How to make a bottle garden plant bonsai? Detailed methods and tips

A bottle garden is a special decorative item made by planting tiny plants in a transparent glass bottle or transparent plastic container.

For planting, choose small plants and fewer varieties; simplicity is preferred over complexity. Generally, small plants such as ferns (true ferns), Hemigraphis, ivy, or pearl grass can be used. In addition, plants such as Adiantum (maidenhair fern), Peperomia, Cyrtomium, Saxifraga, and Peperomia can also be used.

For the bottle garden growing medium, choose materials with strong air permeability and water-holding capacity, such as cinder, vermiculite, Leca, and perlite. The growing medium placed in a bottle garden is generally divided into three layers: first place a layer of pebbles or perlite at the bottom to facilitate drainage; fill the middle with a layer of charcoal granules to filter impurities; the topsoil layer can be prepared by mixing 1 part sandy soil, 1 part humus soil, and 1 part garden soil. The total height of the layers should not exceed 1/4 of the bottle height. When planting, use tweezers to gently place the plants one by one into the container medium, then cover the plant roots with a thin layer of soil.

After planting, pour water along the container wall; do not wash the plants into disarray. After watering, put on the bottle cap. Avoid strong light for the first few days, and only move it into sunlight after the plants have adapted to the environment inside the bottle.

It is best to open the bottle cap once a week to check the soil moisture. If water droplets on the bottle wall do not dissipate for a long time, it indicates that the humidity inside the container is too high, so the bottle cap needs to be opened to release some water vapor and then put back on. For "bottle garden plants," "water, light, and temperature" are the three basic elements of care. Plants grown in open bottle gardens need relatively more water, about once a week, while capped bottle gardens should be watered as needed according to specific growth conditions. After planting, a bottle garden should not be placed in strong sunlight for a long time.