Showing posts with label jar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jar. Show all posts

Thursday 12 September 2013

The Plant Project: DIY

A week or so ago, I posted a blog about The Plant Project. I promised to tell how you can make one yourself, so here is the tutorial. First, I would like to explain how this whole thing works, i.e., how this plant can keep itself alive in such a small, isolated environment.

You may know a plant are autotrophic; they use photosynthesis to provide energy. All they need to do that, is water, carbon dioxide and sunlight. In this way, the plant makes oxygen and it's own nutrients, as well.
The plant in the jar also loses its leaves, just like any other plant does. Bacteria in the soil break this leaves down, using oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide. The plant also excretes water through it's stomata, which you can see on the inside of the jar. This 'rains' back down on the plant and the soil, creating a humidity of 100%. For the water can't go out of the jar, you never have to water the plant inside.

Enough talking! To work!

Things you need:
  • an empty jar (one you can close tightly)
  • gravel, marbles or potsherds
  • moist soil (potting soil/compost)
  • a small plant (already watered)
  • moist moss
Eventual:
  • twigs (I got mine from our apple tree)
  • dead leaves
  • earthworms

Start with the gravel. Put some gravel in the jar, just a small layer. It will prevent the plant from root rot, because redundant water can flow down and stay between the small stones (or marbles, or potsherds).


After that, add soil/compost. Make sure the layer is thick enough for the rootball of your plant. Do not push the soil, just throw it in the jar.


Make a hole in the soil and put the plant in it. Add some more soil when needed. Make sure the plant isn't too close to the glass, because the glass will get very moist when you close the jar.

Pick a piece of moss and put it on the soil. Close your jar and there is your very own ecosystem! But...


...there is more. I decided to experiment. I put some earthworms on top of the remaining surface, and put some dead leaves on it. Note: worms eat (dead) organic material and turn it into compost. I wonder if this little creatures will survive in my small, artificial world. They have oxygen, moist soil and food, so it may theoretically work... We shall see!

In the end, I decorated my jar with a twig from our apple tree (yes, I watched the worms, off course!) You can also use alder catkins, small stones or pine cones for decoration



Any questions about this tutorial or one of my other posts? Do not hesitate and leave a comment or use the contact form on the right.

Monday 26 August 2013

The Plant Project



About seven months ago, I read about the 'ecosystem in a jar'. Curious as I am, I went to investigate the whole phenomenon and decided to try to make one myself.

The intention is that you create a balanced ecosystem in an enclosed environment (like earth, actually). That may sound easy, but it is quite a challenge. When you put too much water in the jar, the plant will rot and die, but when you put too little water in it, the plant will die, too. When the soil you use is in a poorly state, your plant will die of nutrient shortage, and so on.

Until now, two jars survived. The smallest one was the 'test jar'. After I made the plan, I took a small jar to find out if it worked. 

I put a plant cutting of a Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) in the jar, together with some moss, and added a small amount of water. After a few weeks, the small plant had grown and the moss was greener then when I put it in the jar. It worked!


This is the jar I created after the 'test jar'. I put a small Sword Fern (Nephrolepsis) in it, together with a mossy branch, moss and alder catkins. As you can see on the label, I closed it in february this year, so that is six months ago. In the meantime, I only opened the jar to smell the musty scent of wet soil. From now on, I will try to never open the jar again, and see what happens.

On the left, the jar just after I arranged it. On the right, the jar it is now.


This is the jar I made today. The previous jar with moss in the lead, flourished about four months. Because one of the pieces started to rot, I removed some water out of the jar and removed the rotten piece of moss. One week later, I added another piece of moss,. Within a week, all the moss was covered with a thick layer of mold. Big lesson: never change something in a balanced ecosystem.

I digress. This jar contains two types of moss, a stone (for decoration), three small twigs (from our apple tree) and a few dried apple leaves. I am very curious about what will happen to the leaves; will they compost, because of the soil and moist? Or isn't it moist enough to rot, and will they just stay there?




 This was my blogpost for today. In the next one, I will explain how the plants survive in the secluded environment. 

Do you have an idea for a blog post, something you would like to know about plants, animals, the things I do? Feel free to leave a comment or use the contact form on the right to send me a message.