Terrarium Facts For Sleep

Perfect for winding down, this bedtime read takes you on a slow, dirt-level journey through the surprisingly meticulous world of terrariums. If miniature glass ecosystems don’t put you to sleep, the Latin plant names probably will. A calm, relaxing choice for insomnia relief and fans of low-stakes greenery.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you learn a little and sleep a lot.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And tonight let's fall asleep learning about terrariums.

A terrarium,

Plural terraria or terrariums,

Is a glass container containing soil and plants in an environment different from the surroundings.

It is usually a sealable container that can be opened for maintenance or to access the plants inside.

However,

Terraria can also be opened to the atmosphere.

They are often kept as ornamental items.

A closed terrarium's transparent walls allow heat and light to enter,

Creating a very favorable environment for plant growth.

Heat entering the sealed container allows the creation of a small water cycle due to evaporating moisture from the soil and plants.

The water vapor then condenses onto the walls of the container,

Eventually falling back onto the plants and soil below.

Light passing through the transparent walls allows photosynthesis.

Open terraria are not sealed and are better suited to plants requiring a more arid environment.

The first terrarium was created by botanist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in 1842.

Ward had an interest in observing insect behavior and accidentally left one of his jars unattended.

A fern spore in the jar grew and germinated into a plant,

Becoming the first known terrarium.

The trend quickly spread in the Victorian era amongst the English.

Instead of the terrarium,

It was known as the Wardian Case.

Ward hired carpenters to build his Wardian Cases to export native British plants to Sydney,

Australia.

After months of travel,

The plants arrived well and thriving.

Likewise,

Plants from Australia sent to London using the same method were received by Ward in pristine condition.

His experiment indicated plants can be sealed without ventilation and continue thriving.

Wardian Cases were used for many decades by Kew Gardens to ship plants around the British Empire and were also used during European colonization of Africa to bring African goods like spices and coffee back to Europe.

Terraria are typically classified into two categories,

Closed and open.

Closed terraria are sealed shut with a lid,

Door,

Or cork.

Open terraria have access to fresh air,

Most commonly by leaving the container open or through a hole drilled into the container.

Tropical plant varieties such as moss,

Orchids,

Ferns,

And air plants are generally kept within closed terraria to replicate their native,

Humid,

Sheltered environment in the tropics.

Keeping the terrarium sealed allows for circulation of water,

Making the terrarium self-sufficient.

The terrarium may be opened once a week,

Allowing evaporation of excess moisture from the air and walls of the container to prevent growth of mold or algae,

Which may damage plants and discolor the sides of the terrarium.

Springtails may be used to consume mold or fungi within the terrarium.

Any wilting plants or absence of condensation on the walls of the terrarium indicates the terrarium requires water.

Watering is primarily done using a spray bottle.

Closed terrariums benefit from specific soil mixes to ensure ideal growing conditions and reduce risk of microbial damage.

A common medium used is peatlite,

A mixture of peat moss,

Vermiculite,

And perlite.

The mixture should be sterile to minimize risk of introducing potentially harmful microbes to the terrarium.

Not all plants require or are suited to the moist environment of closed terraria.

Open terraria are better suited for plants,

Preferring less humidity and soil moisture,

Such as temperate plants and plants adapted to dry climates.

Open terraria also work well for plants requiring more but not direct sunlight,

As closed terraria can trap excess heat,

Potentially killing the plants inside.

While open terraria require more watering than closed terraria,

They have reduced risk of disease due to their lower humidity.

An open terrarium should not be confused with a dish garden.

A terrarium,

Even open,

Allows for increased humidity compared to the environment outside the structure.

Whereas a dish garden does not provide additional humidity.

Due to the transparent walls of terraria,

Causing magnification of the sun's rays,

Terraria cannot be placed in direct sunlight because the intense light will cause foliage to burn.

A dish garden can tolerate direct sun,

As long as it is planted with full sun-tolerant plants.

Succulents and cacti are better suited for a dish garden than a terrarium,

Because dish gardens allow succulents and cacti to be placed in the full sun they require without burning.

A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside.

There are different types of greenhouses,

But they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass and block it as heat.

The most common materials used in modern greenhouses for walls and roofs are rigid plastic made of polycarbonate,

Plastic film made of polyethylene,

Or glass panes.

When the inside of a greenhouse is exposed to sunlight,

The temperature increases,

Providing a sheltered environment for plants to grow,

Even in cold weather.

The terms greenhouse,

Glasshouse,

And hothouse are often used interchangeably to refer to buildings used for cultivating plants.

The specific term used depends on the material and heating system used in the building.

Nowadays,

Greenhouses are more commonly constructed with a variety of materials,

Such as wood and polyethylene plastic.

