I visited my aunt’s place and saw that she had kept a succulent in a glass bowl. To my curiosity, I asked her about it and came across some conventional methods to care for Succulents in a Glass Bowl. I also then researched and tried them. To my surprise, they really work.
So How to care for Succulents in a Glass Bowl? To bring life and greenery indoors through succulent terrariums or glass bowls, you need to follow one prime rule: avoiding overwatering. Glass bowls do not have a drainage outlet. Thus watering the plant could be a little tricky. Believe me, effective care for succulents is a must, especially when they are put in a glass bowl. What excites me to have them is their ability to retain water for a long time, which thrives them in warm and dry climates.
For a succulent admirer, it is important to know that your plant is easy to care for it has long-lasting durability and portability. But now the question arises: how to take care of it when it’s kept indoors and in a pot that cannot drain excess water itself. Let me answer it for you.
Advanced care tips for succulents
Succulents kept in glass bowls are the eye-catching elements, circulating positive vibes in the atmosphere. The ones kept in glass bowls are more common and in trend. These are the low-maintenance plants. If you go for a long vacay, they can easily survive for weeks. But neglect of their health may result in the loss of their life. To retain them to a healthy life, feasible care is required.
Since it appears that succulent craze is here to stay and grow, I am putting some valuable care tips
and information to help you cultivate your own succulent sanctuary.
- If you aspire to have in-house succulents, make sure it is placed in an indirect sunlight area, which helps keep it nourished.
- For indoor kept succulents, you may sometimes need to deal with the problems of bugs and gnats. To get rid of these annoying bugs, spray rubbing alcohol in the glass bowl as needed.
- Leaves of succulents play a vital role in their mechanism. Care is required for leaves too. In the case of succulents, You can propagate the fallen leaves. Propagating is fun, and it’s amusing to see the tiny new plants growing. I have explained how to propagate later in this article.
- Succulents are used to extreme temperatures. Research reveals that the majority of these plants survive in
temperature ranging from 40–95º F. Depending on the temperature, water the succulent accordingly. - Specifically, if you wish to grow your succulent in a glass bowl, clean it under the tap and wait for the water to drain. Do not allow any space for water to remain in the bowl.
- Drip water on the leaves when they are kept in a glass bowl. As this does not damp the terrarium soil.
- If you are wondering how to know when my succulent needs to get watered, then there’s a tested tip that I want to share. So, once you are done setting up the terrarium and watering it, lift it to observe the weight. Now after a few days, you need to make a comparison in the weight of the planter. If it is significantly lighter, your plant is indicating its thirst. Finally, you get to know it’s time to water!
Hence, the reason for the growing popularity of succulents is their easy care and their aesthetic appeal. Their water intake is enough to be carried for a long period. Their growth is slow, but they do not need to be pruned. For further knowledge, know-how does the mechanism of storing water in succulent works.
For the places having a scarcity of water, succulents are the best plantations. Succulents are a distinctive type of plant species. The key difference between others and succulents is their leaves. These desert plants have thick rubbery leaves which can store water for future use of plants.
This water content is not readily available in the soil. Thus, the leaf of the plant plays an important role in its functioning. It stores and supplies water in conditions like scarcity and drought. Thus, keeping the charm of your garden alive even in conditions of no water supply. Their soothing shades and colors put glamouring effect, wherever kept. Just a glance at it fosters positivity in us.
To add to your knowledge, I am providing you with the tip to make a judicious decision while selecting a better succulent. Their size, style, color, natural climate, and most importantly, care needs are the vital parameters guiding your decision.
These beautiful plants are available in wide variations of colors and shapes. These deserted plants are a big household name today. No doubt, the versatility, and ability of these durable desert dwellers make them great houseplants.
Read also: Are Succulents Good For Bedroom?
How to make a succulent terrarium with sand?
You can create an actual succulent terrarium with sand or create an optical illusion to these attractive succulent bowls. You can use a small container holding the plant within the cactus soil and covering it with beautifying elements like colorful multilayered sand and stones. The trickiest part is that there is a smaller pot or container inside the larger glass pot. The smaller pot protects the plant, so it’s just the plant and the watered soil and not the decoration made around it.
However, if you wish to grow a succulent terrarium with sand, follow the process:
- Choose an open glass vessel for the moisture to escape that gets created after watering your succulents.
- Choose materials and decoration for the terrarium carefully. Use well-drained soil that’s neither too damp nor too dry. You can easily find these in garden centers or nurseries. Use fine sand suitable for the terrarium, pebbles that are small in size, river rocks, and preserved reindeer moss to decorate. You can also use a chopstick to decorate.
- Properly wash the glass bowl and thoroughly and let it dry completely. Then start placing sand at the bottom. You can also use colorful sand to create a mesmerizing design for your planter. Then place drainage rocks or pebbles over the sand layer. You can then place the soil over it. Make sure the quality of the soil is not compromised. Then plant the variety of succulents you wish to use. I prefer planting two-three varieties together to enhance the look of the terrarium. Once you have planted the roots, top it with another layer of pebbles over it.
- Use chopsticks, crystals, moss to decorate as per your choice.
The best answer on how to care for succulents in a glass bowl would always be appropriate watering. The pebbles and the river rocks actually drain out the excess water to the bottom. Sand is a good absorbent of water. Since the planter is of glass, the water doesn’t drain out but gets converted into vapors. It keeps the plant healthy for a long. You have to make sure you do not overwater it. You can lift the planter and observe a significant weight change before watering it again.
