Native Selaginella-Section Tetragonostachys Update Pot Culture

13 years ago

I have been growing diffeent species of USA native Selaginella species of the Tetragonostachys section-these are the type that are moss-like in appearance and not the commonly seen members of the Stachygynandrum section plants of S. kraussiana that are sold.

I have constructed two major journals on cultural experiments but without any real time to prepare an update I am adding some relevent info here.

The journal on Repotting can be found here:

click here

On growing media tests Click here

UPDATE:

I have changed my overall treatment of these plants. The main reason why is because of the overwhelming growth of mosses and liverworts that simply choked out some of my test plants.

My current culture is to only spray or water the plants near dusk and to let them dry out during the day without any spraying or watering at all.

I am doing this with all my plants, most of which I have repotted into a new mix November 2009:

2 parts granitic gravel

1 part peat moss

1 part coir

The plants are responding quite well to this culture and

moss growth seems to be curtailed enough for the Selags to

grow well. Photographic documentation will occur sometime in November 2010.

Comments (5)

terrestrial_man
Original Author
13 years ago
This past week, July 15 to July 21, 2010, I did weeding and clean up on the selaginellas, most of which I had repotted last November 2009. My plant bench the plants sit upon is exposed to around 4 hours of light, occasionally more, daily. This sunlight exposure occurs during mid-morning into mid-afternoon.
Currently I am only watering or spraying the plants during the late afternoon or early evening hours before sunset which is occurring around 8PM. I am doing this to help deter the growth of moss and liverworts in the pots of the selaginellas. So far the surviving plants are doing better than I had expected.
The most important observation is that with Selaginella underwoodii. This species appears to do much better in a more shaded spot than in a more exposed spot. I am guessing that just two hours of direct sunlight is as much as the species needs.
Further journals and relevant documentation will follow.
Lynda Waldrep
13 years ago
I like Selaginellas, but I don't think the ones I have are natives. Interesting to know how many natives there are. Thanks for posting.
Related Discussions
Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention VIII
Q
Comments (150)
Notice: I am not looking for help, simply posting something that others may empathize with or find as astounding as I do (we often assume that because someone specializes in something that they really know what they are talking about. I know that's not true, but still am surprised when it happens.) So, I'm still on the hunt for products I can use to make different soil mixes that are a bit faster than what I'm using now. I want to do some experiments both with wicking large containers and wicking small containers, like for small houseplants. I have a friend who works at a florist and I mentioned it to her. She said she works with many of the growers so maybe they would know where to find these products. Today she was over, so we called the grower she thought might help. This grower has been growing flowers in greenhouses for many years. Tracy called, explained I was looking for some things, then turned the phone over to me. The conversation went something like this. "Hi Betsy, thanks for taking time to take to me. I do mostly container gardening and am looking to change my potting mix" blah, blah. "So, I'm looking for the following things, pine bark...." "Oh, why don't you just use my mix?" Great! I think. She's got one already made with bark in it. "What's it made of?" I ask. "Well, it's all natural soil. We don't believe in soilless mixes, especially not in containers. I mean, how are plants going to get nutrients, especially the minors?" "Um, from a fertilizer that supplies the minors?" I offered. "Oh, but that's not the same. You should try our mix." "Thank you, but that's not what I want to do at this time." "But, all of our customers love it! You really should try it." I won't go through the rest of the painful call, but suffice it to say, she didn't have what I wanted, nor could she point me to someone who did. I'm sure I'll get them all eventually, but I'd much rather get them easily in one place since I mostly ride a bike and will have to borrow or rent a car to run this all down. Just hoping anyone else who's had problems with this might get a chuckle out of the story. And, also, pointing out how amazing it is that even people with a LOT of experience can know very little when it comes to science or research.
...See More
Any tips on caring for Selaginella uncinata?
Q
Comments (17)
Interesting discussion. Have not grown S.uncinata as an indoor plant, so can't really address the culture requirements necessary in that environment. I have a patch, about 100+ sq.ft., in my garden and I have ignored it for many years. It continues to expand, seemingly at an exponential rate through the years, from the tiny 4" potted plant start. It has crossed a stone path, via runners embedded in the cracks between the stones and tumbled over a stone wall and is now invading my lawn. The soil is red clay, ammended by compost from fallen leaves of a Sweet Gum tree and Pine needles. I haven't tested the soil, but assume it is very acidic. It has been in total shade (summer) for many years, until 2 years ago, when the adjacent property owner cut down a large, healthy Southern Magnolia tree. The part that is exposed, now receives about 3-4 hrs. of direct morning sunlight. There are a number of other herbaceous perrenials. shrubs & bulbs that co-exist with the moss and provide shade, as the moss will readily grow underneath them. With our winter temperatures of often 0Â°F, or less, it is not evergreen and usually goes dormant afer the 1st freeze. I have seldom irrigated that area, until the neighboring tree was removed and the direct sun exposure now necessitates watering of some plants. I have removed many sections and potted up for friends and it recovers so rapidly that within a few weeks, you couldn't determine where it had been removed. I have 6 other species of Selaginella and this one is, by far, the most interesting and easiest to grow, maybe excepting S. stauntoniana, which produces gemmae more prolifically than it's look-alike, S. moellendorffii. I now have some S. uncinata potted, for friends that neglected to come and collect them, but they are overwintering outdoors. Will see how they fare, come spring! Coldest temperature we have experienced so far this winter has been 18Â°F. Rb
...See More
Anyone growing Selaginella rupestris? (terrestrial_man?)
Q
Comments (16)
Tman, I took another look at the pictures and unfortunately have not been able to determine from them whether or not the leaf bases match your descriptions. It may be however, that I do not fully grasp the distinction you are referring to. I will attach below a link to my Flickr page - there you can click on the individual images of the Selaginella to see larger versions - hopefully this will reveal the details you are looking for. Regarding the location: I found the Selaginella growing on an outcrop of granite rock that at its highest point probably rose no more than 5 or 6 feet above the surrounding landscape. I would not say the plants were growing on the south facing aspect of the rock, because essentially, the rock lacked "faces". The outcrop is smooth, and seemingly of one single formation, and there is nothing rugged about it - it has gently sloping gradations - no jutting formations or crevices or anything that could produce shade. The nearest trees are too far away to produce shade except perhaps at sunrise or sunset. From everything I could tell, the Selaginella in this location was probably exposed to the sun all day. The moss the Selaginella was growing in was very dry. I inspected the soil beneath the moss however, and found it to be very dense and cakey and not porous whatsoever, and it was surprisingly damp. There is no water in the immediate area - but there are decent sized quarry pools maybe 200 feet away. The granite was higher than the surrounding area, so there was no standing water on the granite. I don't think I have a picture of the overall population, but I will check later - the clumps of Selaginella, although relatively numerous, were each not much more than 1' in diameter a piece. For now, I have the following image which shows how dry the habitat atop the granite is. Here is a link that might be useful: My flickr page
...See More
What's Everyone Working On?
Q
Comments (5)
Not all that much of working on the native plants that I grow as well as do cultural research with (Selaginella, Lycopodium, and moss species). Got a variety of native plants in pots and some species in the landscaping in my front yard my time is currently restricted to finishing up on reroofing my home-and this is a slow paced job. My primary objective at this time is to finish up on the web journal of the Tetragonostachys section of the genus Selaginella (the species that are typified by the eastern species S. rupestris) with the last plant that I have yet to confirm an identification of though I am leaning heavily towards S. leucobryoides. These journals are to provide both information and assistance on important characteristics of the species for identification purposes. The link below is to the Selaginella section of the journals I have up at Photobucket. The most interesting project I have had recently is the sowing of seeds of Aquilegia mexicana, a yellow flowered columbine) and their successful germination. They have set out their first set of leaves and when much larger I will be breaking up the flat and repotting into individual pots and possibly planting into the front garden, somewhere?? Here is a link that might be useful: Selaginella web journals
...See More
terrestrial_man
Original Author
13 years ago
Glad to hear from someone who likes Selaginellas. There are three native species in your part of the country.
Click on the name to eflora treatment or USDA image
This is the only member of the Stachygynandrum section:
Selaginella apoda

