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Red, and I mean RED, Sphagnum moss

Lil Stinkpot

Lucky Greenhorn
I bought a pretty little Nepenthes at the latest BACPS meeting, and with it came this pretty little bonus:

058-2.jpg


I have it in a jar, under (admittedly minimal) lighting, and it's growing!

Now what??




I understand that in order to get that beautiful red color it needs more light, but for now, I am happy with it just growing; I can get more light for it later, after we get the car fixed. :censor:

After it multiplies and fills the jar, I plan to experiment. Imagine-- a whole 8" pot FULL! :boogie:




~edit~


Oh, BTW! Clue, you may be interested in this particular setup. Go to Smart and Final or Ross or something and get a big glass cookie jar with a lid:

061.jpg


Add some dried LFSM and enough distilled water to wet the moss but not flood it. Add your reddish strands, put the lid on, and stand back.

Do note: what you see is NOT enough light. It will do, until I can get better, but it will grow green and leggy.
 
When you get a good bunch going you can spread it out in a wider track in something like a clear under the bed storage bin (40" x 18" x 8") with the clear lid or if your bin is colored plastic cut out the center of the lid and use a piece of plexi in there to let light to the subject. Just slap a twin tube shop light on it and grow a "little acre" of LFS. That's what one of my next projects is going to be.

"Sphagnum farming in the Falklands..." (nep AK U still alive? ;))
 
When i went to a bog up here in WA, there was a ton of reaaaalllly red sphagnum, i believe the species is capillifolium, atleast what i found was i believe. i also have some that i got from a nursery a few months back when they sold it. but it never really turned red for me...
BogandRonsplace010.jpg
 
That's some really pretty Sphag.


The next time I'm up that way, I'd like to find that bog. I'd love to see stuff growing in the wild.

For that matter, I have a future appointment with some Nor Cal Darlingtonia, once I get the... well, you know. :D


(That darned car, darn the slippery pavement, and darn the driver, too! :blush:)



I don't currently have room for a shop light, d'you think it'll be OK outside? Oh, except for the raccoons. Hmmm, I think I'll make room inside, thanks.

I just saw a big 'coon tonight, in fact.
 
Outside should be OK tape the lid on if you're worried about 'coons.

wow! some great red sphagnum kris!
 
here is what one section of the ground looked like with the red moss, if this is capillifolium, and what you have turns out to be capillifolium, this is what it has the potential to look like....its a gorgeous species
BogandRonsplace009.jpg
 
Wow that is nice!I read in a book that soldiers used dried sphagnum to bandage their wound and when I saw this I almost puked haha
 
lol
I remember reading that before too. IIRC it was mainly used in the American civil war, cos it soaks up a lot of blood and has anti-fungal properties. :D
 
yep, sphagnum contains iodine....so its actually pretty good for that sort of thing...better than maggots atleast ;)
 
  • #10
They also find old mummified bodies in Sphagnum peat. it does a great job at preserving them.


As soon as I get the proper tub, I'll be putting my super-red Spahg outside, where it belongs. I gotta make it raccoon-proof first. :rolleyes:
 
  • #11
Yes, I remember the story about the first bog-body they found in the UK. The newspaper reported "a body has been found in such and such bog but not yet identified" so this man went to the police and said he'd murdered his wife and threw her in the bog and that was the unidentified body that was discussed in the paper so they arrested him. But upon investigation the body they found was a male, probably a sacrifice victim from hundreds or thousands of years earlier to the Gwrach y Rhibyn or a similar bog entity. Of course, he'd already confessed about his wife... lol

David Attenborough could do a show on the Secret Life of Sphagnum! :D
 
  • #12
David Attenborough could do a show on the Secret Life of Sphagnum! :D

Now that would be interesting. :sleep:


I made space on the table out side, and put the Sphag. out there, where it could get better sun. It's in a giant glass cookie jar. :cool:

Though that glass will get H-O-T when the weather warms, so I'll need a Rubbermaid bin before long.
 
  • #13
Aw, I like plant lore like that. One of the perils of being a geek like me is you like boring stuff! :D

I wasn't able to get sphagnum growing well outside, it always burns for me even when it's in a Jiffy greenhouse tray with a clear lid and plenty of water the tips always blacken so keep a watch out for that. Too strong of sun I suppose. Only that pest sort of moss that grows in peat seems to grow fine on my patio real easy!
 
  • #14
If outdoors fails, I do have a nice spot under the GH "bench" that worked for a while.
 
  • #15
They found ships in various bogs from Vikings (no pun intended) to someone trying to claim they found the Ark from the Bible.
 
  • #16
I use 10 gal tanks with metal mesh lids with clamps on each of the four sides to keep the coons away from my Cephs when I grow them outside during Spring/Fall.
Works quite good and has nice ventalation. That might work for ya.
 
  • #17
I can try that, sounds good.
 
  • #18
I ordered a gallon of red Sphagnum from Virginia. Does anyone know if it's more difficult than any other (and if it can be grown year-round?)

I'll post pics of it when it comes in. It was twice the price of what Green goes for :( I hope it's quality stuff I get.
 
  • #19
Hey, can you send me a link? I'd like a few more gallons. I plan to order some Helis soon.
 
  • #20
You can also start small scale colonies. At el pollo loco they have those little things [cups with lids] for sauces, but you can also start a spaghnum colony, especially if you have a lot and you line them under the lights with your plants. I'll get a pic later.
 
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