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Compressed sphagnum - pics

don555
16 years ago

I know I'm pretty new around here but I've read a bunch of posts asking about carnivorous plant growing media, sphagnum moss in particular, so I thought I'd post a few pics. Apologies if this has all been done many times before.

Anyway, here's a pic of a block of compressed long-fibre (that's "fiber" in the U.S. :) sphagnum moss, 200 grams or 7 oz. size:

{{gwi:549300}}

Now cut away a small piece of this block, say this size:

{{gwi:562681}}

Add collected rainwater or snowmelt, wait 15 seconds, and this is what you have:

{{gwi:562682}}
-Don

Comments (15)

  • petiolaris
    16 years ago

    And eventually, it can look like this:

    {{gwi:547228}}

  • don555
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I wonder why your live sphagnum is so green?...or why mine isn't :-) The compressed sphagnum blocks can somehow come back to life, but the live growth I've had is much more red than green, though still seemingly very healthy. Here's a pic of some growing in a pot with sundews - this moss was re-hydrated almost 3 years ago and has now grown a couple inches above its original level in the pot. This is growing under indoor grow lights, maybe yours is outside? I think my outdoor pots have greener moss but they might be contaminated with other mosses.
    -Don
    {{gwi:562683}}

  • petiolaris
    16 years ago

    There are varieties of LFS and some are green, red, gold,...

  • don555
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks, that explains that.
    -Don

  • its-albert
    16 years ago

    Don your re-moistened compressed sphagnum is still alive? and growing? not from spores in the dried moss?

    I heard of that happening with dried sphagnum moss(2nd hand info) and I have seen dry live moss of other kinds come back to life when wet, but not personally with sphagnum. I have even gone out of my way to buy bags of dry sphagnum that are green and look like they may be still alive(never compressed bricks). The dried moss stayed dead after re-moistening, though weeks later spores would grow.

    p.s. If you want your moss to green up, if it's growing, is to mist it very lightly, with a very weak fertilizer(1/4 tsp/gal RO water) or a little less sun. The moss as well as your sundews will grows faster with that light misting of fertilizer. But....We all know full strength fertilizer(1 Table spoon/gal) equals burnt and dead, right?....LOL;)

    Albert

  • don555
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    The sphagnum is alive and growing, though it grows very slowly. I have no idea if it is the dried stuff that came back to life, or spores that germinated, though you would think that the dried and compressed stuff would be dead, so the new live growth was probably from germinating spores or whatever reproductive method the sphagnum uses.

    I avoid any fertilizer, even the weak stuff, and I use only distilled water or snowmelt/rainwater for watering. The setup I use would quickly become overrun with algae if I added fertilizer, but if you've got a system where fertilizer helps out, then go for it!

    -Don

  • carnivorousplants
    16 years ago

    Hi don,
    I really need some of that.I'm always short on sphagnum and that would really
    help.Where did you buy it?I don't think any stores around here have it though,.
    I would really appreciate if you could send me some for whatever price.
    Thanks,
    Adrian

  • cmm889
    16 years ago

    just to follow up on the questions about the dried and dead moss coming back to life via the spores... definetly true although its a slower process.. and doesnt necessarily work everytime I've got 4 or 5 vft's planted in pure LFSM and it was about 2 months before I started to see green growth or at least a tint of green on the moss itself. granted its nowhere near the growth seen in the photo's above I wish I had moss that alive... hopefully mine will continue to grow, I also started another container with just pure moss all by itself just so I'm ready when I buy more plants. I've heard that cutting up a piece of live moss and distributing it over dead moss will help the regrowth in that moss but I havnt tried it or seen it work yet... any more tips on growing LFSM??

  • petiolaris
    16 years ago

    It really takes several months and decent lighting for dried LFS spores to do their thing. Yes, the live material, spread out on the surface of dead material is a good approach. Another hobbyist simply took the bag of the dried and put it in a sealed container, thoroughly moistened, and had it in indirect light and coolish temps.I have done the live on top of dead, in swamplike conditions, at a window sill. I have also just ignored the dead material that was the top layer of a pot. I time, that became alive.

    {{gwi:428433}}

    {{gwi:428432}}

  • jacktalo
    13 years ago

    Hi
    could you please tell me, where can i get some live sphagnum moss?
    Please could someone help me!

  • taz6122
    13 years ago

    Ebay.

  • buckcity
    13 years ago

    Another source is Meadowview

    If you join for $25 all their plants are half price. They sell red and green sphagnum and one of the few places that is able to ship Sarracenia oreophila across state lines.

    Can't say enough good things about Phil and Meadowview.

  • dchow14
    13 years ago

    Hi Don555, I am very interested in the red variety of sphagnum moss, i was just wondering if by any chance you still have some left? and if so, i was wondering if i can purchase some from you. Please get back to me through email D.chow321@gmail.com

    Thank you so much, i'm looking foward to hearing from you.

  • cooperdr_gw
    9 years ago

    You can get some good quality stuff off ebay but I've heard that a place called California Carnivores is consistently good quality. They don't list it on their website and don't always have it.

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