Decorative Moss Tray Experiment

[Zath]

I put this together a while back more as an experiment with propagating mosses than anything planned. I wasn't even sure if the method would work all that well. Basically, I just threw some clumps of about three different mosses into a food-processor with about an ounce of water and a dash of maxsea solution, then spooned the resulting goop over a media composed of approx. 1:1 sand / compost, which I then hand-placed bits of pine bark mulch into (again the mulch was more for looks, but I had noticed at least one of the mosses growing almost exclusively on topsoil made mostly of bits of bark.)

It's been kept in a shady spot in the Nepenthes tent, which means warm temps and generally high-humidity, and has been misted daily with occasional waterings to keep the soil moist. Can't find records right now of exactly when I set it up, but I'd guess it's just under 2 months along now.

Oh, and the container is just the bottom portion of a cheap plastic cake-holder.

 

[NemJones]

I did the same thing using a sonic cup and a pod of spores from an unknown moss about 2 years ago.
today its nice and fluffy with a good diversity of mosses

 

[fredg]

Why the Maxsea? They're mosses

 

[Zath]

Why the Maxsea? They're mosses

the recipes I found often included yogurt or milk. I didn't have either. Figured it couldn't hurt and might speed up the process a little.

 

[fredg]

Ah well yes, mosses often milk cows

 

[Zath]

Ah well yes, mosses often milk cows

Actually I think it was meant as more of a bio-degradable "glue" to help the mixture stick to whatever surfaces the grower was trying to propagate it on.

 

[NemJones]

i recall a few people making the same mixture, then loading it into a spray bottle then
Pasting it on their walls, making a living moss coat.

 

[DJ57]

Nice! Now all you need are "sprinkles" of cape, rotundifolia, and intermedia seed on top :grin:

 

[fredg]

Nooooooooooooooo don't add weeds

 

[Zath]

No worries, lol. The tray is too shallow (only about .5" of soil) to support any cp's other than perhaps utricularia, but the compost is probably too rich for them as well. I like the little clover that's sprouting though. Wouldn't mind seeing a few more of those.

 

[axel]

You will soon have a lot of this "clover" its Oxalis corniculata. A very beatiful weed. It grows soon everywhere. Nice yellow flowers and tiny jumping seeds in great distances.
I dont know anyone who got rid of it.

 

[pearldiver]

i recall a few people making the same mixture, then loading it into a spray bottle then
Pasting it on their walls, making a living moss coat.

I think I remember in interview with Alec Baldwin about someone who did/does that to his house in the Hamptons.

 

[NemJones]

You will soon find a lot of this "clover" its Oxalis corniculata. A very beatiful weed. It grows soon everywhere. Nice yellow flowers and tiny jumping seeds in great distances.
I dont know anyone who got rid of it.

Beautiful indeed, however a never ending plague. I think the seed pods are explosive, and the younglings invasive.
Kill/remove that clover now, or forever suffer its prolific curse

 

[Zath]

I don't think it will matter much in the long-run, considering there's no actual depth to the pot. The roots can run anywhere from 3/8"-1/2" before they bottom-out on impermeable plastic.

It's coming along nicely, btw. When I'm able to, I'll get some update pics if the progress is sufficient enough.

 

[axel]

If you have no other plants in the same room it will take some time. It will apear then at first somewhere outside, transported on your shoes. They need next to no soil at all. Maybe the dirt under your fingernails is enough to flower with. They just get smaller. Cute little plants the size of your fingernails are able to flower and set seed. The capsules explode and spread their load up to more than an meter away. The seeds are sticky.
But you are right on the long run its victory is unavoidable, so why worry.