Tryin' to grow me some Sphagnum

[TheFury]

So I'm really into the idea of growing Sphagnum moss these days. It just looks so nice with a CP growing out of it that I can't resist. But I don't want to pay shipping on a small pot of it when I have the option to try sprouting some myself first.

About a month ago I took some of this LFS and some of this kind as well. I put some of the first kind in ziploc bags and wet it up nicely, then I left the bags a few inches under my fluorescent lights in my grow rack. I started to see some green growth, so I made a few micro bogs out of some empty death cubes by putting a few inches of peat in the bottom of each, then a layer of dried LFS, then topped it off with what I hoped was the new, green growth from the ziploc bags. Then I flooded the cubes to an inch or two below the surface:

So what do you think... is this real growth or do my eyes deceive me? If this works (or really, even if it doesn't) I'll try my luck in sprouting some of the second type of LFS (Better Gro).

 

[lizasaur]

I can't help you, unfortunately. I do wish you luck

It's just...your title made me think of this:
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Had to share

 

[TheFury]

I love that line

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

May be of a resource

http://bluegrasscarnivores.com/

 

[TheFury]

I've read that page many times, it was very helpful! However, that guide assumes you already have a culture of live sphagnum, whereas I'm trying to get some live growth off of dried sphagnum. I take it the conditions under which dead sphagnum may or may not sprout new growth are somewhat different than those conditions that would sustain an existing live culture. Or not so much?

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

Unless its been sterilized, dried sphagnum will have dormant spores present on it.

 

[RSS]

This is just peat/sand/perlite, I had no intention of it starting to grow. Just another option out there. The sides of the tank were exposed to light and grew.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/5155446860/" title="244 by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1119/5155446860_cc0e8a614c_z.jpg" width="640" height="428" alt="244" /></a>

 

[swords]

How long ago did you start your moss? It can take about 90 days for it to get going. Sometimes the green tint you show is a precursor to the LFS starting and sometimes it just stays green like that and never actually grows.

I've found in a highland tank you got faster germination off a tray of previously dried LFS than in lowland conditions but that may have been due to the HL tank having lots of humidified incoming air 24/7 and daily rains from a sprayer for the mounted orchids and everything else got wet as well.

If you wanna get serious about farming some Sphagnum get a low wide tray like a jiffy seedling tray (11" x 21") or even a nice under the bed sterlite bin (large but shallow). I got the best germination from LFS by shredding it, take two handfuls and grind them (dry) against one another until you have just bits and pieces, maybe this frees up spores or something but it seems to come back better.

 

[TheFury]

@RSS - that's very cool! I didn't know Sphagnum spores could hang out in peat like that. I might try that method too if my LFS doesn't take off!

@swords - I started about 6 weeks or so ago, and I started seeing green about 3 or 4 weeks ago. It's progressed a little bit since then, but not by a whole lot. I figured growth was static because I kept turning the LFS over in the bags every day to aerate it a bit. Perhaps that was unnecessary, maybe even detrimental to growth. Hence my new method I'm trying. Hoping it works!!

If I had the room to start a nice Sphagnum farm, trust me I would! I think it's so cool. Very attractive, even just on its own. Alas, I only have one 48" x 18" shelf to work with, so I need to maximize the space that isn't taken up by my CPs as you can see in my first pic. Perhaps I will expand in the spring and will definitely try shredding LFS into a shallow bin under lights.

 

[jafvortex93]

yeah my plants have been growing good but the sphag never really grows for me. its quite depressing actually, seeing everyone else's specatular pots =[

 

[mobile]

This might be of some use: http://www.geocities.com/butchtincher

 

[nightsky]

I never had any luck getting spores in dry Sphagnum to grow. Months went by with nothing, in two difft batches, so who knows. But once I got the live stuff, I found that soon I had more than I knew what to do with! Grows fairly fast.

