Build Your Own Dagobah Terrarium

Once the baby twins Luke and Leia were out of harm's way, Jedi Master Yoda fled to Dagobah aboard an escape pod, where he went into hiding from the Emperor and his troopers, as seen in the deleted scenes on the Revenge of the Sith DVD.

A distant world with overgrown jungles, smelly swamps, bizarre creatures, and heavy rain, Dagobah was a perfect place to hide since no one would bother visiting the planet on purpose. Its huge lagoons are home to snakes and other creepy creatures that dwell in the murky water below.

Now you can create your own version of Dagobah with an easy-to-build terrarium. Unlike an aquarium that contains water and fish, a terrarium is filled with pebbles and small plants. Often people build fancy terrariums for their pet lizards, turtles, snakes or exotic insects. But in this case, your terrarium is for Yoda.

What You Need:

1. Fish bowl
2. Plastic plants (for an aquarium)
3. Sphagnum moss
4. Polished pebbles
5. Green glass aquarium pebbles
6. Yoda action figure
7. Potting soil (optional)
8. Real plants like ivy (optional)
9. Garden charcoal (optional)
10. Extra rocks, driftwood, sticks (optional)

Instructions:

1. Start with a 1 1/2" layer of small pebbles and colored glass pebbles on the bottom of the glass container. Cover the pebbles with a thin layer of loose charcoal, which will help keep the water in your garden from smelling stale.

2. If you plan on adding real plants like ivy to your terrarium, add some potting soil so that the total contents take up 1/4 of the container. Then cover the soil with an inch layer of sphagnum moss. Feel free to drape some on the edge of the bowl for a more swampy effect.

3. Next add the plants. For the real plants, try using English ivy, Pothos, or even asparagus fern. For fake plants, add in the ones that look most like they would be at home in Dagobah's swampy environment.

4. Add extra rocks, pebbles, more moss and driftwood if you want. And of course, put in Yoda so he can check out his new home.

5. Once everything is in place, keep the terrarium in a well lit area near a big window, but not directly in the sun or you'll fry all your live plants and moss!

HELPFUL HINT: Whatever you do, do not over-water your terrarium! Since there's no drainage hole for the water to get out, you'll only want to add enough water so that the soil is barely moist. Never have a pool of water in the bottom pebble layer. It's okay to keep your terrarium on the dry side mainly because too much water will cause your plants to get mushy and rot!

Once your terrarium is complete, if you would like to submit a photo of it to Bantha Tracks, send it by regular postal mail to our NEW address here: Bantha Tracks, P.O. Box 29901, San Francisco, CA 94129-0901. Or click here to email your photos.