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Moss intertwined with terrestrial utrics

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Last year a bunch of us received pinches / plugs of epiphytic Utrics. I'll go out on a limb, here, and say that we all had moss intertwined with them. I didn't know what they all did, but I lived with it.

Recently, a friend asked me how to get rid of the moss. I really don't have a foolproof remedy. My only thought, outside of just picking it out s best I can, was to maybe take the moss and Utrics and put in water and hope they will separate some, enought to be able to remove the moss. But I just don't know.

Any ideas?
 
i have no clue Jim. i just live with it. hasnt caused any serious problems as far as i can tell so far.
 
btw i dont think you have any true epiphytes. there are a couple on your list that grow happily as epiphytes but they arent really according to Fernando. i think i only have one epiphytic species with second one it depends on who you talk to. not that it matters. i have no moss problems with any i grow as epiphytes. the moss is all in the terrestrial pots.
 
I grow all my Utricularia species moss free. After receiving the plants, I use fresh substrate and put the plants in water to wash off the moss and algae. Then the first 1-2 months I take my tweezers to get rid of the remaining mosses which pop up. After that its silent and moss comes up very rarely. Its just the discipline to make a fresh start and keep it up.

Cheers,
Jan
 
I have this moss that came with a utric, that at first I loved, because its very fine and feathery looking... OMG this moss from hell has takes over all my utrics, filled my pygmy drosera pots, starting to show up in all my pots!!
If there was only a way t get rid of it! it seems to produce tns of spores, when you touch it lightly it covers your fingers in green powder.

Any of you ever battled this type of moss?
Any tips on getting rid of it?

-Jc
 
I have had the experience of dealing with all sorts of moss: moss from New Zealand has got to be the worst. I know the feathery stuff you mention Juan, it is terrible stuff and nearly impossible to get rid of!

As Jan says, keeping Urticularia moss free is a discipline. You need to transplant and divide frequently, always staying ahead of the moss. This is a good process since Utricularia profit from frequent division (usually).

Occasionally, flower scapes can be persuaded to generate new plants, usually free of moss spores, and these can be replanted, and of course seed can be used to start fresh cultures if and when it is produced.

Getting a moss free culture will require attention and discipline. If you can get even a few moss free lolons, these can be lain on fresh medium and in time they will make rolons, spread and establish. The U. sandersonii Pyro sent me years ago arrived here in bits a couple mm long. I couldn't figure how so small a thing could be so further reduced in size, but they managed to do it! My current plants all come from just one leafy little lollon which I enticed to grow and prayed over daily.

Its the same with Genlisea - lay the "leaf" flat and both these genera will (hopefully) strike and grow.

If your looking for a way to evade moss, the only way I know is by providing a nearly sterile medium. Microwaving the peat helps short term, but spores are spores and do their thing eventually.

Hope this gives some ideas, but really the best game plan is to frequently divide, and then subsequently weed the new pots. There is no control product avaiable.
 
Thanks for the tips Tamlin! Should I even bother with trying to ged of this moss or just live with it the feathery stuff that is.

Tamlin the drosera hybrid seeds I got from ya grew very well, and even flowered for me already!

-Jc
 
Hi Juan,

Glad to hear about the success with the seed I sent
smile.gif
If I recall this was the D. nidiformis x D. collinsae possibility (and I stress *possibility* since the seed arose from uncontrolled fertilization). It's a pretty plant though! I will be interested in hearing how the next generation turns out so please drop me a line when you get plants from your own seed)

Well bro you really dont have much choice with the feathery moss. The stuff will choke an elephant so you *have* to stay on top of it. If it is the stuff I am thinking of, it takes over a fresh pot of medium quickly. I have tried covering the feathery stuff with a layer of milled sphagnum, and it helps slow down things if you catch it soon enough. Sometimes it even stops it dead in its tracks. For me, I notice a brownish fur on the surface of the mix which soon sprouts into little feathers of nightmare. Utricularia seem to not object to the milled moss they way they do to other species of moss.

I was experimenting halfassedly with using strong tea in hopes the increased acidity might discourage this rampant moss. I thought my results showed a positive reduction in the amount of moss, but more experiments are needed.

In all cases Ive found that using well weathered peat results in far less incidents of rampant moss. I use only peat that has been rained on for a season with much improved results.

Hope this helps!
 
Hey Tamlin, the ones I got from you are D. collinsae X D. dielsiana
They had nice light pink flowers, and I already got a little bit of sed, hopeing the other blooms produced seed aswell!

I'll try and snap a picture of that moss as soon as I can, but yes it grows FAST!!

-Jc
 
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