Succulent arrangements in glass bowls
The idea of keeping succulents indoors at my aunt’s house fascinated me. The arrangement of succulents in a transparent glass bowl captivated my attention and made me wonder how it beautifies the glance. I then decided to study in detail on arrangements of succulents in glass bowls.
You can use a fishbowl to create your own terrarium. As far as arrangements and planting are concerned, you can follow this or experiment with your own compositions. Succulents are very friendly in nature and thus easily grow with a variety of them. You can use the centerpiece as a single rosette or clusters and other two or three categories of filler succulents that can cover the space in your bowl.
You can buy more succulents than you think you will need as they look even prettier when squeezed and planted together. Use stacked crassulas, tricolor stonecrop, and haworthia together to get a lush green look for your terrarium. I used paddle plant, stacked crassulas, rosette clusters, and stressed stonecrop. This was a colorful arrangement and looked gorgeous with sand and rock marbles at the bottom.
Succulents come with the advantage of aesthetic beauty. They blend really well with each other and are well suited for indoor decors and centerpieces. You can choose the container in different sizes and shapes. This decides the arrangement or composition of the succulents for your terrarium. Be it a bowl or a glass terrarium, do not forget to water sporadically so that the soil is relatively dry.
While you deal with the succulent arrangement in a glass bowl, you can group plants as per their water needs. The topmost succulents that are prone to rot are cacti. They rarely need watering. Finer leaves succulents need a little more water so that you can club them together. If you are propagating from your existing succulent studio, keep
the following points in mind:
- Do the cutting of a leaf from the mother stem of the succulent. Please set it to dry for 2 days unless it gets callused.
- Keep the selected leaves of different succulents on the well-drained soil in the terrarium.
- Sprinkle water twice a week for three weeks.
- And Yay!! The roots are visible.
- You can then plant them in the glass bowl or the planter from the base of the leaf (where you can cut it from the stem).
If you want to start afresh, then you can follow these steps:
- Take the succulents out of the nursery pots.
- Break up the roots that help the plant to regrow itself. You can also pawn off the extra soil.
- Remove spent leaves from the plant and then place the plant in the prepared terrarium.
- Be observant when it comes to the soil level of the succulent and then compare it with the height of the bowl’s edge.
- Make sure it’s half an inch below the edge of the bowl. This creates room for the succulent to be watered.
- To maintain the soil level, remove additional soil from the bottom of the pot and not the top. This disturbs the root of the plant.
- Use a small paintbrush to brush away any potting soil on the edge of the bowl. You may also use it to brush away the soil on succulents.
- Finish the look by dripping water onto the leaves of the succulent. This will give a clean and fresh appeal to your terrarium.
Read also: How to Grow and Care for a Snake Plant.
Growing plants in glass bowls
If you have a small budget and wish to have a beautiful garden in your spare time, then planting in a glass bowl sounds like a wonderful idea. It adds a style component to the garden and can double as an accessory in the house or a showpiece.
Greenery suits any atmosphere or ambiance, be it contemporary or the modern look of any house or building.
The pot can be of any size available to you, and the plantation can be done as per your budget. You could create one using any of your old jars in your attic which are not in use anymore. You could turn even old glass bottles or some round old lamp covers into stunning plantations. You could even get some good deals at garage sales.
Plantation could be either in a closed environment (in a bowl with a lid ) or in an open one (without a lid). The open one would require more watering than the closed one as the water will dry out faster. So you can make your choice as per your convenience for watering the plants. This choice also depends on the plant being planted, as every plant needs a different environment. Some need dry soil, and some need a moist one to flourish.
Light and humidity also play an important factor in it. Plants that are short in height and slow-growing need less light.
Plantation in a terrarium comes with a lot of benefits. Following are some advantages of plantations in a glass bowl
- They consume less space and thus are a big boon for those living in small houses and flats that do not have a space for a garden but wish to be close to nature and bring in some greenery into their house.
- The level of humidity in closed glass bowls is high. Thus, you could grow plants that may not be otherwise be grown in low humidity levels.
- They are stress relievers and create a nice ambiance in the house and give peace of mind.
- They are a little ecosystem on their own and are fun planting activities for kids and adults.
- Most importantly, they need less maintenance and watering, so they are a good option for those with a tight day schedule.
One of the issues with the glass bowl plantation is to keep it in a safe place so that it doesn’t fall and break. Glass is delicate, so it needs to be handled with love and care. Another issue is that a glass bowl does not have a drainage system. So the waterlogged soil may happen to hamper the growth of the plant. It could even let it die. So watering needs a little more attention.
All in all, planting succulents and taking care of them is comparatively easier than other plants. It is a low-maintenance task. You get to choose amongst various succulents that come in many shapes, sizes, textures, and colors.
But most importantly, they seek less water, and also, the basic care methods on most varieties are the same. You can create your own terrarium now to decorate your space, or you can gift it to a loved one—no wonder why people gift plants to patients.
Plants and especially succulents are amazing options for gifts. This can bring beauty and positivity to you. The overall aesthetics of the home or the office can be increased with these self-contained, small-scale ecosystems.
Succulents beautifully placed in a transparent glass bowl are the alluring vision; they restore freshness and liveliness in the viewer. To retain the charm of your house with these homo-friendly succulents, try to take their proper care. Neglect in their care may result in the loss of their life.
With this guide, you now have all the essential information needed to care for your succulents in a glass bowl. I suggest you follow the simple steps and make a customized refreshing patio planter for yourself. Do not forget to water only when it’s dry. A little overcare could spoil the entire hard work you did to set this up.
Also read:
- Choosing Hanging Basket Plants For Each Season
- Here’s How to Pick the Perfect Succulent
- Are Succulents Good For Bedroom?
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