Spring moss party. So green. 💚 #moss #mossparty #springishere #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Crashed a squirrel party yesterday. It got nutty. 🐿️ #squirrel #squirrels #squirrely #squirrellove #squirrellife #thegreatoutdoors #torontowildlife #natureenthusiast #biophile #tnalpevoli
Been absent for a bit. I’m still here and still getting outside, just not posting about it lol. - - - #naturewalks #getoutside #catchmeoutside #torontonature #torontotrails #naturenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile
All three are out tonight! 🦀 Last night I added a new spider plant, new moss, cuttlebone, dried shrimp and a ton of isopods, they’ve been super active ever since. 🦀 They seem to love rainwater as well, I started topping it up with rainwater once a week and they’re spending a lot of time in the water…..they’re finally starting to come out, before they were always hiding or you might catch one at random. 🦀 #vampirecrabs #vampirecrab #vampirecrabsofinstagram #vampirecrabsetup #vamplife #bioactivesetups #paludarium #paludariums #isopods #natureenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile
Nobody asked and I answered lol. - 3” iron-on embroidered patch with merrrowed edges. available on Etsy at https://kfusupplyco.etsy.com - I’m working on stickers too if anyone has any suggestions for species! - #isopod #isopods #isopodlovers #isopodlovers❤️ #isopodlove #isopodsofinstagram #isopodgang #isopodhobby #arthropod #arthropod_perfection #arthropods #isopodsofig #isopodsofinsta #isopodapet #isopodmemes #natureenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile
Don’t come across this one too often but has to look it up… 🍂 #etiolated #etiolatedsucculents #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #sciency #botany #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Lichen appreciation post! 😋 #lichen #lichens #crustoselichen #crustose #likinthelichen #lichenlove #lichenlover #lichenlovers #lichenloversunite #green #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
I thought this was a red isopod! And then I zoomed in… 🐞 #redvelvetmite #redvelvetmites #rainbug #rainbugs #trombidiformes #arthropod #arthropods #arthropod_perfection #athropodsanonymous #arthropoda #rougevalley #rougevalleypark #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Found some red velvet mites today… 🕷️ #pedipalp #arachnid #arachnids #mites #wordoftheday #sciency #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #natureenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile
Check this out. The VFT is coming back! 🌱 I buy a Venus fly trap once every couple of years. I always have bad luck. This time was no different, admittedly my fault though, I didn’t have distilled water and left it in the window for a couple of days and it was dry when I bought it. I transplanted it anyway into a peat moss and perlite mix, kept it damp and gave it tons of sun. 🌱 It slowly died off. This time I wanted to see if it would come back if I could keep it in optimal conditions. It gets a few hours of direct sun and a few more under a grow light. Originally I was keeping a close eye on the substrate and watering with rainwater when needed but I’ve just put it in a tub of rain water it sits in so it won’t go go dry. After over a month of being all black (I didn’t remove any of the traps or stems) it started to come back. This about 2 weeks of growth, when it sprouts a few more I’m probably going to try and put it outside! 🌱 #venusflytrap #venusflytraps #venusflytrapsofinstagram #vft #vfts #zombievenusflytrap #tnalpevoli #biophile #natureenthusiast
Another good one for us pod folk. 🐛 #sclerite #isopod #isopods #isopodsofinstagram #isopodsofig #athropod #crustacean #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Planted a ton of fresh sweet pepper seeds in a tub, should interesting. 🫑 Also testing the theory that the good seeds sink, the handful of seeds that floated I got rid of….. 🫑 #pepperseed #pepperseedlings #sweetpeppers #seedgermination #seedgermination🌱 #growyourownveggies #planthobby #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Officially have Cheetos, and they’re thriving! 🍊 I’ve had these guys for about week. You could barely see any in the deli cup they came in, I was going to set them up in charcoal and distilled water like my white springtails (which seem to breed slower) but I read something that said use soil. 🍊 This tub is made with reptisoil, a little pond planting media and some ripped up leaves mixed in (the other one I saw used just soil, which I’m going to try for a new white isopod colony) I also added a water dish which they seem to spend a lot of time in with the kids, feed them twice a week with nutritional yeast (tested fish flakes and spirulina but they’re always on the yeast), give the tub a light spray and away they go! 🍊 #orangespringtails #orangespringtail #protonura #cleanupcrew #bioactive #bioactiveenclosure #springtails #springtailsofinstagram #springtail #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Does this mean isopods are marsupials?🦘 #marsupial #marsupium #isopods #isopod #isopoda #isopodeggs #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #sciency #biophile
