thought process. I guess the easiest way to explain it is, you know, they're sort of like, oh, there's this's not enough of us and there's too much mold and we need to keep this clean. This is not clean.
00:18:43
Speaker
So they start breeding. um And in the reverse, if there's too much of them and not enough food or moisture, Some of them will actually start dying off and those that are alive will eat the ones that have died.
00:18:58
Speaker
So it keeps their species, i guess, in existence. Wow.
Recommended Plants for Terrariums
00:19:03
Speaker
So they're, yeah, they're kind of managing the ecosystem with inside the terrarium, but also managing their own populations.
00:19:10
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, that's fascinating. Yeah, but they do like the dark. So I do breed them in closed containers, like really well sealed closed containers, basically inside ah very dark cupboard.
00:19:23
Speaker
Okay. That's, that's super interesting. I didn't realize that you actually bred them yourself, but that's, that's amazing. and So I guess like if we're talking about this, the terrarium as an ecosystem, they're like the animals that in nature would be scratching up the surface of the soil, you know, decaying the matter. They're kind of the living aspect to the little world that you've created.
00:19:49
Speaker
Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. And you do find them, you know, if you are in the garden a lot, you may sort of ah actually come across them while you're gardening, you're planting veggies and things like that. So you may find them, but they'd be buried um because they do prefer the dark.
00:20:05
Speaker
They're soil dwellings. Yes. Yes. Okay, perfect. So then that brings us up to our plant layer. What kind of plants are ideal for the terrarium environment?
00:20:17
Speaker
In terms of the best plants to use for a terrarium, you want tropical plants. This is a closed-lid terrarium. So you need plants that love, you know, high humidity and, you know, moderate to high moisture.
00:20:31
Speaker
So you can't be using succulents. Succulents don't work in a closed-lid terrarium because succulents, you know, like to live more on the drier side. Yeah. So in terms of the plants that I generally use in most of my terrariums, the main three is Fotonias.
00:20:51
Speaker
Fotonias has to be my top plant that I use in a tropical terrarium. They're really hardy. um You know, they come in lots of different great colours.
00:21:01
Speaker
um They're just, yeah, I basically have them in every single terrarium that I make. um They give a nice dimension element as well. And they are more on the slower growing side, which is good as well. And then when they do sort of outgrow the terrarium, they're easy just to trim back.
00:21:19
Speaker
um And you can actually propagate futonias just from cuttings alone. by basically cutting it um and popping it back into, um you know, your soil and they'll just reroute and they'll grow again.
00:21:34
Speaker
so Does that mean you you actually grow most of the plants on yourself? No, um for Tony, as I do, that is the one plant that I do propagate and try and grow myself to a certain extent, because, you know, the sort of the amount of workshops that I run, terrariums that I make, I don't have, I guess, the space.
00:21:56
Speaker
um Yeah, I suppose you can't keep up. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I can't keep up. So I do i do propagate um a lot of the Photonias, but I also do buy most of my plants, especially when I've got sort of a lot going on.
00:22:10
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So some of the other plants that I do like to use in terrariums is Syngoniums. Again, they're really hardy in a terrarium, um just probably as hardy as the Photonias.
00:22:24
Speaker
You can use things like ferns. There are certain um varieties of ferns that I use over others just because they're more hardy. So I tend to use things like the button fern. The button fern is really hardy in a terrarium.
00:22:38
Speaker
um I use it. I do like the parlor palm. The parlor palms are nice. They do grow tall. So you do need sort of more of a a term that is quite elongated and tall to give it some space.
00:22:52
Speaker
Yeah. So I do like to use those. And and there's yeah lots of other sort of different plants that I use. They're sort of more of the main plants that I use. So before you were mentioning actually about your workshops that you run, which leads me to my next question.
Common Terrarium Mistakes and Tips
00:23:08
Speaker
What is the biggest issues that arise when creating terrariums for a newbie?