A glasshouse,

On the other hand,

Is a traditional type of greenhouse made only of glass panes that allow light to enter.

The term hothouse indicates that a greenhouse is artificially heated.

However,

Both heated and unheated structures can generally be classified as greenhouses.

Greenhouses can range in size,

From small sheds to industrial-sized buildings and enormous glasshouses.

The smallest example is a miniature greenhouse known as a cold frame,

Typically used at home,

Whereas large commercial greenhouses are high-tech production facilities for vegetables,

Flowers,

Or fruits.

The glass greenhouses are filled with equipment,

Including screening installations,

Heating,

Cooling,

And lighting,

And may be controlled by a computer to optimize conditions for plant growth.

Different techniques are then used to manage growing conditions,

Including air temperature,

Relative humidity,

And vapor pressure deficit,

In order to provide the optimum environment for cultivation of a specific crop.

Before the development of greenhouses,

Agricultural practices were constrained to weather conditions.

According to the Climatic Zone of Communities,

People were limited to a select range of species and time of the year in which they could grow plants.

Yet,

Around 30 CE,

The Roman Empire built the first recorded attempt of an artificial environment.

Due to Emperor Tiberius's declining health,

The royal physicians recommended that the emperor eat one cucumber a day.

Cucumbers,

However,

Are quite tender plants and do not grow easily year-round.

Therefore,

The Romans designed an artificial environment,

Like a greenhouse,

To have cucumbers available for the emperor all year.

Cucumbers were planted in wheeled carts,

Which were put in the sun daily,

Then taken inside to keep them warm at night.

The cucumbers were stored under frames,

Or in cucumber houses,

Glazed with either oiled cloth,

Known as specularia,

Or with sheets of selenite,

Aka lapis specularis,

According to the description by Pliny the Elder.

The next biggest breakthrough in greenhouse design came from Korea in the 15th century,

During the Joseon Dynasty.

In the 1450s,

Sun-I-Jun described the first artificially heated greenhouse in his manuscript called Sang-a-Yorak.

Sun-I-Jun was a physician to the royal family,

And Sang-a-Yorak was intended to be the first nobility with important agricultural and housekeeping knowledge.

Within the section of agricultural techniques,

Sun-I-Jun wrote how to build a greenhouse that was able to cultivate vegetables and other plants in the winter.

The Korean design adds an andal system to the structure.

An andal is a Korean heating system used in domestic spaces,

Which runs a flue pipe from a heat source underneath the flooring.

In addition to the andal,

A cauldron filled with water was also heated to create steam and increase the temperature and humidity in the greenhouse.

These Korean greenhouses were the first active greenhouses that controlled the temperature rather than only relying on energy from the sun.

The design still included passive heating methods,

Such as semi-transparent oil hanji windows to capture light and cob walls to retain heat,

But the furnace provided extra control over the artificial environment.

The annals of the Joseon dynasty confirm that greenhouse-like structures,

Incorporating andal,

Were constructed to provide heat for mandarin orange trees during the winter of 1438.

The concept of greenhouses also appeared in the Netherlands and then England in the 17th century,

Along with the plants.

Some of these early attempts required enormous amounts of work to close up at night or to winterize.

There were serious problems with providing adequate and balanced heat in those early greenhouses.

The first stove-heated greenhouse in the UK was completed at Chelsea Physic Garden by 1681.

Today,

The Netherlands has many of the largest greenhouses in the world,

Some of them so vast that they are able to produce millions of vegetables every year.

Experimentation with greenhouse design continued during the 17th century in Europe,

As technology produced better glass and construction techniques improved.

The greenhouse at the Palace of Versailles was an example of their size and elaborateness.

It was more than 150 meters long,

13 meters wide,

And 14 meters high.

Andrew Faneuil,

A prosperous Boston merchant,

Built the first American greenhouse in 1737.

When returning to Mount Vernon after the war,

George Washington learned of the greenhouse built at the Carroll Estate of Mount Clare,

Maryland.

It was designed by Margaret Tilghman Carroll,

An industrious gardener who cultivated citrus trees in this orangery.

In 1784,

Washington wrote,

Requesting details about the design of her greenhouse,

And she complied.

Washington wrote,

I shall essay the finishing of my greenhouse this fall,

But find that neither myself nor any person about me is so well skilled in the internal constructions as to proceed without a probability at least of running into errors.

Shall I,

For this reason,

Ask the favor of you to give me a short description of the greenhouse,

Said Mrs.

Carrolls.

I am persuaded now that I planned mine on too contracted a scale.

My house is of brick 40 feet by 24 in the outer dimensions.

The French botanist Charles-Lucien Bonaparte is often credited with building the first practical modern greenhouse in Leiden,

Holland,

During the 1800s to grow medicinal tropical plants.