More buggy words. 🐞 #pronotum #ladybugs #beetles #cockroaches #insects #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #sciency #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Baby Bunny Bellies, thriving in water. 🐰 Tradescantia Chrysophylla have soft fuzzy leaves, purple stems and are super easy to take care of. I propagated this one in water for a bit before moving it to this little jug in my kitchen (south facing) window and it’s doing really well. 🐰 That’s pond planting medium in the bottom for anyone who’s wondering. 🐰 #tradescantia #tradescantiachrysophylla #babybunnybellies #tradescantiapropagation #growingplantsinwater #propagation #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
More Isopoddy words. 🐛 #pereion #thorax #crustaceans #isopods #isopod #sciency #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Went for a nature walk today in the ravine, my daughter turned over a log and bam! Isopod mania. 💥 #oniscus #oniscusasellus #isopod #isopods #isopoda #isopodgang #isopodlove #isopodlovers #isopodsofinstagram #isopodsofig #naturewalks #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile #isopodhobby
Stopped by @thebeastiarypetshop yesterday, scored some orange springtails and got to see this baby keel belly pipping. 🦎 Definitely check this shop out, owner & staff are cool and they have tons of thriving bio-active enclosures to see. 🦎 #beastiary #thebeastiary #torontopetstore #torontopets #keelbelliedlizard #supportlocaltoronto #torontosmallbiz #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
More sciency words for our insect friends. 🐞 #podomere #arthropod #arthropods #arthropoda #isopod #isopods #isopoda #isopodlove #isopodlovers #sciency #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Haven’t showed off my moss bin in a minute. 🌳 I’ve used a lot in my isopod bins, terrariums, and the crab paludarium. Fortunately it’s in steady supply in the parks and trails in Toronto. Seems like different parts of the city have different types too. 🌳 #moss #mosses #mosspropagation #mossliving #mosslove #mosslover #mosslovers #torontoplantlovers #torontoparks #tnalpevoli #cushionmoss #moodmoss #greenmoss #natureenthusiast #torontonature #biophile
New word alert. 🕷️ #arthropod #arthropods #arthropoda #arthropod_perfection #arthropodsanonymous #arthropodsofinstagram #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #sciency #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Got some new succulents, they’re all planted in an open terrarium. 🌵 #succulents #succulent #succulentterrarium #succulentterrariums #succulentlove #succulentlover #succulentlovers #succulentloversofinstagram #succuaddict #echeveria #echeverias #graptopetalum #aloe #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Also known as PLEOPOD. 🐛 #pleopods #swimmerets #isopod #isopods #isopodlovers #isopodlove #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #sciency #biophile
Scroll to checkout the MOLT! 🦀 Saw this one in the water last night with a white top, I wondered if this is how a molt starts but forgot to look it up. This morning the molt was in the water next to the filter. Pretty stoked because I’ve never seen them do this, in my mind it means they’re doing well and growing. 🦀 If you scroll you’ll see pics of the molt, a couple of microscopic shots and some closeups of the bottom and clear legs. Hopefully when they come back out the colours will be brighter than ever! 🦀 If you’re ever checking for the molt, it has no eyes, clear legs, is super floppy, and doesn’t really smell. If they’re dead they still have some colour, they’re hard and they smell. Keep it in the water because they eat it later. (I put mine back in after the photos and the shrimp went at it) 🦀 #vampirecrabs #vampirecrab #vampirecrabsofinstagram #molt #reddevilvampirecrab #crablovers #crablover #tnalpevoli #enterthelichen #natureenthusiast #biophile
Getting a couple of Mourning Geckos soon. 🦎 #frugivorous #frugivore #fruitonly #mourninggecko #mourninggeckos #mourninggeckosofinstagram #aboreal #geckodiet #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Purple mystery snail has entered the chat. 🐌 Don’t know if it was by fluke or if this one here is a poser but they began turning as soon as I started trying to take a pic. Good looking snail! 🐌 #mysterysnail #mysterysnails #mysterysnailsofinstagram #mysterysnailsofig #snaillove #snaillovers #snaillover #betatank #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
