After last week's 5th plant started to show we were excited to see the development that would have happened. We were met with disappointment. Unfortunately, our plants started to droop down, they were starting to get moldy, our largest plant had fallen over completely. It was rather disheartening.
Picture shows no new plant growth and some even started to droop down.
None of the plants showed any seemingly significant growth. In fact, one appears to have disappeared completely! When we looked closely we inferred that it had died and been pushed down by a clump of soil that had always been stuck on top of it. Overall the dirt looks pretty dry. that may have had an impact on the apparent declining health of our plants.
Again, the Elodea is even longer! But the webbing at the top seems to be almost taking over the plant. The water clarity is the same and the snails have both moved. Our water level is about the same as it was last week.
Picture shows the Elodea clearly grew longer.
Was our terrarium a success? Well, yes and no. Yes, we were able to start growing viable flowers. And who knows what would have happened to the remaining seedlings if we let the terrarium sit for a few more weeks. But what we do know is that the soil kept getting drier and drier over time and at this point we didn't see any sort of a turnaround. But there are a lot of unknowns about our final observations.
- What is that webbing coming off of the Elodea?
- Is it in fact mold growing on the dirt where the plant fell and on the strings on the water side of the terrarium?
- How exactly did the condensation get there?
- How does the condensation affect the soil/seedling half of the ecosystem?