WOW! I am by no means a Pro at pickles, but over the last few years have come up with a recipe I like. In my opinion a "Claussen" type pickle is just a crunchy or crisp garlic pickle. I think Claussen pickles are refrigerated because they are quick pickles and are not fully processed. As processing pickles requires HEAT and heat will cook the pickles. Now the amount of heat used would depend on how cooked they get. I found this out the hard way and 8 qts were super soft and were only saved by turning into relish as needed. I have never tried fermenting pickles and don't think I ever would it sounds like too much trouble. There are a couple ways to keep your pickles crisp - Pickle Crisp also grape leaves. I have never tried either. I keep mine crisp by using fresh "no more then 4 days old and immediately refrigerated after picking> and soaking in an ice water bath for between 2 and 4 hours prior to pickling. As far as the size and type of cucs to use I have found pickling type are best. Although I have used slicing but they do change the final product and are not as good. I like using large ones about 1 1/2 to 2 inch diameter. This recipe is named for my Son. Sometimes a miscalculation can lead to a success. Snakey Jake Pickles Yield about 8 quarts 30 to 40 pickling cucumbers BRINE 12 cups Water 6 cups white vinegar 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp Pickling salt "is also 10 Tbsp> 4 tsp dried minced onion "can use 1/3 cup fresh> 2 Tbsp Processed minced Garlic (store bought jarred) "this is equal to 12 cloves of fresh" 1 Tbsp Mustard seed 2 Tbsp Dill seed 4 tsp sugar Jars 1/4 tsp pepper flakes 3-4 Whole All Spice 5-8 Whole Peppercorns 2-3 Cloves Fresh Garlic rough cut "depends on size 2 Lg or 3 Sm/Med> Brine: Bring liquid to boil, while waiting for boil combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. When boiling add ingredients stir to dissolve salt, return to boil. Keep hot! Jars: Prepare jars for ingredients by sterilizing in boiling water for 10 minutes. Fill sterile jars with dry and fresh ingredients, pack with cut cucumbers. Ladle boiling/hot brine into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Let cool completely and refrigerate. Or you can process in a boiling water bath for 10 min. When completely cool store on shelf. Notes: Prep cucumbers by slicing into spears or 1/4 inch chips and place into a bowl of ice water for 2 to 4 hours prior to brine or jar preparation. This helps keep them crispy. You can eat these pickles as soon as they are cool, about a couple hours. Although best if you leave them for a couple weeks. IMPORTANT KEEP BOILING WATER BATH BOILING so it is ready for processing. If you put your jars in a cool bath and bring it to boil they will cook. 10 min of a rolling boil so don't start timing til water is boiling. For more info on a BWB refer to ball blue book or the USDA website. Also left over brine can be kept in the fridge for a few days if necessary. Enjoy! Orbdweller

They're great for pasta and/or bean storage and have a really neat nostalgic look about them that you just can't get from other ordinary "modern" containers. Plus, they're great for making and aging fruit flavored liquers and flavored vinegars since they have measurement marks on them. They take up less square footage than bowls of the same quantity because they're vertical. They have lids that fit, bowls usually don't. They're glass, which is usually safer than plastic, if you care about that aspect. I made a bunch of pickled beets in one a couple years ago that I didn't want to can. They went in the fridge. Less shelf space than two quarts or 4 pints. Last year's hot pepper haul went in one after they were dried. I can see them and won't lose or forget about them. Older standard mouth jars make great decanters. Lots of interesting shapes in the older styles. So they're fun to just look at.

I would not put the top on it at all, as too high of humidity is not good for plants, and you probably don't want to put it where it gets sunlight at all as it will raise the temperature too much and cook them. Definitely don't put the top on AND place it where it gets sunlight. That would certainly make it too hot in there. I have a terrarium but I use cool flourescent lighting to give it the light that it needs. Mine is a tropical terrarium, and I have a hygrometer and thermometer to measure temp and humidity to keep that where it needs to be. I don't know anything about the plants that you mentioned. If they need very high humidity then you may need the top, but you will most likely have to worry about mold growing without good air circulation and a high humidity level. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help.

DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T DO IT!!! I apologise for the shouting caps, but I really don't think you should EVER use a container larger than a one-quart jar. The USDA currently only recommends using a 1/2 gallon jar only for juices, and only very acidic ones at that. (I don't know what their definition of 'very acidic' is, though.) You wouldn't want to use a 1/2 gallon jar for any solid foods: no vegetables, and certainly NEVER any low acid foods which would require a pressure canner. The rationale for this policy is simple: a boiling water bath only kills botulism spores in an acidic environment. You need both heat AND acid. Given the mass of the jar, it's quite possible that the heat won't penetrate the inside of the jar sufficiently well enough to kill the botulism spores. Lest you think I'm a nervous nellie about food, I'm not, really; I love good raw oysters (if I know the source), and I eat ethnic foods on vacation in restaurants whose sanitation might be a bit questionable. But you don't mess around with botulism. I'm a pretty experienced canner--I make and can all my own chicken broth, for instance, and it's a heck of a lot better than any commercial product. You can follow USDA guidelines for processing that and be fairly well assured that the product won't kill you. But if they recommend against something (as they do concerning the 1/2 gallon jars) I'm certainly not going to pretend I know more than they do. Let's see: using a 1/2 gallon jar, that means I only have half as many jars to fill, process, store and clean prior to re-use. The downside is a more-than-negligible chance I could get botulism. And botulism isn't like ordinary food poisoning where you have wicked gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhea, but usually pull through with enough fluids. The botulism toxin causes paralysis, and you stop breathing and DIE. Please do this: do a Google search using these terms: "1/2 gallon canning jars food safety", and also check out the link below on botulism poisoning. If you STILL decide to use the larger jars, all I can say is: make sure your will is in order! :) Bon Appetit! Arley Here is a link that might be useful: botulism