Glass Jar Garden

Plants

Dwarf sweet flag as drawn in the simulator

Dwarf sweet flag

Acorus gramineus 'Pusillus'

BeginnerFine in a closed jar

Bright grassy tufts for wet ground and pond edges.

What the simulation uses

Light
2,500 to 15,000 lux
The brightness it grows well in.
Humidity
60 to 100 % RH
Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
Temperature
10 to 28 °C
Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
Dies at
below -15 or above 35 °C
Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
Soil pH
5.5 to 7.5 pH
Soil acidity it prefers.
Grows up
0.4 cm/month
How fast it gains height in good conditions.
Spreads
0.65 cm/month
How fast its edge creeps outwards.
Copes with wet
excellent
How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
Copes with still air
good
Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
Copes with shade
fair
How well it holds on in dim light.
Copes with drying
poor
How well it survives the jar drying out.
Water use
0.07 ml/cm²/day
Water drawn up from its roots per cm² of leaves in room air; a sealed jar cuts this to a fraction and returns it down the glass.
Leaf drop
2 %/month
Share of its leaves it sheds each month as litter for the cleanup crew.
Soft leaves
no
Soft new growth that hungry isopods will nibble.
Full size
7.5 cm tall, 11.5 cm wide
Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.

Care

Day length
10 to 14 h
Substrate
Wet

What kills it

Description

Happy in waterlogged ground, it grows half in and half out of water. It is a staple of bogs and tanks that mix land and water. Keep the soil wet and it will settle in easily.

Also called dwarf japanese rush, acorus pusillus.

Estimated, where sources were thin: rates and limits are horticultural estimates, not measured.

Sources

Grow it in a jar