# Making More Moss, Using Pinches/Plugs (Photo Experiment))



## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

This is my favorite way to spread or share existing moss when I want more. It is the way that works best for me.

Started with a deli box, overcrowded with mosses from several terrariums. 
It contains what had what I thought were several different kinds, but I discovered that once they start growing in equal conditions, many were actually the same. 
This box sat and I let the mosses fight it out. That's self-propagated baby fern in the middle.









Pinches from the above box, plus other interesting bits from other tanks.
The substrate is assorted mix, what I had in my bucket. Nothing fancy.
The top row appears to be similar to Dirtmonkey's:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/47135-interesting-moss-several-medium-pics.html
Each pinch is pressed firmly into the moist mix for good contact.









10 days later: 
Lower left is growing a white fungus. Normally I would scoop out and toss that section. Top row and bottom right -- pinches are surrounded with spreading green stuff, part of their propagation process.
Riccia in middle row is growing at tips.









At 4 weeks: 
White mold still mostly confined to bottom left section.
Riccia turning pale in centers; tips still growing.
Top row and bottom right mosses doing well, dark green layer spreading, and with a better lens you can see new sprouts.









Week 6. The white fungous is spreading into other zones. 
Middle row Riccia looks a bit poorly, but then I've never done well with it; this doesn't seem to be a miraculous way to grow or propagate it for me. 
Successes: the new shoots in top row and bottom right corner now look very similar, but 'parents' still look different; However they both have the same dark green spreading mold-ish reproductive stuff between the pinches, and new shoots are growing well. 
There are also places well outside their original zones with new shoots.









Another view:


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

That's an awesome post Anne. The moss you gave me seems to spread like wildfire.


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

Thank you, Harry, that means a lot.
The moss I gave you, that teeny bright green liverwort? I love that stuff! I was planning a post about that one too when I get some good closeup pictures. 
Ah, get out the tripod, the super lens, and focus focus focus. Hmm, it doesn't seem so daunting written down. I'll get on it.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

I put that stuff in a container with some LFS and it is not just spreading but also sporing and coming up all over the container. It's very cool.


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## dirtmonkey (Feb 10, 2007)

Cool pix! Yes the top moss does look like the one I posted. You don't seem worried about the fungus- I wouldn't worry either. It goes away once the moss is in more air circulation, there are fungi in any established system.

I like using the Glad ware containers for this, the kind with the clear light blue lid lets in plenty of light- sometimes you can also find them with clear lids cheap at a dollar store, but those lids fall off a little easier.


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

I was just poking around with my hand lens in my moss grow-box, and discovered that 'lower right moss' is actually another liverwort, with little thalli crawling around flat on the substrate beneath the leafy mossy stems, and I'm getting myself thoroughly confused. For my current needs, I wonder if it really matters.


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## dirtmonkey (Feb 10, 2007)

candm519 said:


> ...discovered that 'lower right moss' is actually another liverwort...I wonder if it really matters.


I'm sure the frogs will love it either way


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

Anne, like me, is frogless (unless that has changes). We're purist I guess and really have no reason to be on this forum other than it's a great place to talk plants.


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

Nope, no frogs. No cigarettes. No more needy dogs.
I've learned it is okay to want things that I can't have.


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## dirtmonkey (Feb 10, 2007)

LOL well that makes three of us... for now! So I guess the only difference it might make is the color- if one is much lighter or darker than the other. I usually want mossy stuff to show off the plant it's around.


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

I spoke too soon. Those were wandering Riccia tips under the moss. Oh, well.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Looks great, very helpful.

What kind of light are you getting this growth under?


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

My lighting keeps my Sinningias happy, nothing special or intense. 

I use a 2-bulb fixture, 48" T-12 straight fluorescent bulbs, (1-1/2" diameter); 6500K Daylight spectrum; approx 12/12 hrs on/off, shelf about a foot below the bulbs. From Home Depot.


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