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I have a few questions about moss I found on my property..pic heavy

Hello all,
Well while clearing a new mountain bike trail on the back part of my property I found some nice looking moss. I am hoping to use it as ground cover for my neps.
Also I need to know how to introduce it to my lowlands terrarium. and if you think it will live.
do I need to use a spray bottle to clean off the soil on the underside or keep it on?
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I did a test when I collected it and turned a small pad over and low and behold I got what looks like to be new growth,,,what do you think?
the next 2 pic's have the new growth.

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one type has a very long stem and the other has a short stem or they might be the same.

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Rock, nice moss!

I don't know the species here, but swords is likely to chime in with an identification.

As far as introducing to your terrarium, simply pressing it into the soil should do the trick, since bryophytes (mosses) do not have a vascular system, they do not have roots and need to be in a very wet area. If you're not keeping your humidity high and the moss misted, it will soon begin to dry (though not necessarily die).

Additionally, I don't feel like it is necessary to spray off the soil from the underside, though if you are worried about dissolved solids building up, you can take that extra little precaution and spray it down with a good bit of distilled water.

Anyhow, this is only coming from my personal experiences with growing moss in my vivariums, which at this point is very limited. Someone else may come along and have some more proper advice to give you.
 
Maybe rinsing it in a strainer under a gallon of distilled water would get all of the crap off before you put it in.
 
ya doesn't look like Polytrichum commune, or haircap moss close up....

---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ----------

will it work as ground cover for my neps?
 
I couldn't say what species it is but it would probably be OK because quite likely it won't live too long in a terrarium. Most outdoor mosses die before very long when put in terrarium conditions. Whether it's too warm, too bright, too dry, too stagnant air, wrong substrate type, you name it, wild mosses will find a reason to die... sometimes just to spite you! :glare:

I love mosses and I try all kinds every year that I find for sale or while out in the woods but most don't survive long term in a terrarium. I have a few that have survived but the death toll of various types I've tried is seriously astounding! Sphagnum grows very well for me in terrariums but I can't grow it outdoors at all. If you get a good fist sized clump of live sphagnum and pull it into 1-2" pieces and scatter them around/partly bury them with the "head" facing up and keep them sprayed with water every day or so it should start to take off for you provided the terrarium isn't too warm. Even sphagnum doesn't like it overly warm..

If you are growing in an air conditioned fog filled highland chamber your chances of success with outdoor mosses will be much higher but still won't be able to grow everything. So whatever you're growing conditions are, give it a shot and see what happens. It'll either live or die but I don't believe it can harm your plants provided you don't let it overgrow them and make sure they get watered enough that the moss doesn't steal it all! LOL
 
  • #10
Most outdoor mosses die before very long when put in terrarium conditions. Whether it's too warm, too bright, too dry, too stagnant air, wrong substrate type, you name it, wild mosses will find a reason to die... sometimes just to spite you! :glare:
Below is a picture of some mosses I took from outdoors here in Northern Scotland. Winter temperatures here are typically single figures to sub-zero. Summer occasionally reaches mid 20's°C. This moss has survived in my ampullaria terrarium, which has a daytime temperature of ~30°C, where it has been growing for a year or so. So, some cold adapted mosses seem to survive almost tropical conditions.

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  • #11
some cold adapted mosses seem to survive almost tropical conditions.
Yep like I said some will survive, I have a few temperate mosses & liverworts who have survived and are growing well. It's not gonna hurt to try and see which will do well for you. :)
 
  • #13
well i have had the moss in my terrarium for a week i guess now and it is still alive with a little growth
 
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