How To Make a Display Case
MAKE THIS DISPLAY CASE
You can get picture frames for cheap at the Dollar Tree and perhaps other retail stores. I used 2 - 10" x 13" frames for the long sides, 2 - 8" x 10" frames for the ends and 4 - 5" x 7" frames for the roof. Take the glass out before you hot glue them together. I painted mine before I put the glass back in. After I hot glued them together, I hot glued a small LED tube light into the top and ran the cord down the outside of the case but you could run it down the inside and notch out the bottom for the cord to run under the case and hot glue it into place or use E6000 if you prefer.
I also used laser cut picture frames from the craft store to decorate the top ends of the case. I have mine below eye level on low tables at seating height but the light was still a little too bright so I used corrugated card and metal tape to make little awnings on the outside of the roof frames as shades. It also directs the light downward. Since the LED lights do not get hot you can decorate the outside roof glass with paper, tape etc. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could make a door on one end to open for easy access instead of leaving the bottom open.
The top roof ends and the bottom of the case on mine are open so the case fits over a plant, but you could put glass or plexi in the top ends if you want to encase your violet. I always provide an air hole(s) for my violets.
You could also use micro mesh in the top triangle ends for air circulation if you want. The plant still gets plenty of isolation away from my collection and raised humidity and lighting for healthy growth.
I added a decorative medallion to each side of the glass panels. You could decorate yours any number of ways with wooden medallions, stencil patterns, glass paint, etc. or keep them simple, plain and shabby. You can also make them in any size. Just glue together different sized frames to make your own unique display case.
ISOLATION OR ENCASEMENT
You may just need a space away from your other violets if you find a bug on a plant or want to isolate one for a while in another room until you figure out what is wrong with it.
That's where a display case can come in handy. I have them in another room and isolate my new violets until I'm sure they're healthy. It's also a good way to show off a favorite violet even if you don't have any that need to be isolated. Isolation is different from encasement. Isolation is moving them away from your collection perhaps in another room. Encasement is enclosing them with no air. I don't encase my plants except for a short while when decapitating or re-starting them because I believe they need air to be healthy and survive regardless of whether or not they are fighting pests. But there are people who do encase them so that's another option that's given.
I used to make terrariums back in the 70's and we never completely enclosed them without an air hole or removable lid because even a tiny ecosystem gives off gases and needs air to be healthy so I carried that over to my violet growing. I always provide an air hole for air to come in and excess humidity to escape. Plants take in carbon dioxide from the air through cellular respiration and give off oxygen. Without this exchange, they will not survive for long and other issues can pop up like powdery mildew, black spot, blight, rot, rust and other fungus. Where the humidity is over 75% fungal diseases and pathogens thrive. See corynespora cassilcola which is a bad fungus that plagues greenhouses and other plants.
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NOTES
September 17, 2018 - I use Maggies' Farm organic 3 in 1 insecticide, miticide and fungicide as a bug killer with every plant I bring into my house. It kills thrips, mites and controls fungus, mildew and a lot of other nasties. No need to encase a violet after spraying with that if used every 5 days for 30 days to kill bugs in all life cycles. Dead bugs can't fly!
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