Best Plants for Your Terrarium - Indoor Plant Guides

The terrarium creates a closed environment that pretty much takes care of itself. There are two types of terrarium – open and closed. Open terrariums are open at the top and are better for plants that prefer a lot of airflow and don’t mind dry conditions. Closed terrariums are self-contained and stay closed, although even they have some openings for occasional airflow and watering needs.

Whether you use an open or closed terrarium, all plants need light, but not a harsh amount. Steady indirect sunlight is best. Turn the terrarium every once in a while so all the plants get a chance for some sun.

Can Any Plant Go in a Terrarium?

Not every plant will work well in a terrarium due to the environment that a terrarium naturally creates. In order to have a good experience, you should choose plants that meet the following requirements:

Compatible Plants

Not only should your plants be compatible with each other, but they also need to be compatible with the terrarium. While there are many types of plants that can do well in enclosed places, some (such as cacti and succulents) need to be in containers that have some airflow which will lower the humidity. Research each type of plant to ensure that it will work in your desired container.
Correct size

Make sure that you choose plants that will fit in your terrarium and that will still be able to thrive in a smaller space. Ideally, the leaves of each plant will not touch the sides of the container, not only for aesthetics but also for the health of the plant.
Enjoys Humidity

Most of the time, you need to find plants that can tolerate humidity and will do well even if they do not receive direct light. Plants that need “perfect” conditions to thrive will generally not do well in a terrarium.

Plants for an Open Terrarium

Let’s start with the best plants for an open terrarium:

Air Plants (Tillandsia)

These are those little plants that you can even put on your refrigerator door, or anywhere else for that matter. They are found in nature living on other branches. In any case, they don’t need any attention and are an easy and welcome addition.

Succulents

Succulent plants have that thick foliage that allows them to withstand dry conditions. To do this they also keep small, so they won’t outgrow their environs. Some examples are Tiger Jaws (faucaria tigina), hens and chicks (sempervivum), aloe vera, flapjack plant (kalanchoe luciae), ghost plant, and zebra plant, as well as African violet and croton.

Cactus

By the same token as the succulents, what could be more natural for an open terrarium than a cactus? Cacti actually hate humidity and need good airflow, so they’re another great addition.

Button Ferns (Pallaea Rotundifolia)

You might be thinking ferns have no place in this type of terrarium, and you’d be right, except for this type of fern, with its thick foliage and green color.

Jade Plant (Crassula Ovata)

Jade plants are good for open terrariums, although they do require watering, and need to be clipped to remain small. As with other plants, just water when they are nearly dry and don’t overwater.

Bonsai

Bonsai plants work well in open terrariums, and you can have fun with all the clipping and shaping that they need.

Closed Terrarium Plants

Most people think of terrariums as closed, and they’re certainly the easiest to take care of. Here are examples of plants that do well in this environment:

Peperomia (Peperomia Pellucida)

These plants, with green leaves and even some red and white ones and tropical, so they love humid conditions.

Moss

Mosses are great for making a carpet of ground cover, plus they stay small so they’re easy to maintain.

Ferns

When you think of moss, you often think of ferns as well, since they enjoy the same environment. There are many types to choose from, like bird’s nest, dwarf holly, maidenhair, and button ferns.

Nerve Plants (Fittonia)

Nerve plants are more of the tropical plants they love it hot and humid. The green leaves are outlined with veins of white or red.

Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes Phyllostachya)

These plants are perfect for adding some color. Their roundish green leaves look like they’ve been covered with pink and white dust.

Moon Valley Friendship Plant (Pilea Involucrata)

The green leaves of this plant are very serrated on the edges, and sport dark green to reddish colors throughout their deeply lined surface. They grow fast with lots of leaves so will require pruning.

moon valley friendship plant small square

Strawberry Begonia (Saxifraga Stolonifera)

You won’t be harvesting tiny strawberries from this plant. It gets its name from the pink shading around the edges of its leaves and the small red and pink flowers that appear.

Miniature Orchids

These little plants have pink, purple, yellow, or white flowers on top of green stalks and look just like tiny versions of the full-size plant.