00:23:15
Speaker
I guess I've had quite a few um participants come through my workshops where they have actually attempted and tried to make their own terrarium at home. And they said they've always failed and they've, you know, the terrarium has always died on them and they haven't really understood what they've done wrong.
00:23:31
Speaker
So they've come to one of my workshops and then basically, you know, through the workshop and at the end of the workshop, they have said that, you know, my workshops are just so informative And they realise now where they went wrong when they tried to make a terrarium at home on their own.
00:23:47
Speaker
I made a terrarium years ago. This would have been probably 15 years, a decade ago. wow And it was went okay, but I just, you know, dumped soil in the bottom of a jar and then chucked some plants in.
00:24:01
Speaker
And yeah, I can see there's a big difference between what I did and what you do. Yeah. Yeah. There's a little bit of an, I guess, a um a science and an art behind it.
00:24:13
Speaker
So yeah, that's it. and and And I guess like in my case, my issue was, yeah, the soil as with all gardening, getting the soil and your substrate, right. Is like the beginning is, is the start of it all.
00:24:26
Speaker
So I think that's, I'd imagine most people aren't layering and putting all the different substrates in that you do to get that like perfect ecosystem rolling in there.
00:24:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's where I guess they go wrong. um Let's move into maintenance. So we've built our beautiful terrarium. I go home, I put it on the shelf.
00:24:50
Speaker
Where should I put it? So I guess the best place to put a closely tropical terrarium is out of direct sunlight and not outdoors. Yeah. So the problem is, is You know, these plants are, you know, wanting bright but indirect light.
00:25:09
Speaker
So if you put it on a windowsill that gets really hot, um especially in the summertime, or if you put it somewhere where it gets direct sunlight, what actually happens is the direct sunlight heats up the glass and it just acts as like a furnace inside that jar.
00:25:27
Speaker
And it it gets too hot. And because the lid is closed, there's no way for the heat to escape. So it basically just ends up being a furnace inside and then everything just starts dying because it's too hot.
00:25:40
Speaker
Oh, okay. Yeah. So you really want to make sure you put it, um you know, a little bit away from the window. don't want it right up against the window because, again, if you put it right up against the window, the heat from the actual window then ricochets onto the glass and just...
00:25:57
Speaker
Yeah. You just probably magnifies the two different bits of glass and then fries the little specimens inside. are Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much. Yeah. So really away from a window, you know, just, you know, a few meters away, not on a windowsill.
00:26:13
Speaker
bright light. You can also put them in sort of a medium lit area. Try not to put them in sort of a low light setting. Most of the tropical plants, you know, you generally want sort of your medium to bright light.
00:26:27
Speaker
And especially if you do have moss inside your terrarium as well, you want sort of at least medium light. Nice. So do I open my terrarium to give it water?
00:26:39
Speaker
You do, yes. Okay. So the way I like to explain, how, you know, people ask me, how do I know when to water it? um The easiest way to explain it is,
00:26:50
Speaker
when you don't see nice, you know, big droplets, you know, on the glass. um And if the glass is looking, you know, almost dry or completely dry and, you know, the if you've got moss in there and you open the lid and the moss is dry, then basically everything is drying up too much.
00:27:10
Speaker
So that's when you would sort of spray it with a few sprays of water. Obviously, depending on how big the jar is will depend on how many sprays of water you give it. um and you don't pour water in. So um a lot of mistakes that people make is they just pour a little bit of water in like you would with a pot plant, but that's not how a terrarium works. There's nowhere for the water to escape. And if you overwater it, the water's going nowhere.
00:27:36
Speaker
It's not like you can tip it upside down and just pour it back out. Yeah, no, that's not going to work. yes, ah so I always steer people away from pouring water into a terrarium All you need to do is you just need to spray it with water.
00:27:52
Speaker
How often would that be? Because I suppose the idea of a terrarium is that it's got put moisture in there. The light from outside of it is kind of creating condensation, almost mimicking a cloud-like evaporation up out of the soil. yeah yeah It clings to the sides and then runs down and then refeeds it. So it's kind of like a cyclical little ecosystem of its own in there, right?
