Growing Together: A Gardening Podcast · Forum Communications Co.

Why terrariums are suddenly all the rage...again

·40 min·2 clips

Wardian cases helped move tea and rubber plants successfully across oceans for world trade.

1. Growing Together: A Gardening Podcast focuses on why terrariums are suddenly popular again. 2. John Lamb hosts with Don Kinsler, an NDSU Extension horticulturist for Cass County, who explains the plant science and the history. 3. The episode asks what terrariums are for now: a self-contained way to grow plants indoors. 4. Don first addresses the phrase “exploding trees,” which he says is really frost crack in bitter cold. 5. He describes frost crack as a vertical crack in a tree trunk that can sound like a rifle shot. 6. Don says the crack can form because cold causes contraction or contortion in the wood. 7. He adds that the tree does not literally explode into wood chips or shrapnel. 8. Don explains that frost cracks can still matter because wood-rotting organisms can enter the wound in spring. 9. He says trees can compartmentalize the injury and often roll tissue over the crack. 10. Don shifts to terrariums and says the modern interest rose again alongside houseplants and the post-COVID plant boom. 11. He traces the history to Dr. Nathaniel Begshaw Ward in 1842, when a moth jar and moss spores led to successful fern growth. 12. He names the larger glass case Wardian case and links it to Ward’s work as a London physician and botanist. 13. Don says Wardian cases solved transport problems for tropical plants traveling by sailing ship. 14. He gives examples of tea plants moving from China to India and rubber plants moving between tropical regions. 15. He says the Victorian era embraced terrariums as a status symbol and calls the craze “pterodomania.” 16. He recalls the 1960s and 1970s houseplant era, including macrame hangers and cut-glass terrariums from gallon jugs. 17. Don says the container needs to be clear glass or plexiglass, with indirect light rather than hot direct sun. 18. He recommends pebbles, activated charcoal, moist potting mix, and careful watering, then says condensation should guide maintenance. 19. Listeners who like houseplants, indoor gardening, or plant history will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners who want fast factual news without gardening detail may skip it.

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