These guys can’t get enough duckweed! 🦀 They eat a lot of duckweed and isopods which is in steady supply, I fed them some salmon last night and they loved it. I try to drop in tiny bits of fresh fish as much as possible, which is at least once a week. Also have fish flakes, dried bloodworms and shrimp, they also like smushed blueberries and peas. Keep it varied! 🦀 #vampirecrab #vampirecrabsofinstagram #vampirecrabsetup #vampirecrabdiet #crablover🦀 #crablovers🦀 #apricotvampirecrabs #natureenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile #freshwatercrab #palidarium #paladarium
Going to start the Fern prop this week! 🪴 #sorus #sori #fronds #spores #botany #sciency #fern #ferns #fernpropagation #propagation #natureenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom
This is a micro shot of a fern spore! Scroll to see actual size. 🪴 Going to try and propagate some fern from spores, I’m just letting the plant dry out so the spores fall off. These spores are a bit smaller than a piece of oatmeal, seeing them blown up like this is wild. 🪴 #fern #ferns #fernspores #fernpropagation #microshots #microscopicspores #spores #fernplant #fernplants #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile #studyspores #sporelove
Going to try and propagate some ferns from spore this week, might as well learn the lingo. 🪴 #frond #fronds #frondswithbenefits #fernpropagation #wordodtheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Compare to gymnosperm. 🌲 #angiosperm #angiosperms #angiospermsofinstagram #floweringplants #wordoftheday📖 #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #sciency #sciencywords #natureenthusiast #tnalpevoli #biophile
A few micro shots of our bryophyte friends. 🌳 #moss #mosses #mosslove #mosslover #mosslovers #microshots #microlens #natureenthusiast #bryophyte #bryophytes #tnalpevoli #biophile
New one for me. 🌲 #gymnosperm #gymnosperms #conifer #conifers #coniferous #wordoftheday #sciencywords #sciency #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #biophile #natureenthusiast
CRASSULA RUPESTRIS SUBS MARNIERIA. Jade Necklace (Hottentot) 🪴 I need more hanging plants in my life. This one came with two sets of instructions. “bright indirect light Water regularly” & “bright light,low water”. I have it hanging in a south facing window in my kitchen that gets blasted with sun in the morning, I give it a good watering every few days, seems to be loving it. It’s also above the kitchen sink so it gets pretty good humidity. 🪴 I have yet to try and propagate, I’m hoping it works like string of turtles and you just cut the vine and sticks it in the ground and Bob’s your uncle. 🪴 #jadenecklace #jadenecklaceplant #crassula #crassularupestris #crassularupestrismarnieriana #succulent #succulents #tnalpevoli #biophile #natureenthusiast #indoorforest
Pretty common but good to know. 📚 #conifer #conifers #coniferous #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionary #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
If it’s not covered in lichen I don’t want it. 🦠 🍄 #lichen #lichens #lichenlover #lichenlovers #lichenloversunite #lichensofinstagram #likinthelichen #tnalpevoli #natureenthusiast #biophile
Got myself this awesome German Ivy, aka senecio mikanoides. 🪴 This creeping succulent grows into a vine and can be easily propagated with cuttings, just give them a bit of time to callous before planting and let ‘em rip. Keep them in bright to medium bright light and away from any crafty areas, it’ll make their leaves drop. 🪴 I’ve been misting it every couple of days but apparently they don’t need really need humidity, and they only need to be watered when the soil is completely dry. 🪴 Fun fact, this plant is a cousin to the every popular String of Pearls. 🪴 #Seneciomikanoides #magicmarble #senecio #creepingsucculent #succulent #houseplant #germanivy #tnalpevoli #biophile #natureenthusiast
New Paludarium build for the Vampire Crabs. 🦀 Pretty stoked how this turned out, lots of moss, plants and lichen, isopods and springtails for the land and snails and shrimp for the water. Mambo & Clawdine seem pretty jazzed themselves. 🦀 #terrariums #paludarium #paludariums #vampirecrab #vampirecrabsofinstagram #vampirecrabsetup #bioactive #bioactivesetups #paludariumsofinstagram #tnalpevoli #biophile #natureenthusiast #animism
