hoyas
If you're a person who collects houseplants, you might have discovered hoya plants. You might have gone down the waxplant rabbit hole and collected 107 different species.
You notice that they grow really well in LECA balls, and it's thrilling to see your plant babies exploding with growth.
You were so excited to grow your collection that you didn't always stay diligent about isolating new plants. After you collected all of those hoyas, you realize that you've got a sizable problem with mealie bugs speading around your plants. It's a daunting task to stay on top of them, and you get burnt out.
See previous hoya care, for growing hoyas in LECA, on my Instagram.
having nothing to lose
The pest issue kills your hoya joy, and you end up trying to ignore the hoyas for a few years. You water them just enough to keep them alive. Surprisingly, they do ok, even though they are wearing a whole fur coat of mealie poo.
When you are scrolling on IG and see someone building a stunning terrarium, you suddenly look over at your poor, neglected hoyas and start getting excited to play with them again.
glass containers with bamboo lids
With the same enthusiam that drove your initial hoya hoarding, you start building mini worlds of moss and hoya cuttings. It's delightful to see your plants growing in a new way, mixed in with more biodiversity.
You quickly find out that the bamboo lids will grow mold when exposed to high humidity. Several of them get tossed into the trash, but no big deal.
Plastic wrap works just fine as a lid, too. If you use plastic wrap before the lid grows mold, you can put the lid on over it, if you like the look of it.