Originally only on the estates of the rich,

The growth of the science of botany caused greenhouses to spread to the universities.

The French called their first greenhouses orangeries,

Since they were used to protect orange trees from freezing.

As pineapples became popular,

Pineries or pineapple pits were built.

The largest greenhouses yet conceived were constructed in England during the Victorian era.

As a direct result of colonial expansion,

The purpose of glasshouses changed from agriculture to horticulture.

The accelerated transfer of plants and horticultural knowledge between colonies contributed to the Victorian fascination with exotic plants environments.

Glasshouses became spectacles to entertain the general public.

Accurated environments in glasshouses aim to capture the western imagination of an idealized landscape and support the fantasy of the cultural other.

As a consequence,

The collection of plants are believed to be true reflections of the world.

Yet are actually stereotypical arrangements of exotic plants,

To symbolize exactly where British colonies are and how far their authority reaches.

To uphold British hegemony,

Glasshouses became arguments of colonial power,

Which flaunt the absolute control of colonized environments and flora using plants as a symbol of British imperial power.

A prominent design from the 19th century were glasshouses with sufficient height for sizable trees,

Called palm houses.

These were normally in public gardens or parks and exemplified the 19th century development of glass and iron architecture.

This technology was widely used in railway stations,

Markets,

Exhibition halls,

And other large buildings that needed large open internal area.

One of the earliest examples of a palm house is in the Belfast Botanic Gardens.

Designed by Charles Lanyon,

The building was completed in 1840.

It was constructed by iron maker Richard Turner,

Who would later build the Palm House Kew Gardens at the Royal Botanic Gardens,

Kew,

London in 1848.

This came shortly after the Chatsworth Great Conservatory,

1837-40,

And shortly before the Crystal Palace,

1851,

Both designed by Joseph Paxton,

And both now lost.

Other large greenhouses built in the 19th century included the New York Crystal Palace,

Munich's Glaspalast,

And the Royal Greenhouses of Laken,

1874-1895,

For King Leopold II of Belgium.

In Japan,

The first greenhouse was built in 1880 by Samuel Cocking,

A British merchant who exported herbs.

In the 20th century,

The Geodesic Dome was added to the many types of greenhouses.

Notable examples are the Eden Project in Cornwall,

The Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania,

The Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St.

Louis,

Missouri,

And Toyota Motor Manufacturing,

Kentucky.

The Pyramid is another popular shape for large,

High greenhouses.

There are several pyramidal greenhouses at the Mud Art Conservatory in Alberta,

Circa 1976.

Greenhouse structures adapted in the 1960s when wider sheets of polyethylene film became widely available.

Hoophouses were made by several companies,

And were also frequently made by the growers themselves.

Constructed of aluminum extrusions,

Special galvanized steel tubing,

Or even just lengths of steel or PVC water pipe,

Construction costs were greatly reduced.

This resulted in many more greenhouses being constructed on smaller farms and garden centers.

Polyethylene film durability increased greatly when more effective UV inhibitors were developed and added in the 1970s.

These extended the usable life of the film from one or two years,

Up to three and eventually four or more years.

Gutter-connected greenhouses became more prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s.

These greenhouses have two or more bays connected by a common wall,

Or row of support posts.

Heating inputs were reduced as the ratio of floor area to exterior wall area was increased substantially.

Gutter-connected greenhouses are now commonly used both in production and in situations where plants are grown and sold to the public as well.

Gutter-connected greenhouses are commonly covered with structured polycarbonate materials,

Or a double layer of polyethylene film with air blown between to provide increased heating efficiencies.

The warmer temperature in a greenhouse occurs because incident solar radiation passes through the transparent roof and walls and is absorbed by the floor,

Earth,

And contents which become warmer.

These in turn warm up the surrounding air within the greenhouse.

As the structure is not open to the atmosphere,

The warmed air cannot escape via convection due to the presence of roof and walls,

So the temperature inside the greenhouse rises.

Window glasses are practically transparent for short-wave infrared radiation emitted by the sun,

But almost opaque for long-wave radiation emitted by objects in the room.

Quantitative studies suggest that the effect of infrared radiative cooling is not negligibly small and may have economic implications in a heated greenhouse.

Analysis of issues of near-infrared radiation in a greenhouse with screens of a high coefficient of reflection concluded that installation of such screens reduced heat demand by about 8%,

And application of dyes to transparent surfaces was suggested.

Composite,

Less reflective glass,

Or less effective but cheaper anti-reflective coated simple glass also produced savings.

Ventilation is one of the most important components in a successful greenhouse.

If there's no proper ventilation,

Greenhouses and their growing plants can become prone to problems.

