How To Make a Pitcher Plant Terrarium

Don’t you just love nature? The greeneries around you enlightens you, giving you a kick start as morning comes. Well, wouldn’t you just wish you could see them first thing as you open your eyes? If you do, we suggest making yourself a terrarium. The variety of plants differ from micro plants to marine plants as there are many different species. However, here specifically, we will be teaching you how you could make your own pitcher plant terrarium. Having a carnivorous terrarium certainly will impress your friends and double up as a pest control. 

This article will explain or discuss:

• What items you need to make your own homemade pitcher plant terrarium
• Feeding your plant
• Pitcher plant care

Let’s get started. Here are the items you need to build  your Pitcher Plant Terrarium

• A Container – Depending on  your location and plant
• Mixing Soil  – No nutrient soil
• Moss – to absorb nutrients
• Rainwater Collector – Don’t use normal water
• Led Lighting – Bright, indirect lights
• Terrarium Humidifier –  -60% + humidify level

Items You Need to Make Your Pitcher Plant Terrarium

Container

Having the right container is relatively significant when you are making your pitcher plant terrarium. Depending on your preference, there are many different sizes of containers you can use to make your terrarium. If you plan to make a self -sustaining ecosystem for your pitcher plant, it is best to get a Terrarium Bubble Bowl. They are not only the perfect size for a small aquarium, but they can also be an excellent fit for wedding centrepieces and home terrariums. The most simple and common decorations are always the most attractive. 

The curves of the bowl bend the light that shines upon it. As if the glass isolates the outside world from what is inside. This simple design is somewhat mystical as it shields what lies within, yet also showing the treasures to all who look inside.

With the unique look of the Terrarium Bowl, It attracts many event designers to use as the centrepiece, with the design of the vase. Decors know that it will irresistibly draw the viewer’s attention to have an obligation to look at what is on the inside.

On the other hand, if you plan to go for something much smaller, some great options are glass globes or fish bowls. These containers would be much smaller compared to the fish tanks previously mentioned. As for this one, it would be unlikely for it to be self-sustaining due to the lack of certain criteria; however, it does act as an excellent decorative.

Mixing Soil

This is a reasonably important part when building your pitcher plant terrarium. Unlike most plants that love nutrient-rich soil, pitcher plants, however, loathe them. Too much nutrient in the soil is actually deadly to the plant. To identify the soil, always make sure that there aren’t added fertilizers that are mixed into the ingredients. If you are unsure, always ask the person selling for more information.

If you want to do it manually, that is fine too. You can always consider growing moss in the pitcher plant terrarium for it to absorb the nutrients. When you plant your pitcher plant in your terrarium, the mosses will then compete with the pitcher plant.

Once your soil is perfectly balanced, simply plant your pitcher plant into the soil which you have prepared.

Watering

Unlike many other plants, the pitcher plant is a particular species. Instead of high mineral water, it wants quite the opposite. This will overly enrich the soil and cause it to die off. Rainwater will be the best solution for it as it is in its purest form. However, if you are unable to obtain rainwater, you could always buy demineralizing equipment to demineralize the water. For easy usage, you can purchase Demineralized Water easily. 

If your area rains often and would prefer natural rainwater, we recommend Oatey 14209 Mystic Rainwater Collection System  because it

• Directs rainwater from downspouts into collection barrels for re-use in lawn/garden watering
• Fits standard 2″ x 3″ residential downspouts

Lighting

Usually, when we build a terrarium, you would expect it to be further away from the direct sun. This is to reduce the amount of water loss in the terrarium. However, for a pitcher plant terrarium, this isn’t the case. If you didn’t know, all carnivorous plant love direct sunlight exposure. Of course, too much light is still an issue. Hence most people purchase grow lights to control the amount of sunlight provided to the plants. One of the better lighting for pitcher terrarium will be the LED Grow Light for Indoor Plant
Do not leave your plant in the dark, they get scared and will not like it. 

• Sunlight Full Spectrum: 3 Heads indoor plant light brighter than other plant grow light and lower heat. High performance and efficient features make your plants grow faster and healthier, promote photosynthesis, increase growth rate, and ideal for all stages of plant growth.
• Upgraded Timing & Auto Turn On/off Function: Look no further, this is the best plant growing lamp! Two-way memory timing function.3/6/12 hours timer setting options according to plant needs. Set up once and it will turn on and off automatically EVERY DAY!
• 5 level dimming & 3 switch modes: You can adjust the brightness to suit varied stages of plant growth, and 3 Switch Modes A Light On, B Light On and Both Light On. High quality led chips (50,000 hours lifetime), the wave of the light from 400nm to 840nm. Suitable for both home & office.
• Three Flexible LED Goosenecks: 360-degree flexible gooseneck with a clip that can easily adjust the angle and distance, which enlarge the illumination area and provided more efficient lighting for more plants.Suitable for both home & office.A great option for indoor garden enthusiasts for high quality and good harvest.
• Widely Used：This Grow lamp has a larger lighting area that is suitable for the whole growth circle. Perfect for pitcher plant

Feeding Your Plant

This would be one of the most manageable parts of maintaining your pitcher plant terrarium. As a carnivorous plant, it is no surprise that these plants need external nutrients to survive. By right, you shouldn’t need to intentionally catch flies or mosquitoes just to feed your pitcher plant. The sweet nectar produced by it will automatically attract these insects and trap them inside. The insects are then digested in it. 

However, let’s say that you live indoors and are unable to provide an open food source for it. There are two options which you may choose. The first being catching flies manually. This is actually really tedious work which is why we recommend going for option two, which is fertilizing your pitcher plant.

You may be thinking, didn’t we mention how nutrient soil is harmful to carnivorous plants? Well, provided that there aren’t any external sources of nutrient, fertilizing it once a few weeks will not harm it. Just make sure you have moss to balance up by taking up all the nutrients. Oh yeah, do not ever feed these precious plants with human food – they are not made for hamburgers. If you do feed them with human food, it will cause fungal and bacteria growth and the plant will wither and die.

Pitcher Plant Care

If you want to ensure that your pitcher plants turn out healthily, temperature management should be enforced. They need to be high humidity since they are from South East Asia where constant rain and sunshine is common. Also do not soak them in water. Give them +60% humidifier and I recommend buying this terrarium humidifier. 

Since you are making a pitcher plant terrarium, you are required to grow it in temperatures around 16 to 21-degree celsius. You can fertilize it during the start of the growing season. After that, refrain from doing so until the next growing season to prevent nutrient overdose. If somehow you decide to place your pitcher plant terrarium outdoors, just make sure that the location you put your terrarium isn’t directly under the sun throughout the day. One solution is by placing it towards the west side of your house. This way, the sunlight wouldn’t be as harmful as from the west.