Q: Will a bottle terrarium work?

• Drosera venusta,
  bottle-fodder

A: I discuss bottle terraria elsewhere, but I'll repeat my comments here so you don't miss them. A bottle terrarium is the cheapest way you can make a terrarium. All you need is a little saucer and a 2-liter plastic beverage bottle. Cut the bottom off the bottle, and put this over the plant in the saucer. Water with purified water.

Will the plant survive? Probably not. But a windowsill plant may have a better chance of survival in a bottle terrarium. If you are growing a windowsill sundew and it is not making dew, if you are growing a windowsill pitcher plant and its leaves are crisping before its pitchers forms completely, if your windowsill Venus flytrap doesn't make traps, a bottle terrarium may help.

Mind you, a bottle terrarium will not help with that most common of horticultural mistakes---inadequate light. Bottle terraria just help improve humidity.

Page citations: Rice, B.A. 2006a; personal observations.