The main purpose of ventilation is to regulate the temperature and humidity to the optimal level and to ensure movement of air and thus prevent the buildup of plant pathogens that prefer still air conditions.

Ventilation also ensures a supply of fresh air for photosynthesis and plant respiration and may enable important pollinators to access the greenhouse crop.

Ventilation can be achieved via the use of vents,

Often controlled automatically via computer,

And recirculation fans.

Heating or electricity is one of the most considerable costs in the operation of greenhouses across the globe,

Especially in colder climates.

The main problem with heating a greenhouse,

As opposed to a building that has solid opaque walls,

Is the amount of heat lost through the greenhouse covering.

Since the coverings need to allow light to filter into the structure,

They conversely cannot insulate very well.

With traditional plastic greenhouse coverings having an R-value of around 2,

A great amount of money is therefore spent to continually replace the heat lost.

Most greenhouses,

When supplemental heat is needed,

Use natural gas or electric furnaces.

Passive heating methods exist which seek heat using low energy input.

Solar energy can be captured from periods of relative abundance,

Daytime and summer,

And released to boost the temperature during cooler periods,

Like nighttime and winter.

Waste heat from the livestock can be used to heat greenhouses,

E.

G.

Placing a chicken coop inside a greenhouse recovers the heat generated by the chickens,

Which would otherwise be wasted.

Some greenhouses also rely on geothermal heating.

Cooling is typically done by opening windows in the greenhouse when it gets too warm for the plants inside it.

This can be done manually or in an automated manner.

Window actuators can open windows due to temperature difference,

Or can be opened by electronic controllers.

Electronic controllers are often used to monitor the temperature and adjust the furnace operation to the conditions.

This can be as simple as a basic thermostat,

But can be more complicated in larger greenhouse operations.

For very hot situations,

A shade house providing cooling by shade may be used.

During the day,

Light enters the greenhouse via the windows and is used by the plants.

Some greenhouses are also equipped with grow lights,

Often LED lights,

Which are switched on at night to increase the amount of light that is emitted.

The benefits of carbon dioxide enrichment to about 1,

100 parts per million in greenhouse cultivation to enhance plant growth has been known for nearly 100 years.

After the development of equipment for the controlled serial enrichment of carbon dioxide,

The technique was established on a broad scale in the Netherlands.

Secondary metabolites,

E.

G.

Cardiac glycosides and digitalis lanata,

Are produced in higher amounts by greenhouse cultivation at enhanced temperature and at enhanced carbon dioxide concentration.

Carbon dioxide enrichment can also reduce greenhouse water usage by a significant fraction by mitigating the total airflow needed to supply adequate carbon for plant growth and thereby reducing the quantity of water loss to evaporation.

Commercial greenhouses are now frequently located near appropriate industrial facilities for mutual benefit.

For example,

Cornerways Nursery in the UK is strategically placed near a major sugar refinery,

Consuming both waste heat and CO2 from the refinery,

Which would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere.

The refinery reduces its carbon emissions whilst the nursery enjoys boosted tomato yields and does not need to provide its own greenhouse heating.

Enrichment only becomes effective where,

By Liebig's law,

Carbon dioxide has become the limiting factor.

In a controlled greenhouse,

Irrigation may be trivial and soils may be fertile by default.

In less controlled gardens and open fields,

Rising CO2 levels only increase primary production to the point of soil depletion,

Assuming no droughts,

Flooding,

Or both,

As demonstrated prima facie by CO2 levels continuing to rise.

In addition,

Laboratory experiments,

Free air carbon enrichment,

Face test plots,

And field measurements provide replicability.

In domestic greenhouses,

The glass used is typically 3mm horticultural glass grade,

Which is good quality glass that should not contain air bubbles,

Which can produce scorching on leaves by acting like lenses.

Plastics mostly used are polyethylene film and multi-wall sheets of polycarbonate material,

Or PMMA acrylic glass.

Commercial glass greenhouses are often high-tech production facilities for vegetables or flowers.

The glass greenhouses are filled with equipment such as screening installations,

Heating,

Cooling,

And lighting,

And may be automatically controlled by a computer.

In the UK and other northern European countries,

A pane of horticultural glass,

Referred to as Dutch Light,

Was historically used as a standard unit of construction,

Having dimensions of 28 3⁄4 inches by 56 inches.

This size gives a larger glazed area when compared with using smaller panes,

Such as the 600mm widths typically used in modern domestic designs,

Which then require more supporting framework for a given overall greenhouse size.

A style of greenhouse having sloped sides,

Resulting in a wider base than at eave's height,

And using these panes uncut,

Is also often referred to as Dutch Light design,

And a cold frame using a full or half pane as being of Dutch or half Dutch size.

Reviews

👌👌👌 excellent choice of subject! Interesting but not enough to keep me awake....