00:28:17
Speaker
Yes, that's right. I imagine you don't have to do it that often. No, no. So i guess there's a few factors. It depends on how small or big the jar is will depend on how often you water
Maintaining Terrarium Health
00:28:32
Speaker
it. Obviously, the bigger the jar and the more different types of plants that are in there, the more those plants are sort of you creating the oxygen and carbon dioxide and sort of feeding off each other. um yeah So you tend to need to water a little bit less if you've got a bigger trope with multiple plants.
00:28:48
Speaker
um And it depends on the type of lid that you have as well. Obviously, a cork lid, you know, the moisture tends to evaporate a little bit quicker compared to sort of a you know a glass lid or a really well-sealed container.
00:29:03
Speaker
um So sort of something with a well-sealed glass lid container, you're looking... at around sort of the four to six month mark sometimes a little bit longer depending on yeah how well established your terrarium actually is um ah so these are really low maintenance yeah yeah they are super low maintenance you know some of the little the little terrariums that i make that have cork lids looking with them about two to three months
00:29:34
Speaker
So, you know, even with a really small one, you're looking at sort of, you know a couple of months um at a time before you need to water. You can go on holidays for you know, if you've got a medium to big sized room, you can water it before you go, make sure it's got enough moisture and go on holidays, four months, come back and, you know, that's still alive in your house. Houseplants are dead.
00:29:53
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:56
Speaker
Oh, goodness. So we spoke about, I guess, mould issues and using the springtails to kind of combat those. What other issues happen within the terrarium that you think you might need to actually intervene with?
00:30:12
Speaker
There's not too much, really. um The main issue is really the mould. And I guess sort of delving in a little bit into sort of the mould side of things,
00:30:24
Speaker
you know i do I do suggest that ideally you are sort of opening your terrarium at least, you know, especially in the beginning stages of when it was made um at least sort of once a month or once every two months just to air it out for about 10 max 15 minutes. I wouldn't sort of air it out any longer than that. You don't want to sort of ruin the ecosystem that is already trying to be created inside your glass jar, but also as well,
00:30:53
Speaker
you also, you want to give it sort of some fresh air because it's so sealed, especially the glass lid ones. They're just so sealed that, you know, there's no air getting in.
00:31:04
Speaker
So you want to sort of just give it a little bit of airflow, but you don't need to do that too often. As I said, as a terrarium starts settling in, the ecosystem starts working. yeah You need to do that less less. Do you need to clean the interior of the glass?
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, you will from time to time. So, i'm You know, it may get a little bit, you know, dirty, um you know, as the ecosystem starts working. um Generally, that's sort of, you know, at the one-year mark, one, one-and-a-half-year mark that you might need to, you know, clean the inside of the glass, um obviously the outside, you know, as it gets dusty.
00:31:40
Speaker
um But also as well, you know, the plants will flourish in there. So at sort of the one-year mark, one-and-a-half-year mark, it may need a little bit of a trim, Now, i'm you know, there's been quite a few people that have said to me, oh, like, you know, the plants are hitting, are hitting the lid and it's so, you know, basically so encapsulated with all the plants and it doesn't look like there's any space for the plants to grow.
00:32:05
Speaker
They're like, oh, so do I just take the lid off now and just leave the lid off? And that is the worst thing you could ever do because the plants will just start dying because you've just given it a whole different environment and shocked it.
00:32:16
Speaker
So, what you need to do is you need to take the lid off, trim the plants back a little bit, then, you know, At that point, clean it out, you know, if give it a little bit of, you know, sprays of water some from fresh water um and then pop the lid back on um and it will just keep thriving.
00:32:33
Speaker
um And I guess one thing that I do like to tell people when it comes to um the type of water that they should be using um in a terrarium is not straight tap water.
00:32:46
Speaker
So I'm pretty adamant on that. Straight tap water, if you just fill up, you know, your spray bottle and just start spraying a terrarium, I always say it's a no-go because, you know, in our tap water um here in Australia, there's just so much, you know, chlorine and other things that they put into the water.
