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My moss collection and some helis.

Most of my heli's are still tiny but the moss is nice! LOL.

First off is my pot of H. 'tequila' there are 4 of them in there, good luck finding them. :) I think it may be time to mow. The moss orginates from Meadowview.
helitequila.jpg


Next is my slightly larger H. heterodoxa, still mostly moss though. Not sure where this moss originates from, but it is pretty I think. There are a few different types of moss in there as well.
helihetrodoxa.jpg


Now for the largest heli in my collection one of my H. heterodoxa x ionasii. I got these from Xantius when he moved to NZ. Sadly only one of the flowers on both plants survived. I pollenated the one flower when it arrived and it is still growing but it doesn't appear to have pollenated. Oh well, maybe next time.
helihybrid.jpg


Hope you like them.
 
I found all of the helis! :D nice plants and moss, thanks for sharing.
 
Nice! That last cross is pretty wild, it almost looks like it is reverting back to non-carnivorous leaves.

Nice moss!
 
Thanks. The variation on my two H. heterodoxa x ionasii is pretty extreme IMO.

In my own non-scientific comparison...
The other has the normal heli look and is more tubular with a defined nectar spoon and is more hairy. This one has a wide mouth and is pretty waxy in appearance. When I get a sec I will post a pic of the other H. heterodoxa x ionasii in my collection for comparison.

Edit:
Here is my other heterodoxa x ionasii

helihybrid2.jpg


helihybrid3.jpg
 
Nice plants man. If I may, I would suggest that you up the lighting quite a bit and you will be amazed at improvements. :)
 
Yes. I do need to invest in some more lighting. On my to do list.

EDIT: OH, I just realized that you probably think they are growing where they sit in the picture. They do not grow where the pic was taken. I grow them in a tank with alot more light than you see in the pic. But your point is still valid tha it is still not enough.

Here is an older pic of my grow space. They grow under 2 T1 tubes with an additional 2 CFL bulbs.

growracks.jpg
 
Last edited:
Very beautiful Helis. Thanks for sharing:).
 
Great moss!
 
Oh that is some dang fine moss there, man! Cute little helis too :p
 
  • #10
Wow that is really interesting variation!
 
  • #11
The Sphagnum moss in the first picture, from Meadowview looks identical to some that I have which I believe originates locally to me. The first H. heterodoxa x ionasii is elongated and had small nectar spoons, this is typical of lack of light. I grow mine on a kitchen windowsill and in the shorter winter days the pitchers look like yours. In the summer new pitchers form a more bulbous shape with a pronounced nectar spoon.

This is perhaps a good comparison. This picture was taken in May 2010 and you can see that the new forming pitcher is different from the remaining, which were developed in the winter (except the broken on which was from the previous summer)
pic1.JPG


This is a nectar spoon from the same plant in June 2010
pic4.jpg
 
  • #12
Ah, good to know. Thanks!

Looks like I need to up the priority on my heli lighting then. I will see what I can do to get them closer to the existing lights in the mean time. It has been tough to this point since they had flower stalks.

I wasn't planning on getting more heli's at the time. Someone was moving out of the country and put these two up for sale. I didn't want to see them go to the trash pile so I bought them.
 
  • #13
Very nice helis. What's your temperature range (night temp and day temp.)?
 
  • #14
That moss looks very nice. I just ordered a gallon bag of the stuff from eBay (from the only seller that seems to grow his moss in a greenhouse vs. collecting it from their own property). Unfortunately shipping is on hold because of the recent snow storm. Can't wait to get it... I do believe I'll be hitting you up for some tips when I do :)
 
  • #15
Very nice helis. What's your temperature range (night temp and day temp.)?
If you are asking me... Day 75-78 Night 50-65. My night time temps vary because I use the cracked window method. It gets to the 50 mark right now.

That moss looks very nice. I just ordered a gallon bag of the stuff from eBay (from the only seller that seems to grow his moss in a greenhouse vs. collecting it from their own property). Unfortunately shipping is on hold because of the recent snow storm. Can't wait to get it... I do believe I'll be hitting you up for some tips when I do

There are some good threads on this forum for how to grow it. Avi8tor has a good one. I grow my helis in higher humidity so it is pretty easy and I don't do anything special for the sphagnum. The sphagnum in my nep pots is a little more of a challange. I typically leave an inch or two of space in my pots to create a mini environment for the spaghnum and mist it daily to maintain moisture. Given the right conditions, the sphagnum will grow to the rim of the pot. In my growing space, it doesn't grow above the pot line.

See below...

maximaxtang.jpg
 
  • #16
The heterodexa is really cute!
 
  • #17
There are some good threads on this forum for how to grow it. Avi8tor has a good one. I grow my helis in higher humidity so it is pretty easy and I don't do anything special for the sphagnum. The sphagnum in my nep pots is a little more of a challange. I typically leave an inch or two of space in my pots to create a mini environment for the spaghnum and mist it daily to maintain moisture. Given the right conditions, the sphagnum will grow to the rim of the pot. In my growing space, it doesn't grow above the pot line.

That's interesting about leaving 2" of space in the pot. Maybe that's why none of my LFS top layers have sprouted even after several months. I actually have been following the threads you mentioned as well as Avi8or's website. All very good information. I think I had some success even sprouting some dry LFS using swords' method (grinding it up first, maybe to loosen the spores?). I had some on a windowsill in an empty Chinese takeout container. It greened up a bit and I saw some sort of fuzzy growth that certainly wasn't algae and wasn't any kind of moss I had seen yet, so I figured it was young sphagnum. Unfortunately my cat tumped the stupid thing over so I may have lost all progress!!! Good thing I have a gallon of the stuff coming in the mail :)
 
  • #18
Yes, I never had much success with my top dressing of live LFS until I started to leave a few inches of space for it to grow inside the pot and establish itself. Throwing some on the very top of the media never worked for me. It would always dry out and die. My conditions are just not humid enough I think.
 
  • #19
dashman, that is some seriously great moss. I wish I could grow moss like that. My heli/nep pots are always covered in moss but it always has black tips. I'm thinking the space left at the top of the pot might be the solution I need. Thanks for the tip.
 
  • #20
I read on some eBay vendor's page that the black tips on sphagnum are actually the reproductive spores. Any validity to this?
 
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