# Wow!!! I can grow moss!!!



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

How 'bout that! I've eternally been known as having a black thumb...family jokes abound. I've killed cactus (that were set up for me), air plants, pothos (out of the viv), and numerous things that normal people can plant in their yard and not even have to touch! So, I've kept my viv plants *very *simple because of this. Imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago, I noticed that the dried Orchid Moss that I purchased from Lowe's had started turning green! For a minute, I thought..."What the heck! What in the world's been in here that's rubbed off on the substrate??? Something's gone wrong!" But no...it's definitely growing! Here's some pics of moss that *will grow* even if you have a black thumb...


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## uromastie (Jun 24, 2009)

Congrats! We're the totaly opposite then lol! I can get anything and everything to grow. That being sad everything but moss. everytime ive tried growing moss its dead with in the week! So ill be going to lowes today after the gym to see if I can pick some of this stuff up.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

Sorry to tell you but thats actually more of an algae then moss. It grows on wet substrates with a lot of moisture. You can see on the left picture. There is a leaf that is turning green. 
On the good side, your conditions are right to grow moss. You just need some spores. If you want, Ill send you a packet that you can use in your viv. Sprinkle on your media and just wait. Its a local moss that I culture and dry. It'll come back to life in a few weeks and should last in your viv for a while.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Really??? 

But, it's starting to look so nice! I moved a bunch of leaves off of it (frog keeps moving them around though) so more of it would get light and "grow". Oh, well...if it's algae...it looks like it's part of the moss and should look really good once it covers the bottom!

What about the light green, tiny "hairs" growing out of it? I thought that was new growth??? (Visible on the right side of the right picture.)

Do you want something for the spores, Mordoria? If you'd like to send me a pm with any info I need...I'd like to give it a try.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

Yea, those little stringy grows are a type of grass that gets into the spag moss. They wont last very long.


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

Lol green thumb enthusiasm fail 

Wendy, just go grab any type of aquatic moss and mist it 1-2 times a day. You should notice _actual_ moss growth within a week


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Oh well... I'll just let everyone in the family keep thinking I'm great at growing stuff in vivs! The pothos and creeping fig are doing wonderful! Lol!

Grimm...believe it or not, I cannot find anything as far as aquatic moss locally. There's just a couple of mom and pop shops close, but I've even went to Canton (45 min drive) and still can't find anything! Grrr!

Like I said...I'll settle for the algea...it's starting to look good. And Dave...answering your pm now. Thanks so much for the offer! 

BTW...so sorry Uromastie for getting you all excited for nothing. :/http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members/uromastie.html


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## Ghost vivs (Sep 26, 2010)

That lowe's moss WILL grow. I use it in all my clay backgrounds.










Casper


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Congrats! Algae counts, imo.


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## billschwinn (Dec 17, 2008)

I still beleive in you Wendy!


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## DARTGUY41 (Aug 13, 2011)

Wish my lowes would carry it!


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Thanks Bill and Chris! 

...and after Casper's post...I'm still holding out hope! 

I wonder why the Orchid Moss will grow algae...but the sphagnum moss doesn't?

Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like some tomatoes I tried to grow once. Usually, I can grow veggies...but these ones were all trashed. By the end of the summer, they looked like they were planted in nuclear waste! The only explanation I could think of was that they were planted too close to some old pipes running to the house???


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## DARTGUY41 (Aug 13, 2011)

Pretty sure most moss sold as "orchid moss" is sphagnum. Sometimes it does green up and come back to life though....most of the time...its algae.



WendySHall said:


> Thanks Bill and Chris!
> 
> ...and after Casper's post...I'm still holding out hope!
> 
> ...


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## Eric Walker (Aug 22, 2009)

Iv had good luck in the past with the dried sphag moss comeing back to life 
and growing quite well. 

casper- have you been mixing the moss right in with the clay or are you putting in ontop after applying the clay to the viv walls?


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## Ghost vivs (Sep 26, 2010)

I mix it in the powdered clay before I add the water.


Casper


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## bshmerlie (Jun 2, 2010)

Ghost vivs said:


> That lowe's moss WILL grow. I use it in all my clay backgrounds.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What kind of moss are you buying from Lowes?


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## Ghost vivs (Sep 26, 2010)

This kind










Casper


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## Greasy (Sep 1, 2011)

Ghost vivs said:


> That lowe's moss WILL grow. I use it in all my clay backgrounds.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


mmm, I cant really see the sprigs but that doesn't look like sphagnum moss either. Probably just some generic moss that happen to have spores in your tank. Refer to this post as to how sphagnum should look. Sphagnum moss photo page? - Terra Forums Carnivorous Plant Discussions


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## Ghost vivs (Sep 26, 2010)

Its sphagnum, just hard to get a close-up shot with the camera phone.


Casper


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## Yobosayo (Sep 27, 2009)

Here's the exact same stuff in the left center. You can also see some scattered to the right... I just threw a few gobs of it down and kept it moist and well lit. Took about 8 months to get to this point.


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## MrFusion (Jul 18, 2011)

If you smell a swampy smell it's most likely blue green algae and you'll probably want to dig it out. I hate the way that stuff smells! It might even be an indicator that your substrate is to wet as well. 

I've had much better luck with moss that I've found growing on wood already. You may want to give that a shot. Looks great in my vivs!


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## B-NICE (Jul 15, 2011)

I have the same thing going on in my Pacman's setup. I had some little thing that looked like a bean stalk growing out of the orchard moss in my tree frog set up. The live tropical moss I got from black jungle is doing great. I had something growing out of but i was misting and left my fogger on over night and it looks like it fell.


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