Miniature English Ivy (Hedera Helix)

English Ivy has small, tiny pointed leaves trail all over the place and look great climbing over rocks, plus the plant covers a lot of ground and can fill up large areas.

Baby’s Tears (Soleirolia Soleirolii)

This plant, with its tons of teeny round green leaves, looks a lot like overgrown moss, especially since it likes to form a mat. Small but vigorous, it will need some serious pruning now and then.

Plants for a Large Terrarium

If you have room in a larger terrarium, you might like to try some of these bigger plants:

Spider Plant (Chlorophytum Comosum)

These are the plants found hanging overhead in many homes, with long stems that end in small spider babies. They like high humidity and with plenty of pruning work well in terrariums.

Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)

Another plant that normally lives in wet, marshy places, the Venus flytrap does well in a closed environment, although you will have to catch a fly to put in the terrarium so it has something to catch. Light green on the outside and red inside to attract unwary insects, they can be a fun addition.

Golden Pothos (Epipremnum Aureum)

This plant with pale green leaves just loves to run and climb around the warm, wet environment of the terrarium. It does need to be kept watered and will keep the place looking very tropical.

Croton (Codiaeum Variegatum)

This has large, lance-shaped dark green leaves growing upwards and features deep-colored yellow or red veining. It stays put and won’t run all over.

Prayer Plant (Maranta Leuconeura)

Another plant with large, oblong leaves that have deep red veins. It folds up its sides at night, just like praying.

Starfish Plant (Cryptanthus Bivittatus)

It looks like a little star, or octopus, with leaves that snake out to a point, and plenty of colors, from red to green. when in bloom it creates a white flower right in the center. Stays small and stays in one place.

Emerald Rippled Peperomia (Variagata Peperomia Caperata)

The leaves are green or deep green with lots of crinkles and folds that will set them apart from other plants. Doesn’t need pruning, likes a lower level of light.

Golden Clubmoss

Another one of the spreading types of mosses, this light green moss doesn’t get very tall but likes to run, so quite a bit of pruning will be needed. The lightness of its color can set it off nicely against darker green plants.

Aquamarine (Pilea Glauca)

Aquamarine creates dense mats of its tiny round leaves on creeping pink stalks that like to run and spill. Slow growing, it will stay small so you won’t need to spend time pruning it.

Minimus Aureus (Acorus Gramineus)

Although this plant is small, it looks like a tiny relative of tall grasses you find around ponds. Bright golden-green foliage, the moisture-loving plant adds a different kind of color to terrariums.

Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon Planiscapus)

This ornamental grass makes a striking contrast to other plants because of very dark, or black, leaves. It’s spread by rhizomes and can cover a small area in a year or two. In good conditions, it will send up flowers in spring. It can get a bit tall, be sure to get the dwarf variety.

Mother Fern (Asplenium Bulbiferum)

This fern, with large, feathery leaves, spreads out a bit like a weeping willow and brings a touch of class. However, it can get quite tall and wide, so trimming it back will be necessary.

Pixie Plant (Peperomia Orba)

Also called Dwarf Arrowhead, it comes from the tropics of South America and has, as its name suggests, arrowhead-shaped leaves that are very pale in the center, but green on the edges. A climbing plant, the dwarf version will stay small and is also very hardy.

Chinese Money Plant (Pilea Peperomiodes)

This plant has round green leaves that give it its name since they remind us of coins. Also called by a lot of other names, like pancake plant, etc. They are very easy to care for, but they do like to creep, and you can cut off the “pups” to start new plants.

Mikado Plant (Syngonanthus Chrysanthus)

For a change of pace, this plant sends up a long, completely straits stem with little round flowers on top. Unusual, but it breaks up the low, creeping types of other plants.

Creeping Fig (Ficus Pumila)

This plant has bright green heart-shaped leaves, and as its name suggests, likes to creep all over the terrarium. In fact, you’ll have to watch out to make sure it doesn’t take over, but since it’s small, it is easy to maintain.