Question

[glider14]

does anyone grow live spaghnum moss? if so what contitions and medium and any extra info i need to know?? Im sorry this is off the topic of nepenthes but this is the only place i know i would get an answer.

 

[CNCreefer]

I just fill a pot about halfway with some regular dead sphagnum moss like you would normally use for a nep. then I put the live sphagnum on top of that, and keep it in a tray with ro or di or rainwater. My darlingtonia californica grows in the stuff and love it. I also have some clear containers like a fruit salad comes in and I put some live sphagnum in there and keep it wet. That way it replenishes itself.

 

[dlybrand]

I put the little sphagnum starts that occur from keeping dead LFS moist in plastic containers with either peat or more dead LFS in the bottom. The dead LFS seems to produce more moss but sphagnum peat makes nicer, fuller moss.

-D. Lybrand

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

It helps if you have living sphagnum on top of a thin layer of peat moss for an acidic base. Otherwise it can die out fast.

 

[glider14]

Ok i have it sitting on a mix of 50/50 peat and silica sand. Should it be just sitting there and it will take root by its self or does it need to be buried?

 

[shokuchuu]

Sphagnum species don't really have roots

You don't need to do any burying as such, but lodging it into the substrate to keep it in place and moist/wet enough seems to do the trick for me.
Good luck and have fun
Cheers
Amori

 

[glider14]

Thanks!

 

[Jason Wong]

Gotta keep the pot constantly n water I think, otherwise the layer of peat will dry out super fast...and you will have a fine time trying to get it to rehydrate again...

 

[TyFone]

I just grow mine in water. Just keep the spaghnum moist to wet at all time and high humidity is a must.
Just put it in a plastic bucket and then fill with water about 2-3 cm depending how much spaghnum you have in there.

a tip:
You should try and use the search engine on the forum. There are a lot of topics with spahnum.

 

[dlybrand]

I've found that when I grow sphagnum in pure water, I get more of the stringy, dark green shoots than the full, lush green ones you see in the wild and in nice botanical garden displays. As long as you put your sphagnum in a terrarium, the soil won't dry out too quickly.

-D. Lybrand

 

[TyFone]

Well dlybrand that depends upon which species of sphagnum you are growing. I grow it like this and it gets thick and nice.
You just need to keep it under a good light level.
Also it grows much quicker in pure water then on peat. And you dont have to wash the sphagnum off when you are going to use it for your nepenthes.
But as I have said on other topics about sphagnum then Glider you should some small amount in pure water and some on peat.