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Today I planted the cookie jar terrarium.  This fills "the green stuff" square in my 5-1-25 card for the Colors Fest bingo.  See Part 1: Setup.


Here is the cookie jar I'll be using for this terrarium.




Gravel will serve as a drainage layer.




I love this gravel. It's about pea size, mostly smooth, with lots of different colors and materials. I bought a big bag of it for various garden projects, and that was cheaper than a small bag from a pet store.




I added the gravel to the cookie jar. I prefer working with widemouth containers because I can just reach right inside.




The gravel is about half an inch deep.




This is Thrive Natural Coco Fiber Climbing Background. It makes a great natural barrier between soil and gravel.




I unrolled the coco mat and put the cookie jar on top of it.




I traced around the jar with a Sharpie marker. It's important to hold the marker straight against the side, not angle it underneath, because the barrier needs to be slightly wider than the inside of the jar.




I cut out the circle of coco fiber with scissors.




I put the coco fiber mat inside the jar. The edges curl up slightly to keep the soil away from the gravel. If you cut the barrier too small, then it lies flat, but soil can creep past the edges.




This is where I goofed.  I forgot to add the charcoal.  I brought it out, but missed actually putting it in the jar.  It should have made a layer above the coco fiber mat.  Another day, I may try to peel back the moss enough to sprinkle some charcoal underneath.

The fern is a little bedraggled after sitting around in a pot for a while, but it's still mostly green.




I took the fern out of the pot. Since it didn't have roots coming out the bottom, I gently rubbed away the potting soil until I found the roots, so that the plant could sit lower in the jar. Then I put the fern in place.




From the side you can see how the fern fits inside the jar.




Since this fern was cultivated in potting soil, I'll be filling the jar with my favorite Evergreen potting soil.




The potting soil is black and fluffy, with bits of twig and a few pebbles in it.




I put the potting soil into the jar around the fern and tamped it down gently.




Condensation formed instantly on the inside of the jar, a result of putting warm wet potting soil into a cool jar.  The soil level is  a little deeper than I would typically use, because of the fern's root ball determining the necessary depth.




I had some moss left over from a previous project.




I started fitting the moss around the base of the fern.




I went outdoors to collect more moss. Right about here looks good. This patch grows between some bushes near the old picnic table.




I collected a hand-sized piece of this moss. I did my best to pick off all the elm seeds, bits of violet, and anything else that might sprout and grow too big for the jar.  Those fluffy-looking things are mulberry catkins.




I put the new moss in the jar.




A side view shows the layers in the jar.  That yellow thing off to the left is a honeysuckle flower.  It won't sprout so there's no harm leaving it as a bit of organic matter.




A top view shows the moss surrounding the fern.




I put the lid on the terrarium.




Here's another side view of the terrarium as it stands today.




I put the cookie jar terrarium on the small table next to the antique jar terrarium.