Cody's Lab recently put together a sealed terrarium meant to emulate the conditions of the Carboniferous period, and although it's going to be slow going I am still excited to see how it progresses.
A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
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Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#152Did anyone try introduce an animal in such a closed system, insects for instance. Does it self sustain ?
How about humans:
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#153Any one know what sort of jar that is? and/or where to buy one? Edit: its called a demijohn if anyone else was curious, used for making wine
They're also called, or very similar to, "carboys". Google says they're called "jimmy johns" in USA, but I've no knowledge of that.
They're also called carboys in the US. Nice brewing shops will have a variety of sizes and shapes to choose from.
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#154Did anyone try introduce an animal in such a closed system, insects for instance. Does it self sustain ?
I saw a shop selling these once: https://www.ecospheres.co.uk/ . They contain small marine shrimp, and "The only care the sphere requires is a source of indirect natural or artificial light" and they "have an average life expectancy of 2-3 years however it is not uncommon for them to survive for 7 to 10 years"[0]. [0] https://www.ecospheres.co.uk/what-is-an-ecosphere/
If you read up on this, you'll find a lot of not-very-nice things said about ecospheres.
The shrimp inside are ʻōpaeʻula [0] which evolved to live in volcanic tide pools filled by rainwater. Sort of a feast or famine environment where the salinity and nutrients available are very volatile. Because of that, the shrimp have evolved to handle a wide range of temperatures, salinity, and scarcity of food.
The latter means they can go surprisingly long without sufficient food without realizing it. In other words, there's a good chance (according to some) that the shrimp in your ecosphere are actually slowly starving to death and aren't in anything approaching a stable ecosystem.
(Also, they aren't brine shrimp, which are an entirely different class of animal.)
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#155I'm sceptical about the sealed part. Anybody having Tradescantia fluminensis knows that is a very easy plant to grow. It stores water in its stems so is relatively dry resistant, but it grows unlimited unless you clip it. So either there is some kind of autoprune system in the bottle, or somebody is opening the seal and clipping it. In that case there is a external source of water in the air in form of vapor. > Did a…
Does someone need to clip it if it runs into glass?
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#156I'm sceptical about the sealed part. Anybody having Tradescantia fluminensis knows that is a very easy plant to grow. It stores water in its stems so is relatively dry resistant, but it grows unlimited unless you clip it. So either there is some kind of autoprune system in the bottle, or somebody is opening the seal and clipping it. In that case there is a external source of water in the air in form of vapor. > Did a…
I have several terrariums and the plants self-limit when they hit the glass. I have never needed to prune or trim them. When they get too dense they start dying back from moisture issues, and it self-regulates into a pretty stable loop.
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#157I just don't think there is enough evidence to believe his story.
People have been building terraria for centuries. You can buy all shapes and sizes in stores, some with fish. Though the fish ones probably don't last after the fish dies. Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline.
Terminology pedantry since I recently got in "jarrariums" and have been reading a bunch...
Most terraria are not sealed, so while we've been making them forever, that doesn't say much about the viability of sealed ones. As far as I know, research into closed ecosystems didn't start until the 20th century.
If it has fish in it, it's not a terrarium. Terraria are land-based (hence the name). Think garden in a box. The main thing a terrarium gives you over simply potting some plants is that it can increase the local humidity. Also, you can have animals in it (usually invertebrates that eat detritus), which helps it be lower-maintainance.
If it's full of water, it's an aquarium (again hence the name). Most aquaria today don't have living plants and only have animals. That requires mechanical filtration and oxygenation to replicate the side of the ecosystem that plants normally occupy. A "planted tank" is an aquarium with live plants in it. When balanced well, they can be lower maintainance because the plants and animals provide things the other need.
If the box is half-submerged with both aquatic and land-based life, it's a "paludarium".
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because someone who doesn't know better might think it needs to be opened and watered.
Because biological growth increases the number of cells, and more cells need more water to survive than less cells.
Yes, and then what happens when they don't get more water?
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#159I just don't think there is enough evidence to believe his story.
People have been building terraria for centuries. You can buy all shapes and sizes in stores, some with fish. Though the fish ones probably don't last after the fish dies. Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline.
>Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline.
I've come to realize this is true, but why?
Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're also called, or very similar to, "carboys". Google says they're called "jimmy johns" in USA, but I've no knowledge of that.
demijohn are a bottle in a wicker wrapping. Once you get to large glass bottles like this breakage is real issue so it makes sense to wrap them so they can be moved with less chance of breakage. Note that if you do build one of these, be VERY careful moving them as they can break with a small slip and the large pieces of glass can easily cut tendons, leading to lots of long term issues.
Demijohn is just a large glass bottle in en-gb usage, usually with straight sides and circular handles, holding just under 5 litres. Example: https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-demijohn-container-glass-4....