# My mini mountain



## chrismiller12341 (6 Feb 2016)

Hey guys I just wanted to show my little work in progress.  It is all java moss with no substrate.  Well besides the rock "mountain".  It is in a tray I  stole from my wife  I think it was a candle holder.  It is 3x3. I started with some java moss out of my daughters aquarium. I used scissors to cut it up into about 1/8 inch nubs. I knew each one would grow. I'm not patient and I wanted it to fill in quick.  And it has made great progress this is where it is at now.  





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## chrismiller12341 (7 Feb 2016)

Oh I guess I should add that this is about two months of growth. It has climbed all the way up the rock. And up the slope of the dish. If i pick up the rock the whole sheet of moss comes with it. My original  plan was for a dish that is about 12 inches long and 5 inches wide. I was going to make an island chain. This is my first "island".  I was just using this as a grow out for each island.  And once each island was grown out enough I could shape it how ever I wanted that particular "island" to look with scissors. And use the clippings to start with the next island. 

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## pedro (7 Feb 2016)

Love it! Congratulations !
Whats the maintenance? Do you have to keep it moist?

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## chrismiller12341 (7 Feb 2016)

Right now I just let it grow. No maintaining it at all. But when it does need to be trimmed just snip it with some scissors and your done. You can not hurt this plant at all.  It is a low light moss so you don't need to spend a lot on lighting. My lighting setup cost me about 8 bucks and it is usb so the energy it uses is measured in milli amps  . I run the lights 24 hrs a day. More for a nightlight in the kitchen than to grow the plants. 

Yes it does need to stay moist (in my situation). It is not enclosed, just sitting on my counter. So I have to keep it moist. I water it once a day depending on evaporation  ( ok i guess that's maintenance). But if you have it in a high humidity environment it's not so demanding. It looks it's best just before it runs out of water. You don't see the pool of water then.  You can see through all the vines it's really neat. That's when it looks the most like a miniature  island. I just make sure none of the vines dry out. I have not decided yet if I want to let it cover the whole rock or not. I like the look of it only half covered. 

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## Andy D (7 Feb 2016)

It looks great!


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## chrismiller12341 (7 Feb 2016)

Thanks !!! 

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## Jakes (7 Feb 2016)

What a great idea! I may or may not be giving it a go


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## Greenfinger2 (7 Feb 2016)

HI Chrismiller, Looks great  You should do a Wabi-Kusa next


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## JohnC (7 Feb 2016)

yup.totally love it. I've actually got a literal pile of vases and candle holders i've been meaning to do this in. you have just motivated me to get on it.


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## chrismiller12341 (7 Feb 2016)

Here are a few pics showing the difference of when it is just watered. The second picture also shows my lighting setup. The top light is 6500 k and I don't know exactly what the bottom light is but it is more on the blue spectrum so I'm guessing around 10,000 k. It does make the green pop a bit more. And the second picture shows it with all the water dumped out. That's how I like it.  It looks more like a tree canopy. If i edged it with sand you can really get the island feel. Complete with its own beach. 








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## chrismiller12341 (8 Feb 2016)

JohnC said:


> yup.totally love it. I've actually got a literal pile of vases and candle holders i've been meaning to do this in. you have just motivated me to get on it.


If you do start one please let me know I love to see other peoples Creativity. As long as it's not as good as mine. .

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## Greenfinger2 (8 Feb 2016)

chrismiller12341 said:


> If you do start one please let me know I love to see other peoples Creativity. As long as it's not as good as mine. .
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk



Hi Sorry to butt in on your thread./  Chrismiller, JohnC Have a look at my thread of Wabi-Kusa  I  have done a few 

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/starting-point-wabi-kusa.29387/page-29


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## chrismiller12341 (8 Feb 2016)

Lol I should have checked that first. Your thread is the reason I posted mine. 

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## Greenfinger2 (8 Feb 2016)

chrismiller12341 said:


> Lol I should have checked that first. Your thread is the reason I posted mine.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk



Hi Chrismiller  Looking forward to seeing your Wabi-Kusa I love watching the plants grow to there best even the odd flower there very rewarding 
Please let me know when you post some photos


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## chrismiller12341 (12 Feb 2016)

Hi guys I was playing around with my "mountain ". I trimmed it up some. And messed around with the beach idea. Here are some pics the first is "low tide"  and the second is "high tide " after I was done playing around I got rid of the sand.  I used what I cut off to start a new island. It has a good head start not having to start from scratch like the first. I'm going to let the first grow back out. It shouldn't take long. 









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## Greenfinger2 (12 Feb 2016)

Hi Chrismiller, Love it


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## Wisey (12 Feb 2016)

I personally think it looks best with the sand in there, it adds a nice border between the moss and the container.


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## chrismiller12341 (12 Feb 2016)

Thanks for the comments! I wasn't sure if it would look right. But I agree the sand looks good. The sand I have is very fine it's what I use for my corydoras. The hard part is watering without the sand just blowing all over the dish. When I get all of the "islands"  done. And in the larger dish it will not be so hard. My whole idea was inspired by bonsai. I think the sand gives it a bonsai'ish feel.  The sand gives the stone the illusion of being something bigger than it is. 

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## woodster (19 Feb 2016)

I really like that, looks really good with the sand, will have to look and see what my missus has kicking around and have a go at one.


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## Greenfinger2 (19 Feb 2016)

woodster said:


> I really like that, looks really good with the sand, will have to look and see what my missus has kicking around and have a go at one.



Hi Woodster, There great fun to do and look cool.Good way to use your plant trimmings too


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## chrismiller12341 (19 Feb 2016)

woodster said:


> I really like that, looks really good with the sand, will have to look and see what my missus has kicking around and have a go at one.


Thanks! It has been fun watching the progress. it's nice to just sit back and let it do its thing. I really enjoy it. 

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## Piotr Kaleta (19 Feb 2016)

Nice one


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## chrismiller12341 (27 Feb 2016)

OK so I changed things up a bit. My last dish I loved but the square was starting not to work with the new shape of my moss. So I robbed my kids bathroom of there soap dish. At this point you all should have figured out that I am very broke. I work with what I got . Ok so I am not the biggest fan of the color. The shape is good it will allow the moss to grow in a more natural shape. Also it is a good bit deeper than the last. Which does a few things for me the rock I am using soaks up a good amount of water which is why the moss has climbed as high as it has. I do however feel that it has reached its limit. Being a slightly deeper dish it will rise the water line on the rock which will let it soak up a little more towards the peak. Hopefully the moss will climb just a little higher.  My wife put the "WTF not in my kitchen" on my island chain idea. Soooooo I'm just going to make the best of what I have. Couldn't figure out a lighting configuration for that long of a tray anyway and not be an eyesore. To be honest I was planing on xing it anyway. In the end she saved me the headache. 

      Since I did its first trim the outer edges have started growing again. Seems to have a week or two pause after being cut. Did the same thing when I first minced it up. But once it gets going to fills in fast. 

     I plan on using the old tray and creating a meme wabi kusa or mini. I haven't decide yet on my media I think just because of the size (about a ping-pong ball) to prevent it from drying out to fast I may use a sponge cut into a ball wrapped in Java moss with an ivy of some sort (ok the ivy in my back yard on my fence REMEMBER broke  ). Or maybe I'll toss a few morning glory seeds in the top and see what happens.

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