 

[mobile]

I never had any luck getting spores in dry Sphagnum to grow. Months went by with nothing, in two difft batches, so who knows. But once I got the live stuff, I found that soon I had more than I knew what to do with! Grows fairly fast.

I think I have some NZ dried Sphagnum moss coming back to life, but there is always a chance that the growth I'm seeing is due to contamination from nearby live moss.

 

[TheFury]

What brands of LFS have you guys used that has sprouted new growth?

 

[mobile]

What brands of LFS have you guys used that has sprouted new growth?

Nortene.

 

[seedjar]

I don't want to be sour grapes, so don't think I'm trying to discourage you, but since no-one else has said it I will. I've never had a significant amount of live Sphagnum sprout from LFS or peat. I've had lots of pots where it could've happened by chance, and I've tried to force it to sprout several times in controlled conditions, and in all cases anything that may have come up was choked out by competing carpet mosses, rushes, ferns or fungus.
On the other hand, with live strands, pretty much you're killing them or you're cultivating them. There's no simply keeping them alive - if they're happy they'll keep getting shaggier, and the time you have before you must trim them is determined solely by how long it takes the moss to smother anything of value you keep nearby.
While I don't have experience successfully sprouting new moss from dried, based on my experiences and those of other growers who have posted here, I think just buying or trading for some moss is a substantially more cost-effective way of getting it into you collection. To get the moss for "free" you're going to have to buy dried stuff, give it space where other plants could presumably be growing, and still won't have a substantial amount of moss to work with for a bare minimum of a year, probably two years or more. To drop $15 on a gallon bag of live Sphagnum and shipping will literally put you two or three years ahead in terms of getting a useable amount into your collection, and in the same time it would take you to just sprout your own, that gallon could grow to five times its original size.
Cherish this opportunity! Rarely in plant collecting will you find a case where an adult specimen is dramatically cheaper than starting your own.
~Joe

 

[GrowinOld]

Agree with Joe!
Absolutely!

While you don't need very much to begin with, indeed having a portion growing helps tremendously. I usually take a little and put it into a pot that has some CP growing in it, and IF CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT, it will take off from there. But starting from a bag of dead LFS is a slow process... but it can be done.
Depends on how patient you are.

Good luck.

PS:
In my experience Sphagnum likes cool temps!

 

[raymond]

Once you get some live moss i heard that coffee speeds up growth. Read the thread about giving Nepenthes coffee.

 

[TheFury]

seedjar & GrowinOld - very insightful comments from both of you, thanks! To be honest, I wasn't aware that they sold gallon-bags of live sphagnum until you prompted me to look. Ebay seems to be a good marketplace for live sphag (free shipping from many vendors, too!) Until now I had only come across small pots of it at certain online nurseries and wasn't interested in paying their hefty shipping charges on a small order of moss. I may be tempted to go the Ebay route.

However, you must admit there's something tremendously rewarding about sprouting something from nothing. I'm reminded of the momentary astonishment that one must have felt in the 1700s to see maggots seemingly born out a piece of meat left to sit out for a few days... that is, of course, until one realized that a perfectly tasty piece of meat was spoiled!!

@swords - I am hedging my bets and will be trying your method on a smaller scale in an empty chinese food container - it's a nice 6" x 8" plastic tray with a transparent lid about 2" deep. I'll get some gloves and a t-shirt over my mouth and get started tonight.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Sphagnum sprouts best if you keep the dried LFS or peat very moist but not soggy and sitting in water. Waterlogged dried LFS/peat just promotes anoxic conditions in the organic matter which turns it all to muck!

Grab a good sized handful of dried LFS wet it well and let the excess water drip out of it. Toss it in a ziplock bag and seal it up... put the bag under a couple fluorescent tubes for a few months. Check it every month or so to make sure it has not dried out too much. There should still be water vapor condensing on the inside of the bag but there shouldn't be any visible water sitting at the bottom of the bag. If there is no visible water condensing on the inside of the baggie then it is probably time for a little spritz of water. Be patient, it can take several months before you see anything.