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Sphagnum as “The Canary in the Coal Mine”

  • #21
I've always advocated using live Sphagnum as much as possible and to grow your own. I've pontificated on the point several times in the past.

If you have established colonies of Sphagnum why bother going the long route and germinating more spores? Simply give the colonies a "haircut" and snip off the top 1/4-1/2" of live growth and toss it into a small tub or empty pot and keep it wet with adequate lighting. Repeat as often as you want the old stuff to grow out.

In a shorter time than messing around with dried stuff you'll have more Sphagnum than you know what to do with.

I find that it is more a matter of having enough live sphagnum on hand for a given task that has me both cannibalizing from other pots, expanding my supply of live material on a regular basis, and often starting another batch from dried moss (what is a paltry six weeks of no effort when dealing with plants which, in some cases, can take ten years to fully mature?). I use the live sphagnum not only as a top-dressing but as a primary ingredient of most compost mixes and in fairly large pots.

In the end, I have the luxury of using both methods, but the point of the initial thread was aimed at someone who was just beginning and who potentially had only the dried moss at hand . . .
 
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  • #22
Sorry, I can't help you, it won't work with the Kroeger brand (heh, heh) . . .

Again, saturate the living hell out of it -- think bog -- and keep it in moderate Tbs (70s) and indirect light -- no cooking. The live spot will certainly grow as well as the spores in the dried material. Give it a few weeks, always keeping it wet . . .

I just began another batch in a Ziplock® gallon-size bag (did I mention it's a fine SC Johnson product?) to replant some Heliamphora this coming September . . .


I agree with upper. What is/are "Tbs"?
 
  • #24
Sorry . . .

"Tb" is an abbreviation for temperature . . .

I can't find this anywhere online. Source? I'm curious. I found Tb meaning body temp, but that makes sense, with T For temp and b as a subscript for body. Lots of tuberculosis results, too. :p
 
  • #25
"Tb" is used as an abbreviation for "temperature" in scientific fields a great deal, such as ∆Tb, or "change in temperature," etc . . .

If you did a Google search, try "Tb, temperature" . . .
 
  • #26
I did, and couldn't find anything. That's why I was hoping for a link to a source. Ah well.
 
  • #27
I did, and couldn't find anything. That's why I was hoping for a link to a source. Ah well.

It has been used for decades in scientific equations, journals, etc., and was regularly used in every course I've taken in chemistry, physics, ecology, botany, cell and molecular biology, zoölogy, marine biology, quantitative analysis, ad nauseum. Here is an arbitrary link to some agro paper:

agron.scijournals.org/cgi/reprint/97/3/943.pdf in which the abbreviation appears. If you're looking for etymology, I am sure that you can find a source . . .
 
  • #28
BigBella: I went PETCO and bought New Zealand Sphagnum moss from the reptile section. Do you think there is any difference from this one to the one they sell at Lowes or places like that?
 
  • #29
maybe supply and demand jag. i would say it's no different than the NZS that you'd buy from let's say an orchid shop---but because of the market that it caters to, they're going to hike up that price.
 
  • #30
BigBella: I went PETCO and bought New Zealand Sphagnum moss from the reptile section. Do you think there is any difference from this one to the one they sell at Lowes or places like that?

If you're sure that it's NZ sphagnum, that's great; but not every source for moss is reputable, so be careful . . .
 
  • #31
That stuff at Petco is way over priced.
 
  • #33
I know its way overprice!! However I did have a $10 off coupon that was going to the trash... so I got it for $5. Ill take a picture tomorrow and see if you guys can help me out if it is or isn't real stuff. If its not the real stuff then a see a lawsuit and ill buy everyone who has posted something in this thread a N. Edwardsiana once it comes out for reatil ofcourse. :) :) :)
 
  • #34
okay everyone. Well after doing some search on the internet. I found out by a grower that the new zealand moss from zoo med has chemicals. Due to this I am not going to open it and just return it. I rather not take my chances. I just got blonde sphagnum moss from Chile. Hopefully it works!
 
  • #35
Both Chilean and NZ sphagnum are great; it's the leaf-litter-laden crap from Mosser Lee that is to be avoided. I could have made a wicker basket from the chaff I found in one bag.

Never again . . .
 
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