Mini Garden

Question:

I just planted a mini-garden on a whim in an old bonsai pot, about 7″x5″x2″ deep. I put in a layer of small gravel, a layer of charcoal, and then planted three plants in potting soil on top. Then I put Spanish moss on top.

The plants are designed for mini-gardens. I have two pixie hypoestes and one pixie peperomia puteolata. I watered with three T of water, and plan to do this maybe every other day.

Question: 1: Is there anything I need to do to keep them small, less than 6″ high?

Question: 2: Should I fertilize, and if so, with what?

Question: 3: These will be indoor plants. I can put them in a window that gets bright light for about three hours. Is that enough? Is artificial lamp light from an over head LED spotlight as good?

Question: 4: Am I doing anything else wrong?

Answer:

1. Regular pruning is the only way to keep these plants at a manageable size. As long as the light is primarily from overhead, the plants will tend to grow up rather than horizontally.

2. You don’t want to optimize growth in a mini dish garden. The point is to maintain what you have. Therefore fertilizing is not a good idea.

3.Your plants will do best on a north or east window sill. There are many different types of LED’s. Only those that produce light in the blue and red range are effective for plant growth.

4. Keep the soil slightly damp at all times.