00:33:03
Speaker
And, you know, obviously, you know, we, you know, you've got old pipes and things like that, that, you know, it's not filtered water. So straight tap water for even your indoor plants is not ideal.
00:33:17
Speaker
um You know, you want to use either, um you know, filtered or demineralized water. I always use demineralized water in all of my um terrariums and in my workshops, but you can use filtered water or If you don't have any other choice and you know you want to use tap water, I always say to basically you know get an old Coke lemonade bottle, whatever, um and fill that with tap water.
00:33:43
Speaker
Leave it sitting for at minimum 24 hours. Even longer, even if you fill the bottle of water up, chuck it under your kitchen sink or your laundry sink and just have it sitting there for when you're ready to even just water your, um you know, indoor plants.
00:33:58
Speaker
You want to let um the chlorine evaporate and really settle and all of those sort of sediments to settle before you just start using tap water on, you know, your terrariums and indoor plants.
00:34:11
Speaker
like Okay, cool. Good to know. Good to know. but What about feeding? Do you have to add your worm castings in again after that one year point or anything like that? Not usually.
00:34:22
Speaker
okay Yeah. You don't need to really add any other nutrients in it's It's like any other sort of, you know, forest or environment. And, you you've got springtails in there, it's sort of, you could, you know, add, you know, some springtails, extra springtails in, you know, at a year a year and a half in.
00:34:42
Speaker
um But basically... You don't need to add any sort of fertilisers and things like that. I guess because they're breaking down that kind of organic matter that's, you know, feeding the soil again.
00:34:54
Speaker
That's it. Yeah, that's exactly right. So, ah yeah, that's really not needed or necessary. Are there any other pitfalls that people fall into with caring for their terrariums?
00:35:06
Speaker
You know, the watering over watering you know people think that they need to water their term like their indoor plants you know once a week or once every couple of weeks that's not the case you'll just put too much moisture in there there's nowhere for their moisture to escape and everything will just start rotting away um yeah yeah so these querarians are going to put me out of a job here it's a little bit like that no yeah yeah oh you know all plants have their place in the world so that's right
00:35:40
Speaker
um So obviously we were just chatting about
Connecting with People Through Workshops
00:35:42
Speaker
your workshops. You run a business called Plant with Cass, you being Cass, where you run workshops and you build terrariums for just for retail sale.
00:35:55
Speaker
You're in a number of houseplant shops. But ah give me your rose and your thorn for running Plant with Cass. Yeah. I guess the best thing about running my business is the people that I've met along the way.
00:36:11
Speaker
You know, whether there are other small businesses um or, you know, people that have come to my workshops, people that have bought terrariums from me. You know, I've had people message me a year from attending one of my workshops, sending pictures saying,
00:36:25
Speaker
this is the only plant that I haven't killed. And it's all thanks to you um for teaching me about, you know, tropical terrariums and close terrariums. Yeah. Yeah. So it's just, yeah.
00:36:37
Speaker
And, and, you know, the, the people that come through my workshops, even, you know, once they finish before they leave, you know, they're just so thankful and they've had the best time. um And, you know, and they want to come back again um to make, you know, either different terrariums or just, even make the same one for a gift for someone else. So yeah, it it really is the people that I made and, and, and really, you know, teaching people about plants and tropical terrariums, which is what i love.
00:37:04
Speaker
um You know, I really love plants and nature. So yeah, so that I guess is what I love most about my business. Now, what about the thorn?
Business Challenges and Future Dreams
00:37:16
Speaker
So probably the thorn is, you know, with any small business, you you know, it it comes with a lot of challenges. You know, you've got challenges where, you know, people see your idea and they, you know, decide, oh, I want to, i want I love that idea that she's doing. Let me just copy it. yeah And I've had people, you know, copying, you know, my idea and elements of my ideas.
00:37:38
Speaker
um that I run at my workshops. You know, you've got, I guess, the stress of the economy, you know, and yeah people not being able to afford, you know, to to come to my workshop. They'd love to do it, but they just can't afford it.
