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Growing Mosses

No worries guys, as long as you do go, you can pick me some up and pop them in the post if you don't mind 🙂
 
Following Matts advice with the daily water changes, all mosses have pretty much doubled in size, so I'm pretty happy with the results 😀
 
I'm chuffed that they are growing well for you.

Hopefully everyone that is getting mosses via UKAPS can have the same dilligence (I know you have been looking after them well for them to grow that quick 😉 ) and then we can collectively get some of these new rare species (like the fissidens madagascar for starters) spread around UKAPS over the next few months. :thumbup:
 
I have decided now that I will definitely be writing an article\tutorial on growing mosses for UKAPS.
I will base it upon the info in this thread (with some ideas slowly forming for some extra sections to possibly add to it as well).

So... if anyone else has any tips\advice, or any more questions about growing mosses please post here. I will do my best to learn and help. I figure more input here will in turn lead to a more comprehensive article :thumbup:
 
a1Matt said:
I have decided now that I will definitely be writing an article\tutorial on growing mosses for UKAPS.
Click to expand...
Great idea Matt 🙂 look forward to the article, if you need some help let me know, although I am not expert!! Also we have to plan that trip to Living Waters one of these days and check out their mosses 😉
 
he he.. great minds think alike. I was going to ask you if you would mind me running a draft of the article by you, and also check out the PM I just sent you (before reading this thread!) asking if you are free this Saturday. Spooky! :jawdrop :lol:
 
Good idea Matt, LMK if there is anything I can do to help too, pics of moss etc 😀
 
Thanks Johnny - I am going to borrow a friends camera, but even then I do not really know what I am doing with it 😳 So I may well take you up on the offer 🙂
 
a1Matt said:
he he.. great minds think alike. I was going to ask you if you would mind me running a draft of the article by you, and also check out the PM I just sent you (before reading this thread!) asking if you are free this Saturday. Spooky! :jawdrop :lol:
Click to expand...
Haha very spoky, I thought you sent the PM after you read my post here lol I will be glad to help in any way with the article.
 
I've been giving Matt's technique a go with Christmas moss, flame and fissidens splachnobryoides (from aquamagic). The fissidens doesn't seem to grow at all if immersed but I've had some succes in growing a carpet around my bonsai tree, just spraying it with water + TPN. The other mosses have rapidly increased in size, although the immersed forms are quite different to the submerged.

emersedgrowing021.jpg

emersedgrowing023.jpg

emersedgrowing007.jpg

Christmas Moss
emersedgrowing019.jpg

Flame Moss
emersedgrowing017t.jpg

Looking foreward to the article, Tom
 
Tom the fissidens splachnobryoides is non aquatic, reason it doesn't do well underwater 😉

Just arrived from Living Waters, went there with Matt today, what a great place, got a few mosses in there and some other plants and a few cherries to mix with mine to get some new genes in there. Well worth a visit, lots of little scapes in their fish holding tanks, one of the best stores I have seen when it comes to plants, the owner is also an encyclopedia of info and very friendly. They had a great moss display tank that amazed me 🙂
 
Yeah I realised it was non-aquatic after parting with my cash (more fool me!) shame it's advertised as aquatic :sick:

Can you buy things on-line from Living Waters ? The website looks good but a bit far from me

T
 
Nice pics Tom. I think it is good that the fissidens turned out to be non aquatic as it will look fantastic in your bonsai pot 😛 The ickle frond shapes are perfect for bonsai.

Someone else mentioned on the forum to me a while back that living waters will post stuff. I'd say give them a ring rather than email them.

Today I got myself some blepharastoma trichophllum, taxiphyllum sp. 'Japan', echinodrus rubin, Cryptocoryne crispatula var. tonkinensis and some inspiration :thumbup: I also drove Paulo and Darren mad by asking for the latin name for everything in the shop :geek:
 
i've just set up a moss growing shelf in a sunny spot using Asda tumblers - 3 quid for six! Looks fantastic with the different textures of the mosses. And they're all pearling after their first water change so something must be working! Thanks for the great info Matt. Mods - could this thread be made sticky as i think LOADS of people would find it really useful? Cheers as always, Matt
 
Whats the easiest way of attacing mosses to the hardscape like slate or rock? Does it have to be tied on or can you use super glue?

Cheers Gordon.
 
Either works.
Personally I dislike the use of superglue, I do not like the white blob it leaves.
I use 'invisible cotton' about £1 for a spindle from the sewing shop. Much like fishing line, but thinner.
I wrap it tightly over the moss several times to make sure it stays in place, then tie it off.
Do this when you are in a patient mood as it can be a fiddly job!

Most mosses will then attach themselves to the hardscape over time. Any line used can then be removed. (I've used rubber bands and cotton thread in the past, but it is always a risk as to whether they will rot before the moss has attached...)
Attachment time varies (weeks to months) depending on the moss species and the hardscape being used. (eg wood usually offers quickest attachment times.)
Some mosses never attach though.
 
Thanks for the reply Matt. What moss would be best for attaching itself, i quite like the look of the following mosses, would love to try some moss on a bit of slate and see if i can get some to grow.

Christmas Moss -Vesicularia dubyana,
spiky moss - taxiphyllum sp,
flame moss =-taxiphyllum sp.

Hope i got the names above right.

Cheers Gordon.

.
 
All the ones you listed will attach.
Flame moss will attach slower than the others but will get there eventually.
I'd choose whichever suits your layout, bearing in mind flame moss grows straight up, and the other two look at their best with the fronds hanging downwards. Some spiky's (I've had a few*) have very large fronds.

BTW, all moss looks like a squished green lump when freshly tied, it takes time to grow out again.
When it starts to poke out trim it mercilessly, this will encourage denser growth and creeping. (Never pull the moss, always trim.)
Give the cuttings away on UKAPS this will encourage better Karma.

Christmas moss is Vesicularia montagnei by the way.
No one has ID'ed the other mosses to species level yet (that I am aware of), so you are safe there. lol.
Geek trivia - to 100% ID a moss you need to examine the sporophyte under a microscope. To make it harder, few mosses will produce sporophytes underwater. Hence why many of the mosses we know are only identified down to genus level.

*Most of the mosses we get are just labelled based on rough looks. I have had probably about 6 different mosses all called xmas moss, all of which to describe are identical, but to look at are distinctly different. (I've kept just the single most xmas'sy looking one!). and 3 different spiky mosses (aquaspotworld one was by far nicest if anyone feels like ordering some from them, I'll happily take a cutting :lol: ). So you can see the names only take you so far. I think of them as just rough categorisations so that I have a feel for how a certain moss will look.
 
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