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live sphagnum

What are the requirements for keeping live sphagnum alive?(temp, light, water,humidity)

Where would I get live sphagnum?
 
Sphagnum moss is pretty easy to grow.  Temps above 70 degrees, a couple hours of light, some moist LFS, high humidity and you have automatic live sphagnum.  

You could trade for some in the TradingPost Forum, maybe a nice forum member would give/trade you some.  Or, you could grow your own.  Buy yourself a bag of LFS from Lowes/HomeDepot, stick it in a pot/container of some sort and cover the top with SaranWrap.  In a few months, you should see starts of green growth.  It may take a while to get going, but eventually, you'll have tons!

SF
 
Slyfi,
I've condensed my miscellaneous sphagnum moss that I had into one of those trays that you find in ice-coolers. I lay the moss out flat, pour 1/4" of distilled water in the tray, and place it close to my grow lights. It is not in the terrarium, and the temps are 65-75 degrees. If anything, keep it on the cool side, don't bake the moss, it doesn't like high temperatures. High light level is best, otherwise it grows spindly.

hope this helps,
Homer
 
Sphagnum is a montane moss. Put it in your temperate CP pots. It can take anything below 0F like a piece cake. 100F (in growing seasons) is fine also as long as the water supply to the moss is cool.
 
Live Sphagnum is quite easy to grow, and looks great in nepenthes and drosera pots. Just get yourself a bushel of lfs, soak in some cool water, spread out in a container and keep near light. I use to grow it by placing some lfs in zip lock bags, water it heavily, and put em in the yard. I only check on em once in a while, just to make sure its damp.
 
... but Zach lives in SF.  I wouldn't recommend that method anywhere that the sun shines, or you'll end up with moss soup.
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It grows best if it has a fresh, flowing water source.  I have a little recirculating fountain pump in one of my pots to keep the water and medium from going anaerobic, and the moss grows like crazy in that pot.
 
thanks for the info....one more question...can sphagnum moss arise from milled peat? I have some sort or small green moss growing with one of my pots....but it doesn't look like the sphagnum I see in pictures.....its been slowly growing for about 6 months.....I can't get you a picture of it though......
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Sounds like you may have one of the mosses that commonly sprouts from peat. I am constantly working at erradicating these from my own collection. They seem to be detrimental to some degree.
 
Nuking the peat dry before- hand seems to cut down on that. Just don't do it for too long, as peat is a fuel. Ten minutes is pushing it for a small box, lol. I would think three would probably suffice, but I could not tell you without a controlled experiment.

Regards,

Joe
 
  • #10
can sphagnum moss out compete this invader?
 
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