00:37:52
Speaker
um You know, and it is a bit of a luxury, isn't it? Well, yeah, it is for for most people. But, you know, I don't like to see it as a luxury, I guess. I like to see it as you know, something that you can put in your home. You know, you really need I feel you really need plants and nature around you to brighten, brighten your day and brighten your space.
00:38:12
Speaker
I agree. Yeah. Yeah. But, um but yeah, and i guess, yeah, it do, it does come with its, you know, ups and downs, you know social media, social media is like the bane of my existence.
00:38:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:28
Speaker
And marketing and because, you know, I'm not a marketer. I never have been, you know, obviously I've worked in, I've worked in many other fields before, you know, my business, um, when it sort of comes to HR and training, um, I guess, which is why, you know, I love teaching, um,
00:38:45
Speaker
about rooms but yeah but it does come with its ups and downs especially in the seasons as well so winter gets a lot quieter for me um and then once spring hits everyone's like oh it's spring it's warm i'm coming out of hibernation let's go That's it. You know, when I, um this how we actually got to know each other was I used to run a house plant business, a shop called Bring the Jungle, which no longer exists.
00:39:12
Speaker
um But I would find the exact same thing. It would be ah spring, summer, autumn, woo, woo, woo, yay, plants. And then for whatever reason, the cold months come and it's like people just forget and like they want nothing to do with it. it's It's a really kind of... um Interesting psychological aspect to, i guess, the gardening game, I think is, is, is that seasonality and in people's mindsets.
00:39:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think it's because, you know, it gets quite cold and people themselves want to hibernate like plants want to sleep in winter. Exactly.
00:39:51
Speaker
You don't want to get out of bed. You're like, Oh, it's too cold. I can't live. I can't get out of bed today. I can't do this. So funny. So what's next? what what What are the big goals for plant with Cass and for yourself? Yeah.
00:40:06
Speaker
Yeah, so I guess I always like to dream big, maybe a little bit too big. But um i am I think that's what we have in common. Yeah, yeah. I guess, you know, I'm really trying to to grow my business now.
00:40:21
Speaker
You know, i wouldn't, you know, want to run more corporate workshops, lots of team building. I do that already. And it's just, it's just great. You know, the teams actually love it.
00:40:32
Speaker
The corporations and companies love um you know, you know, running me running the workshops for them and their team. So really, you know, expanding on that, um expanding more on my workshops, you know, I would love to sort of, you know, speak and talk at, you know,
00:40:49
Speaker
gardening expos and so on. And, you know, as a little girl, I've always dreamed about, oh, I want to be on TV. That's probably a dream that, you know, may never come. But, look, you never know.
00:41:04
Speaker
um i've been, you know, on podcasts. I've been on radio. um And I've done sort of some ah a few other live interviews. you never know what could come your way. You never know. If anyone can do it, you can do it.
00:41:16
Speaker
so Trust me.
00:41:19
Speaker
So where can people find you and get in touch?
Finding Cass Online and In-Person
00:41:22
Speaker
ah Yeah, so you can find um myself, Plant With Cass. um I'm on Instagram. I'm on Facebook. I have my um own website as well where you can book into workshops.
00:41:33
Speaker
You can book private workshops, corporate workshops, and that's just at www.plantwithcas.com. Obviously, I reside in Sydney, so um i do most of my workshops and travel sort of around the Sydney region. I can yeah also travel up to sort of the central coast, Wollongong, um you know, and the Blue Mountains, know, as well and I do also have one stockist up at the central coast which is at Wild by Nature in Long Beach and you know I'm hoping to grow ah my stockist more this year also well thank you very much for joining me today no thank you Michael
00:42:15
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining me today. If you like the show, don't forget to hit the follow or subscribe button, tell a friend or two, or maybe even give the show five-star rating and a review.
00:42:26
Speaker
If you want more gardeners lodge content, you can find our website, our Instagram and our tip talk in the show notes below this episode. The gardeners lodge podcast is a growing media production.