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Algea or sphagnum?

When I got my plants I bought from cooks awhile ago there were a few tiny sprigs of live sphagnum included in the little bit of soil he used to keep them moist.Heres my question though.Im starting to see faint green splotches in my pots,is this algea or where new sphagnum is starting to grow? If you need pics Ill see if I can find the battery to my camera.
 
HArd to tell without a photo. Might be another species of moss even.
 
Ok Ill try and post pics sometime soon.
 
Well I have no clue where the battery went for my camera
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Does anybody know how to distinguish between moss and algae?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Big Mouth @ Aug. 02 2005,3:22)]Does anybody know how to distinguish between moss and algae?
It might taste different. Have you tried that?
 
Yeah, but they taste the same
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But seriously is there any way to tell the difference?
 
usualy algea looks like the soil has been colored with a marker
good luck
oh and just scrape it with a plastic knife, like the ones from fast food restourants.
 
yup its algae
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I removed it the best I could hopefully it wont come back
 
Don't even think it won't be back. I have algae in many pots, and leave it alone unless it becomes overbearing. It will cover seedlings
completely, smothering them out, but big plants it won't do much to. Its just ugly.
 
  • #10
Yeah,its been a day and theres more of it.I was under the impression that it could harm the plants but youve been growing that long so Ill take your word for it.
 
  • #11
Big Mouth, Most mosses in a pot or a terrarium start out looking like cotton fuzz growing in the pot/terrarium. It will cover many plants and kill seedlings too, but I felt you need to know about this. After it gets to a certain size (spread) the green growth starts, and a healthy carpet of moss appears. It will also "take out" a lot of young seedlings and smaller plants, smothering them to death. It isn't too hard to tell the difference between algae, and common moss growth. Just an FYI.
 
  • #12
How are you getting algae; they need nutrients to grow?
 
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