DIY Crystal Succulent garden - beautiful tabletop centerpiece

I love all kind of plants both indoors and outdoors, especially Succulents. I have a lot of different Succulent species at home and from time to time I like to make different home decor arrangements or Succulent gardens as they are called. Last week I decide to combine two of my passions Crystals and Succulents and show it here. So here it is, my miniature Crystal Succulent garden :)

If you wish to know how to make your own Succulent garden see my previous tutorial post with DIY instruction!

Eventually these little cuties will grow, divide, produce babies and they will need to be re-potted into a bigger bowl so they can look like this :)

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DIY tutorial Marimo moss ball mini aquarium with sea treasures

I have always liked to collect seashells and sea glass from every beach that I’ve been (and now my daughter brings home even more things from the beach than I ever did). So if you are like me and have a lot of sea treasures just laying around perhaps this DIY could be something for you :)

I’ve recently found the cutest little plants, algae actually, that looked so adorable I just couldn’t resist buying one. They called Marimo moss balls, although technically they are not moss but algae. Since I don’t have a real size aquarium at home and I’m not planning to get one, I decided to make a miniature aquarium that doesn’t require much care.

So here is a DIY instruction on how to make your own pretty mini aquarium or water terrarium containing Marimo moss ball and your own collected beach treasures.

Supplies – glass container/bowl/vase of your choice, sand or aquarium gravel, marimo ball, sea treasures of your choice: shells, beach glass, drift wood etc… 

 Step 1: First, add a layer of sand or gravel to the bottom of your container

Step 2: Fill the container with water and start adding your beach treasures. Arrange them any way you'd like.

 Step 3: Add Marimo moss ball and enjoy your mini aquarium that requires very little care :)

 

How to care for your Marimo balls:

Marimo's are actually very easy to take care of, probably one of the easiest plants (algae) that live in water. You just have to change the water every one or two weeks, they require normal household lighting to make food (indirect sunlight is fine) and you should turn them over once in a while for them to keep their round shape (I do it every time I change water).

and psst, if you wish your Marimo ball to float just squeeze the water out of them :)

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DIY Succulent gardens - how to instructions tabletop centerpiece

I love plants and I love succulents especially! Their shapes, colors and unusual looks always make me happy and amazed at the same time. I’ve already tried making succulent mini gardens before so when a couple of days ago I found amazing vintage bowls/vases at the local thrift shop I just had to do something about them :)

So here is a DIY instruction on how to make your own pretty succulent garden.

Supplies: bowl/vase/planter of your choice, succulents, cactus/succulent potting soil, decorative stones and pebbles, charcoal.

The pretty vintage bowls that I bought and some of the plants and cuttings that I've had at home...

Step 1: First, add a layer of pebbles to the bottom of your container. This will ensure that water drains to the bottom of the container and that the roots of your plants aren't sitting in water. If you have planters with drainage holes you can skip this step. Add a layer of charcoal (black sprinkles on the picture) above the pebbles to battle any possible smell issues.

Step 2: Fill the planter with potting soil up to an inch or two below the top of the planter. Plant succulents in planters. You can mix multiple types of succulents in each planter or use all the same. Arrange them any way you'd like.

Step 3: If there are spaces where the soil shows you can cover the exposed soil with flat rocks, pebbles, aquarium gravels, moss or other pretty greeneries.

... and here are my finished pretties :)

 

I loved how they turned out! So I made another one as a centerpiece for my mom (white oval bowl that used to be a nursery for my young succulents on second pic).

Some of the succulents and cacti that I've used in my arrengments: Sempervivum, Echeveria Lola, Echeveria Pulidonis, Haworthia Fasciata, Crassula Radicans, Crassula Ovata C. portulacea, Gollum Jade, Crassula perforata, Sansevieria cylindrica, Kalanchoe, Crassula rupestris, Adromischus cooperi Crassulaceae, etc...

I'm planning on making a Plant Terrarium next time, so stay tuned :)

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