The horizon gets me every time. 🌊 #horizons #newhorizons #dreamer #limitless #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Early stroll with the fam through @allan_gardens 😉 #allangardens #allangardensconservatory #torontogarden #torontogardens #torontoconservatory #plantlife🌱 #cacti #naturewalk #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Fern Fern Fern, Fern’s the word. 🌿 #fern #ferns #fernlove #fernlover #fernlovers #frond #fronds #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Happy New Year! Kung Hei Fat Choy. 🐉 I made this one for my mother in law, she’s Vietnamese and always cooking up a storm to feed her kids, grand kids and family. I have a lot of respect for her and what she’s taught me about the culture and taking care of your family. She also has the ultimate green thumb so I thought plants that take care of themselves would be a good gift. 🐉 Pulled out all the stops on this one; leca for drainage, screen mesh then a layer of crushed charcoal, substrate is coir, orchid bark, sphagnum moss and some worm castings. On top of that is three different types of moss, two white Fittonia and a pink in the middle, plus an oak leaf ficus, pilea aquamarine and string of turtle cuttings, a couple of quartz rocks for hard scape since I won’t be able to monitor the wood for mold all the time, and of course the two red lucky lions. Loaded it up with springtails and a few isopods and it was ready to go. Almost like I know what I’m doing. 🐉 Scroll to see it after a week or so, everything has taken root and grown a bit, the glass had a lot of humidity but I didn’t want to open it up just yet to clean it off. It’s a few feet away from a south facing window and gets really good sun. 🐉 #kungheyfatchoi #gungheyfatchoy #yearofthedragon #yearofthedragon2024 #yearofthedragon🐉 #terrariums #terrarium_art #terrariumdesign #fittonias #oakleafficus #stringofturtles #terrariumplants #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Had a major mould outbreak in my moss tub! 🥦 The first pic is actually after a few days, I put it outside, took the lid off and sprayed it with a diluted mix of 1 part 3% hydrogen Peroxide and 6 parts water. It reduced the mould quite a bit but it didn’t get rid of it all so I ended up removing the parts that were mouldy and cutting up some of the other mosses so they could spread out a bit. I think that spray mix would be pretty effective on smaller outbreaks, you can use undiluted if you’re applying it directly to the mould in a terrarium but I wasn’t sure how it’d affect the moss. 🥦 Hydrogen Peroxide naturally occurs in rain. It releases oxygen at a rapid rate, which oxidizes the surface and breaks down the DNA/proteins of the mould, killing it. 🥦 #mold #mould #peroxide #hydrogenperoxide #moldkiller #mouldkiller #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism #moss #mosses #mosspropagation #mosstub #mossterrarium
I got these springtails about a month ago, made them a large tub, fed them some nutritional yeast every few days and this was the result. 🐚 Now that I have a thriving breeder colony I’m going to make some smaller tubs and use them in bio-active terrariums and paludariums with isopods as a clean up crew. I take a 20 oz. deli cup and put a few medium pieces of lump charcoal (not briquettes, they’ve got chemicals) and some distilled water that covers about half of the charcoal, then a dash of nutritional yeast and add some springtails. Poke a few air holes in the top, put them in a cardboard box and going to leave them alone for a bit. 🐚 Springtails are great for vivariums and bio active terrariums because they eat animal droppings and more importantly, mould. They work so well because they breed like wild and adjust the size of their population based on how much food there is, when they’re in their tub only feed them when they’ve finished everything else . 🐚 #springtail #springtails #springtailsofinstagram #springtailculture #springtailsandisopods #cleanupcrew #breedingspringtails #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Update on the lichen terrarium, I plan to make a lot of these so I’ll be posting regularly as notes. 🦠 The lichen looks awesome, it’s in a sunny window and is getting plenty of moisture, it seems to be thriving on all sides of the terrarium. As I do most new terrariums I open it up after a week to see if it smells alright, I did and it smelled a bit moldy. I looked closer and the stick (on the right) with no lichen on it seemed a bit darker around the knobs. Took it out and smelled it and it definitely had some mould on it. 🦠 I found some great pieces of bark and twigs covered in a nice bluish lichen on my walk yesterday so I substituted that in (scroll to see, def an upgrade!) I also added a bunch of springtails, I’m hoping they can manage the mould and wood/bark that’s in there. Still don’t want to add isopods because they’ll eat everything and overrun the whole thing. 🦠 Next time I’m going to air it out a bit and see if that helps, not sure if that will affect the springtails or the lichen. 🦠 #lichen #lichens #lichenterrarium #lichenlove #lichenlover #lichenloversunite #lichenloversofinstagram #springtails #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Still on a lichen kick. 