{{gwi:1064707}}

I currently grow apoda outside and I consider it to be a weed species as I have found it coming up in other moss pots! I cannot believe that it can handle our winters as it looks so delicate.
There are two members of the Tetragonostachys section in the Carolinas:
Selaginella rupestris

{{gwi:599025}}
The USDA did not have an image so I am using my own. I am currently growing this in two different pots. It is hanging on. In one the selaginella was really a nice population but it got overran by mosses and liverworts-reason why I changed my culture to only spraying or watering in the evening daily (maybe depending on weather). But a few days ago I made images of all the pots of selaginella on the bench and noticed in the image of this particular pot that rupestris had survived and there were strobili poking out of the mass of mosses and liverworts!! (Will share images later.)
AND the other species is:
Selaginella tortipila

image of S. tortipila

This species is unknown to me. It only occurs in the Carolinas down into Georgia but apparently is fairly common and is found in rocky places.
All three of these species should be fairly easy to grow in pots.
Lynda Waldrep
13 years ago
I will be hiking in the mts. next week and will look for them. I am also slated for a hike the first weekend in Oct., so perhaps with some of the other forbs gone, I will have a chance to see some. Thanks for the information.
terrestrial_man
Original Author
13 years ago
Nrescue,
Hope you have a digital camera! Please do take plenty of pics especially of the S. tortipila, if you run across it, as there are almost no images of it on the net.
Habitat images are also needed for almost all of the native Selaginellas. Alot of my culture experiments are based upon second hand info from the net on what I believe the environmental conditions are that many species are found under during the course of an entire year.
Your best bet for finding apoda is in low lying pockets by streamlets or where you would find moisture, mosses, and ferns. For rupestris and tortipila look for clearings with rocky outcrops or screes of decomposing rocks, gravels that may be exposed to some sun during the day. Once you see one in its habitat then you will know what to watch for. There is a definite relationship between the type of habitat and the presence of the selags.

Native Selaginella-Section Tetragonostachys Update Pot Culture

Comments (5)

terrestrial_man
Original Author

Lynda Waldrep

Related Discussions

terrestrial_man
Original Author

Lynda Waldrep

terrestrial_man
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Native Selaginella-Section Tetragonostachys Update Pot Culture

Comments (5)

terrestrial_manOriginal Author

Lynda Waldrep

Related Discussions

terrestrial_manOriginal Author

Lynda Waldrep

terrestrial_manOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

terrestrial_man
Original Author

terrestrial_man
Original Author

terrestrial_man
Original Author