Earth star
Cryptanthus bivittatus
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Bottle garden
A mini ecosystem sealed for years
Planted through a narrow neck with long tools and sealed. A patience game – a balanced bottle garden can live for decades.
☀️LightIndirect, north/east window
💧Humidity90–100%
🌡️Temperature16–24 °C
🪴Water & substrateOnly at the start; then almost never
Build
Step by step
Plants, moss
Substrate
Mesh + charcoal
LECA
- 1
Pour drainage and substrate through a paper funnel to keep the glass clean.
- 2
Make tools: long tweezers, a spoon on a stick, a cork tamper.
- 3
Dig with the spoon, lower the plant with tweezers – trim the root ball.
- 4
Cushion moss at the edges, a few springtails for cleaning.
- 5
Mist moderately, leave open 1–2 weeks, then seal.
Plant list
What to plant
Midground
Foreground
Nerve plant
Fittonia albivenis
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Carpet / ground cover
Baby tears pilea
Pilea depressa
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Baby's tears
Soleirolia soleirolii
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Meadow spikemoss
Selaginella apoda
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Cushion moss
Leucobryum glaucum
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Climber, trailer
Round-leaf peperomia
Peperomia rotundifolia
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
Accent
Heart fern
Hemionitis arifolia
🐱Cat safe🐶Dog safe
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Too much water at the start – a soggy mess for years.
- Flowering plants: dead flowers go mouldy.
- Plants too big for the narrow neck.
Member setups
From the community: Bottle garden
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