HYDERABAD: How about going out today and getting a jar of garden? Or maybe you could shelve your idea of a terrace garden and grow one in a jar instead? Sujeeth ‘Thalwar’, a self-taught conservationist, makes terrariums which are ecosystems contained in a jar. If you love nature but cannot grow a garden due to lack of space, terrariums can help you create your own teeny forest. In a closed atmosphere, they can last for decades.
Talking about how he started making them, Sujeeth says: “I do not have any educational background in botany or other sciences. In fact, I used to be a chef and have worked in hotels like Westin and Marriott. But since childhood, I had a passion to conserve plants and animals. From an early age, I was associated with the conservation of tortoises, and now, I am working with a team from Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. I have been making terrariums for five years now.
Two years ago, I quit my job and dedicated myself to conservation initiatives and researching local plants that can survive in a terrarium.” Giving a glimpse into how the art of making terrariums evolved, Sujeeth says: “In the early days, naturalists would collect plant specimens from different places. However, during the long journeys they used to undertake often, the specimens would die. That is when they started conserving the specimens in a temperature-controlled atmosphere in a jar, with the aim of replanting them in gardens.” This nature lover also makes paludariums - terrariums which also have fish.
So how does one grow a garden in a jar? “Firstly, you need to have a transparent glass jar so that light can pass through it. Then you put a layer of gravel at the bottom of the jar. Sand forms the second layer, and soil forms the third. After that, you select the plants,” says Sujeeth. Some of the plants that can be used in a terrarium are matted sandmat, prostrate sandmat, pepper elder, green violet and Malaysian false pimpernel.
There are two kinds of terrariums - open and closed. The fascinating part of a closed one is that once you close the jar after watering it once, it can survive for decades. “Nature works in the jar just as it works outside. When heat reaches the soil and gravel through the transparent jar, evaporation of water takes place. Later the vapour condenses and provides water to the plants. Thus, it’s a self-sustaining eco-system.”Sujeeth plans to sell his creations soon, and he is figuring out how to pack and shift them without creating an imbalance in their ecosystem. Right now, he makes them on request from friends and family members.
— Kakoli Mukherjee kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @kakoliMukherje2