🍄 #mycology #mycobiont #lichen #lichens #lichenlove #lichenlover #lichenlovers #lichenloversunite #sciencystuff #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #dictionarycom #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Update on the propagation station. No roots but there are flowers budding and opening up. 🪴 On the bottom row the water has been changed once, will be doing it weekly. The fourth spot is drinking all the water and shooting new growth out the top every day, I’m going to have plant it outside soon or it might tip the whole shelf. 🪴 Second row has a couple of Purple Tradescantia cuttings, two heavily calloused Aloe stocks (not sure if this’ll work, I tried a fresh cut one and the water turned red), and a nice Devil’s Ivy cutting. 🪴 Up top is a random Pine cutting & a Eucalyptus stock that my son found; I took off the bottom leaves and they seem to be coming back, we’ll see what comes of it. 🪴 #propagation #propagationstation #propagating #propagate #devilsivymarblequeen #devilsivyplants #tradescantia #purpletradescantia #eucalyptus #aloe #aloevera #cuttings #flowercuttings #plantcuttings #tnalpevoli #biophile #animism
Small haul from foraging for terrarium things and isopod food. 🪨 #foraging #hardscape #hardscaping #terrariums #terrariumtherapy #terrariumthings #rocks #bark #moss #mosses #mossterrariums #mossterrarium #getoutside #biophile #tnalpevoli
Recently potted up these cacti. Going well so far. 🌵 More detail to follow, going to fertilize soon! 🌵 #cactus #cacti #cacticacti #cactilove #cactilover #cactilovers #cactilove🌵 #cactuslover #cactusathome #donttouchme #biophile #tnalpevoli #nream #naturerules #natureruleseverythingaroundme
Not to be confused with a rhizoid. Basically an underground stem like potatoes or ginger, etc. 🥔 #rhizome #rhizomes #wordoftheday #wordnerd #wordnerds #wordnerdsunite #botany #botanywords #biophile #tnalpevoli
Made a little strawberry field with the kid yesterday. 🍓 If you thin slice the outside of a strawberry (and pine berries in this case), put them on some paper towel, and let them dry out for a few days not only will your kids ask you if they’re ready yet every freakin day…you’ll get strawberry seeds. 🍓 Scrape them off with the backside of a knife onto a plate or whatever you should end up with a lot. We filled a clear plastic lettuce tub with potting soil, tried to evenly shake the sides in, mixed it up a little, sprayed it down and sealed it up. 🍓 We’re hoping to have enough little strawberry plants that we can move into small pots so we can sell them for $2/e and make enough money for more plants. We’ll keep you posted! 🍓 #strawberry #strawberry🍓 #strawberrys #strawberries🍓 #strawberries🍓🍓 #strawberries🍓🍓🍓 #strawberryplant #strawberryplants #strawberryseed #stawberryseedlings #pineberry #pineberries #gardenwithyourkids #projectforkids #biophile #tnalpevoli
Picked up a String of Hearts plant on the weekend. 💚 My String Of Turtles cuttings plant seems to instantly flourish whenever it goes in a terrarium so I thought I’d grab another type to offset the action. 💚 String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii) is a good-looking trailing succulent native to South Africa, Zimbabwe, & Swaziland that’s vines can grown anywhere from 3 to 9 feet long. They also work great as ground cover in terrariums. 💚 Care wise it likes heat and bright light but not getting cooked in direct light. Keep it in a south or west facing window and hang it high so the vines can do their cascading thing. Water wise they don’t need too much, give them a good bottom water when the top 2-3” of soil is dry, make sure to let it drain before it goes back or the roots will rot and then you got problems. 💚 As for soil use a well draining one, if they sit in water too long they get root rot, cactus soil works well or regular potting soil with a handful of perlite or pumice. They can get straggly if the soil is too rich, pruning is the way to go if you want your plant to be fuller. Propagate the cuttings from pruning in soil or water, I stick mine straight into a terrarium in they get busy. 💚 Love it and it’ll love you back! 💚 #stringofheartsplant #stringofheartspropagation #stringofhearts #stringofheartscare #stringofheartslove #succulentlove #houseplants #biophile #tnalpevoli
Scored an Oak Leaf Creeping Ficus (Ficus Thunbergii) for my collection this weekend! Loves indirect sun/partial (10 hours makes it happy!) shade and lots of water. 🌿 Already made a really small terrarium in a bottle with cuttings from this ficus, a pilea and some turtle vine. I’ll post pics this week, can’t wait to see how it grows. 🌿 #ficus #creepingficus #oakleafcreepingficus #houseplants #terrariumplants #terrariumplant # #ficusthunbergii #newterrarium #vines #newhouseplant #tnalpevoli