Not much to report. Was kind of expecting to see some casualties thus far. There’s one amphipod carcass that’s been there since the second day. Still need to go get some water test strips.

Both are 2 liters, tightly sealed. I've been opening them once every few days to balance moisture, but I'm planning to leave them sealed. Different rocks for drainage and different types of soil for substrate. First one started over a month before, so the second may look less mature in comparison

Jarrarium #1: polka dot plant, a little random thorned plant from my front yard and white springtails

Jarrarium #2: peperomia argyria, moss and white isopods (trichonina tormentosa)

Do I need to do water changes for something like this? The water is very clear. A few bladder snails are loving life. Working on names for them. The scuds cleared all the film off the plants. I added a few more of the same and plant from the ditch. I think the long worms are earthworms. Not sure if they can survive in this jar. No idea what the tiny red worms are, but seems like they will survive. There’s a lot of activity, it’s really cool.

It’s been about 24 hours since I started the jar. The water has cleared up nice. So far I’ve seen snails, amphipods, two types of worms, and lots of tiny creatures. I’m thinking about adding one more of those plants from the ditch, but not sure if I should wait and see how this one does.

Scooped up some silt and water from the ditch next to where I live. About 24 hours later and the water has really cleared up. Lots of activity!

Scooped up some silt and water from the ditch next to where I live. Added one of the plants from the ditch to the jar. Will be updating daily. Anybody know what kind of plant that is?

The first photo is my Jarrarium the day it was sealed on Oct 11, 2020. All local plants and moss. The next 2 photos are the same jar after being completely sealed for 6 years!

So, I got a 1.5 gallon tank (sorry it's not a jar) as a hospice for a friends betta that was on his last days. Now, I'm trying to find a way to utilize it for something happier. I was thinking of maybe using it for shrimp or snails, but I have no idea where to start. Any helpful tips or tricks? Any idea what plants to start? Any ideas for someone else living that I can utilize it for?

I just wanted to share some more recent pictures of this jar, which features only "primitive" plants that closely resemble their ancestors from the Carboniferous period. The last image is how it looked on the first night, before I had added any moss. I planted this jar with two types of fern, several types of moss, and a horsetail. Sadly, the horsetail died, but one of the ferns is growing quickly. The other fern has stayed small, but still has some green leaves. The moss is doing well aside from some yellowed bits. I see a lot of what I think are tiny white springtails, and some small flies. I thought I saw a tiny baby snail, but I'm not sure. I added a few very small millipedes, and I have only seen one of them since. I know they like leaf litter and high moisture, so this jar should be alright for them. I'm hoping they're just hiding in the dirt, under dead leaves, or in the pieces of rotting wood I found them in. I have opened the jar multiple times to tinker with things, but I plan on soon leaving it closed for a long time and seeing how it does as a totally enclosed system.

Collected from Houghton, MI

Introducing Glass Jar Garden, a terrarium builder and simulator that lets to build jars, scape terrain, add soil and filters, setup moss and plants, care routines and more.

Seal it and let it run in realtime!

It simulates aspects of closed ecosystem i.e. water cycle, water absorbs in soil, losses through venting, beads on glass.

Leaves from plant fall, becoming food for critter or if not taken care of, become a source for mold!

Soil has pH, absorption, retention

49 real plants and 31 mosses species to chose from, each having its own thriving conditions, rate of growth etc

Critters like springtail multiply and feed on fallen leaves, keeping the terrarium clean

Creative mode allows not to worry and just play around with beautiful builds.

Change speed from realtime to 1 day/second. Share links to your friend and they can watch your terrarium grow in realtime too!

Create timelapse of years worth of growth in seconds!

Sharing on one of my build.

try it out! Will love to hear feedback from community, if any mechanic is missing, or if you need any feature. I have simulated over 200k terrariums to get that perfect balance.

Cheers!

try it out! Will love to hear feedback from community, if any mechanic is missing, or if you need any feature. I have simulated over 200k terrariums to get that perfect balance.

Cheers!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share a quick upcycled weekend project. I decided to turn an old clear plastic bottle into a mini closed eco-bottle terrarium.

The Build Details:

* Enclosure: Standard recycled clear soda/juice bottle with the screw cap left on to maintain a closed water cycle.

* Layers: Built a proper drainage foundation at the base using small red lava rocks, topped with a sphagnum moss barrier, and standard tropical soil mix.

* Flora: Featured a tiny Fittonia (nerve plant) cut down to size alongside a small accent slate stone and a little green hitchhiker vine that seems to enjoy the humidity!

It’s already holding a great condensation cycle and sitting nicely under my desktop grow light.

Let me know what you think of using recycled plastic, or if you have any tips on controlling the vining growth inside a narrow bottleneck footprint!

Found a massive 12 gallon bowl that just begged to come home with me . Initially planting 10/4 , I’ll post an update once it’s settled more , it’s home to moss and springtails and that’s it

Some bubbles are pushing to the surface still.

Hey everyone,

I am really interested in making a self-sustaining ecosystem in a jar but I have never made one before so I was wondering if anyone would be able to give any tips/ advice or directions on how to do this properly to someone who has never done this before.

I was wanting to make one with water and one with no water and I just really don't know where to start.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can give help! :)