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Live sphagnum growin?

  • #21
I've had pretty bad luck sprouting sphagnum from the dried moss. I have used both Mosser Lee and the Chilean Orchid Moss.

All that ever happens on my pots is that the top layer begins to turn black:

P7290024.jpg



Then, towards the end of the growing season, some unknown Bryophyte sprouts. It looks nice, so I leave it. The ambient humidity and overall sunlight is probably unideal. However, I think getting live sphagnum wouldn't be so bad..... ;)

P7090025.jpg



I also tried sprouting it in an enclosed container, but without any luck either. All I got was mold/fungus.
 
  • #22
Hiya Joosa-

Have you tried that sphagnum magic don't get it in your lungs dust method as Swords described?

I'm gonna try it the next time my local nursery has a shipment of NZ moss.

E
 
  • #23
2 more cents

You are looking at too high a temperature, and possibly too low of humidity.
The downright cold temps it wants seems to be its highest priority tho.
Mine grows best in my highland terrarium, and second best outdoors in a cool spot.
It seems to handle a lot of direct sun, so long as it is kept cool and humid.
The worst place is in my lowland setup, as it is humid but just too warm for it. :headwall:

Starting sphagnum growing from dried packaged moss is slow and often difficult.
The next time you do a trade with someone, see if you can get them to throw some in.
It will readily grow from small cuttings like a weed, if conditions are right. :woot:

As far as different brands of sphagnum, I posted about the differences in moss qualities
some time ago: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115013
however I did not cover which moss would grow best from packaged state.
I have had both types grow from the dry state, however starting from even a small clump
worked out best when I wanted to grow it.
Above all, like all the plants we grow, if we don't provide the ideal environment that it wants,
it doesn't matter what else we do, it won't "thrive". :water:
Like most things, you won't know until you try.

Paul

sphagnum.jpg
 
  • #24
Veronis,
If you wanna grow your own sphagnum faster and in more quantity get hold of a small bale of blond LFS labeled "Orchid Moss" from Lowes ($5) and one of those Jiffy Seedling Greenhouse trays with the clear lids ($3).

Take handfuls of dry LFS and grind them together to make a shredded dust, it seems to cause moss germination faster. My belief is that this releases spores as well as generates more surface area for them to germinate on. Grind up enough handfuls to fill the Jiffy tray to 1" deep or so. Wear a mask or tie a shirt over your face like a old-time bandit when you do this cos you don't wanna breathe the LFS dust it's very bad and can cause a fungal infection in your lungs.

Soak the ground up moss well with R/O water and then squeeze most of the water out of it and put it in the tray making a roughly even layer of moist ground up moss. Mist it heavily don't water log it just get the surface glistening as if it was lightly rained on and put the lid on it. Let the tray get indirect sun light, terrarium light or at least cool eastern morning light and shade the rest of the day and in about 90 days you should begin to have your own field of green which you can harvest from and replace with another bit of ground moss to keep the culture growing. Mist it every few days or whenever it looks to be getting dry. The brighter the light it gets the faster it dries out. Western/afternoon sun seems to burn germinating LFS even if it's under a humidity dome. I never have good luck growing it on my patio.

I went and got some of that whiter orchid moss at Lowe's (and it has its own fair share of long roots and twigs and leaves), and I tried taking handfuls and rubbing them together, but since I was trying to catch it all in a glass pie plate, I found it easier to take a half handful or so, put it between my palms, and rub together vigorously. It got nice and dusty. I put it in two 1" or so tall tupperware containers, and since the lids are blue, I just used saran wrap for the lids. I might put one container under my grow lights (where moss has been growing from my media with my seedlings, and one in an east-facing window (doesn't get too much sun, though, because of trees and a hill across the street). I hope this works!
 
  • #25
Veronis,
If you wanna grow your own sphagnum faster and in more quantity get hold of a small bale of blond LFS labeled "Orchid Moss" from Lowes ($5) and one of those Jiffy Seedling Greenhouse trays with the clear lids ($3).

Take handfuls of dry LFS and grind them together to make a shredded dust, it seems to cause moss germination faster. My belief is that this releases spores as well as generates more surface area for them to germinate on. Grind up enough handfuls to fill the Jiffy tray to 1" deep or so. Wear a mask or tie a shirt over your face like a old-time bandit when you do this cos you don't wanna breathe the LFS dust it's very bad and can cause a fungal infection in your lungs.

Soak the ground up moss well with R/O water and then squeeze most of the water out of it and put it in the tray making a roughly even layer of moist ground up moss. Mist it heavily don't water log it just get the surface glistening as if it was lightly rained on and put the lid on it. Let the tray get indirect sun light, terrarium light or at least cool eastern morning light and shade the rest of the day and in about 90 days you should begin to have your own field of green which you can harvest from and replace with another bit of ground moss to keep the culture growing. Mist it every few days or whenever it looks to be getting dry. The brighter the light it gets the faster it dries out. Western/afternoon sun seems to burn germinating LFS even if it's under a humidity dome. I never have good luck growing it on my patio.

Okay, I tried this recipe, more or less, and I have lots of stuff growing. I think it's just weeds.

UJRI4l.png


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  • #27
Wow great Info. Thanks everyone. Just one question once you have your sphagnum growing how do you get more sphagnum? do you just leave it growing? or do I cut it? or what should I do. I have one of those shoe box trays with sphagnum growing, but I don't know how to get more. Its just growing there.
 
  • #28
Wow great Info. Thanks everyone. Just one question once you have your sphagnum growing how do you get more sphagnum? do you just leave it growing? or do I cut it? or what should I do. I have one of those shoe box trays with sphagnum growing, but I don't know how to get more. Its just growing there.

Just allow it to grow into a large mat and simply pull off what you need for your planting . . .
 
  • #29
I have found 6 maybe 7 different grasses that grow out of the New Zealand moss
also a cute little thing that looks like a succulent when 2 leaves big. then it turns into a multi leafed soft plant. if you let it grow over six inches it gets prickly
people have told me it is gorse?isp Ihave also found pieces of it in the moss try and grab a hansdul of NZ moss and get stuck jest like there was a thistle in it
jest my 2 cents and observations

you should see what they sell as NZ mossin Autraliia. it is blonde but has different stiks and vines and what no, like our WI moss
 
  • #30
Veronis,
If you wanna grow your own sphagnum faster and in more quantity get hold of a small bale of blond LFS labeled "Orchid Moss" from Lowes ($5) and one of those Jiffy Seedling Greenhouse trays with the clear lids ($3).

Take handfuls of dry LFS and grind them together to make a shredded dust, it seems to cause moss germination faster. My belief is that this releases spores as well as generates more surface area for them to germinate on. Grind up enough handfuls to fill the Jiffy tray to 1" deep or so. Wear a mask or tie a shirt over your face like a old-time bandit when you do this cos you don't wanna breathe the LFS dust it's very bad and can cause a fungal infection in your lungs.

Soak the ground up moss well with R/O water and then squeeze most of the water out of it and put it in the tray making a roughly even layer of moist ground up moss. Mist it heavily don't water log it just get the surface glistening as if it was lightly rained on and put the lid on it. Let the tray get indirect sun light, terrarium light or at least cool eastern morning light and shade the rest of the day and in about 90 days you should begin to have your own field of green which you can harvest from and replace with another bit of ground moss to keep the culture growing. Mist it every few days or whenever it looks to be getting dry. The brighter the light it gets the faster it dries out. Western/afternoon sun seems to burn germinating LFS even if it's under a humidity dome. I never have good luck growing it on my patio.

I just wanted to say that this worked for me, but all I got was red sphagnum! :-O
 
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