A miniature forest under glass
A coffee plant, two fittonias and a carpet of moss: a humid, bright woodland in eight litres of glass.
- Beginner
- 1 h 30 to set up
- 3 pieces
- Ø 23 × H 25 cm
The steps
Seven steps, in building order. Work on a clear table, with the plants out of their pots next to you.
1. Prepare the work surface
Rinse the bottle with clean water and dry it, without any cleaning product. Take the plants out of their pots, lay out the moss and the soil in front of you, and picture the scene: a high point for the coffee plant, a hollow, an empty area. The empty space matters as much as the plants.
15 min
2. Make the drainage layer
Add the clay pebbles to about 2 cm, then a thin layer of activated charcoal. This reserve takes the excess water and keeps the roots from sitting in it. Level it with the tamper without shaking the glass.
10 min
3. Build the relief
Moisten the potting soil, then spread it about 4 cm deep, building it up towards the back. This slope gives depth to a scene seen from the front. Press it only lightly with the tamper.
15 min
4. Plant the coffee plant, then the fittonias
Remove some of the soil from the root balls and check that they fit through the 9.5 cm neck. Dig a hole with the end of the tamper, lower the coffee plant with the tweezers onto the high point, slightly off centre, and close the soil around it. The two fittonias go in front, one on each side, lower down. Leave space between each plant: in two months, they will touch.
25 min
5. Lay the moss and clear a path
Tear by hand any cushions too wide for the neck. Place them with the tweezers, green side up, and press with the tamper so they follow the relief. Leave a strip of bare soil winding between them: this path makes all the difference between a pot and a landscape. No moss should touch the glass.
15 min
6. Clean, mist, close
Wipe the inside of the glass with a paper towel rolled around the tip of the tweezers, right down to the base. Mist ten to twelve times, then fit the cork stopper. Watch for two or three days before leaving it in place for good.
10 min
7. Follow the first month
Morning condensation that disappears by midday is the good sign. Remove any yellow leaf or white film with the tweezers as soon as it appears, without waiting. Pinch the tips of the fittonias when they get leggy: they branch out and stay compact.
5 min per week
Care, afterwards
- LightNear a window, never in full sun: the glass heats up fast.
- WaterMist only if the condensation has not come back for several days.
- CondensationThere all day long: open the cork for a few hours, then close it again.
- PruningCut the leaves that touch the glass and remove dead leaves with the tweezers.
The guides for this project
All guides
The project
An 8 litre bottle with an LED stopper, a coffee plant, two fittonias and three cushions of fresh moss. A closed terrarium composed with tweezers, with a slope and a path.
Learn more
A miniature forest comes down to three things: a tree, an understorey and rising ground. You decide on the relief, where the coffee plant goes and where the moss stops. The result looks like no other.
This project starts from the Small Eden Tropical Coffee kit, in its With tools version: an 8 litre recycled glass bottle (Ø 23 cm, 25 cm high) and its cork stopper with LED, a coffee plant (Coffea arabica), a white fittonia and a red fittonia, three cushions of fresh moss, 1.75 L of potting soil, the clay pebbles and the activated charcoal. The tweezers, the mister and the tamper are in the box.
The neck is 9.5 cm wide: your hand won't fit through, so everything is placed with the tweezers. Allow an hour and a half, no special skill needed. The only real rule is to leave room: plants set too close together touch after two months and the scene closes in.
The same project, done differently.
- Essential version
The same kit without the tools, if you already have long tweezers and a mister: the bottle, the three plants and the filling.
Beginner - Jungle version, five plants
The Jungle kit: a palm and a fern on top of the coffee plant and the fittonias, in a 7 L bottle with a 12 cm neck your hand fits through. The space fills up faster and needs trimming once a year.
Intermediate - Woodland version
The Woodland kit, in size M: a calathea instead of the coffee plant, with two fittonias, in a 5.5 L bottle with LED stopper. Shade foliage, striped and veined.
Intermediate
FAQ
Your questions about this project
How do I plant if my hand won't fit?
Everything is done with the tools in the kit: lower each root ball with the 26 cm tweezers through the 9.5 cm neck, close the soil around it, then press it down with the tamper. Trim back root balls that are too wide before you start.
Do I need to buy the soil and pebbles separately?
No. The kit contains the three mosses, 1.75 L of potting soil, the clay pebbles and the activated charcoal. To redo the base later, get the sizes L and XL refill.
Will the coffee plant produce coffee?
No. Under glass, it stays a miniature green plant with glossy leaves. A coffee plant needs years and space before it flowers.
How often should I water?
Once or twice a year in the closed bottle. The guide is the condensation: missing for several days, it needs water; constant, there is too much. Open the bottle for a few hours once a month.
