Growing moss
Tom McWilliams
I've found a successful method for growing moss.
I tried several different groups, since I wasn't sure what would work.
Turns out, it was a bit of overkill. I've now got several small groups
growing, and propogation works in all of them.
1) a short mason jar, rocks on the bottom, potting soil ~2 inches thick,
fine layer of sand on top, water about 1/2 inch deep amongst the rocks.
Cover with plastic wrap. Two of the varities of moss love it. Clipping
their tops when they get ~1/4 inch tall and spreading the clippings
results in new groups. After 3 weeks, the whole surface is covered.
Light is from an aquarium light, florescent, wide-spectrum, 15 watts.
The other varitey ( a weird grayish moss I've never seen before) isn't
thriving, but hasn't died ... yet. I'd like to save it, since it's
unusual, but my hopes are dwindling. Maybe it doesn't need the humidity
so high as the others, but I can't report what it does like best.
The clippings can be arbitrarily small, it seems, and if the humidity is
high they'll grow. I typically clip as little as I possibly can; ~1/32
inch or so.
2) A small terra-cotta pot, with just plain potting soil, covered with
the top section of a plastic bottle, to keep humidity high. Keep the
tray below the pot full of water. Seems to work just fine. Grows OK,
not as good for propogation, but it works, slowly. Same story on the
light; ~ 12 inches away. Note that the section of bottle is cut just
so, so it fits inside the top of the pot, but large enough that there
are almost no gaps around the edges. I don't know if this is critical,
but it keeps the condensation inside the pot, and I do know that dry air
will kill the moss, as I have no living examples of uncovered moss left.
3) A small plastic cup, potting soil with a fine layer of fine sand,
covered with a platic bottle section, just like #2. Sitting on a south
window sill, gets ~6 hours per day. Grows great, propagates a bit, but
not real fast.
All these started from moss chunks I pulled out of my dead tomato plants
from the patio.
I also started another, with only clippings from the others, to see what
happened:
5) Teeny pot (a votive candle holder), soil and a sandy layer, watered
till moist, set on a small jar lid (full of water), and covered with a
1-liter bottle whose bottom was cut off. This bottle, unlike the
others, is the whole thing, so condensation runs down to the jar lid.
Set in a south window, I put some clippings on it a few days ago, and
I've already got moss blooming across the whole surface.
I should point out, in case it matters, that to get the clippings from
the scissors onto the soil, I use a spray bottle to knock them off. If
you try and use your fingers, they just clump together, and stick to
your fingers.
I'll let you know what else I discover. Any tips or hints would be
apreciated, especially for the weird grayish moss.
-Tm
--
* . * '^
,.. " . *
,
' Tommy Mac
Tom McWilliams
>
> What about Spanish moss, Tom? I harvested 6 large garbage bags of it when I
> passed through New Orleans last week and I am not sure how to winter it over
> indoors till it can acclimate to our temperatures. I is a bit warmer, with
> little to no frost in Zone 9, New Orleans.
>
> Victoria
It's been a long time since I tried to keep it alive.
I had some limited success, hagning it in the bathroom (theory being
that it would stay humid.)
It survived for quite a while, a few weeks, if I remember right, but
never grew much, if at all.
If I were to try again, I'd use extra lighting (I didn't have the
wide-spectrum bulbs, then), and probably try the same thing that's been
working for the regular ground-based moss; enclosure of some kind, to
keep the humidty up.
If I remeber right, it likes high-sun, too.
Since you have so much to work with, you can try lots of different
things, to figure out what works best.
I didn't think Spanish Moss does winter temps, so preserving it in a
dormant state may be unnecessary.
-Tm
Mikie
attaches to magnolia branches, right into the wood
and on the oak trees...
Ball Moss ? baseball sized
seems to like filtered sun/shade, NE exposure mostly
our normal humidity is around 80%
St Pete Florida
davi...@webtv.net
Victoria- I have Spanish moss growing on an oak log along a staghorn
fern. Its in a dormer window opposite the shower so gets lots of
humidity several times a day. Mine was a grenhouse buy. Be very careful
with self-harvested spanish moss as it is notoriously full if insects
and eggs.
Tom McWilliams
It varies. The stuff away from the window goes from 60-75F.
The stuff near the window probably gets up to 80F when sunny, and down
~50F at night.
(One of the window groups has sporangia on it, which I consider a good
sign of success :-)
-Tm
Tom McWilliams
> I harvested it! Hopefully, this batch was taken in winter where it is somewhat
> colder in Mississippi. We expect temps in the 20s tonight, or I'd have hung it
> out on the live oaks immediately. I just have to get past this month coming up
> and the hard freezes will be over by mid February. Geesh, I also have to get
> going on my seed orders and germination. So much to do once it starts to get
> lighter out each day...
>
> Victoria
>
> http://www.freetibet.org
I didn't know that stuff would winter at all. Thanks, Victoria, you
filled my quota!
BTW, what are the chances you'd trade for or let me pay you
shipping-cost to send me some (even a little bit)?
ajfconsultants
Thanks for this information. I don't know if you were thinking of my post a
while back, but I did ask for information on growing moss indoors. My
(outdoors) moss has been frozen for some time now and is currently under
about two feet of snow. Where are you located that you were able to pull
moss for these experiments? Was your moss frozen alreay? (Yes, I'm looking
for something to do until I put my seeds up.)
Thanks again for the great information.
Frank
Tom McWilliams <mcwi...@msu.edu> wrote in message
news:3A4E4759...@msu.edu...
Tom McWilliams
>
> Tommy,
>
> Thanks for this information. I don't know if you were thinking of my post a
> while back, but I did ask for information on growing moss indoors. My
> (outdoors) moss has been frozen for some time now and is currently under
> about two feet of snow. Where are you located that you were able to pull
> moss for these experiments? Was your moss frozen alreay? (Yes, I'm looking
> for something to do until I put my seeds up.)
This was moss that I grabbed pretty much at the last possible minute,
when it was pretty warm, in mid-November.
From what I've seen, moss is pretty opportunistic, so if you dig some
out of the snow, and bring it inside, it should perk right up.
> Thanks again for the great information.
You are very welcome. I was part of the original post, way back, since
I was hoping to grow it. I just played around, and got a few successful
groups.
Lemme know what you find, too!
-Tm
> Frank
>
> Tom McWilliams <mcwi...@msu.edu> wrote in message
> news:3A4E4759...@msu.edu...
> > In case anyone's interested (there was a thread about it a while back);
> >
> > I've found a successful method for growing moss.
> >