# Where do you buy dried sphagnum moss?



## reggorf (Oct 24, 2006)

Just curious where people are buying this in bulk. I got a VERY LARGE bag of it from a local nursery but it had a lot of dried leaves and sticks and misc stuff in it. It worked but I am looking for a better place to buy it. Thanks.


----------



## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

If you got it from a nursery for under $30 it was probably North American. Myself and a few others have had bad experiences using that.

Some good sources for large amounts of Chilean is OFF International.

Large amounts of NZ can be gotten at - AZDR, Black Jungle & CalWest Orchid Supply.



reggorf said:


> Just curious where people are buying this in bulk. I got a VERY LARGE bag of it from a local nursery but it had a lot of dried leaves and sticks and misc stuff in it. It worked but I am looking for a better place to buy it. Thanks.


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

i think most folks use moss obtained from HD or Lowes etc. it is cheap and will also contain some sticks leaves etc. but once it is sterilized it should be fine. sterilization can be accomplished a number of ways... an autoclave is the best, a pressure cooker is next, i boil or microwave (while very damp) and have had no ill effects. (or none that i have attributed to the moss)

hope this helps

james


----------



## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

Stacey, this is where I get mine from... cheapest I've found so far for large quantities.
http://www.calwesttropical.com/


----------



## bobberly1 (Jul 16, 2008)

I can collect all I want for free behind my house.

I just felt like maing you feel bad.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

james67 said:


> i think most folks use moss obtained from HD or Lowes etc. it is cheap and will also contain some sticks leaves etc. but once it is sterilized it should be fine. sterilization can be accomplished a number of ways... an autoclave is the best, a pressure cooker is next, i boil or microwave (while very damp) and have had no ill effects. (or none that i have attributed to the moss)
> 
> hope this helps
> 
> james


In a throughly dried material like sphagnum why are you trying to sterilize it so throughly??? 

As a side note... while it is not totally sterile it has been used as a would dressing for over 800 years... see Sphagnum moss and wound healing I -- Varley and Barnett 1 (2): 147 -- Clinical Rehabilitation 

Ed


----------



## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

Yep - sure has. I think people are surprised when they hear that, but the absorption capabilities of the material is awesome. 

Thanks for the link!



Ed said:


> In a throughly dried material like sphagnum why are you trying to sterilize it so throughly???
> 
> As a side note... while it is not totally sterile it has been used as a would dressing for over 800 years... see Sphagnum moss and wound healing I -- Varley and Barnett 1 (2): 147 -- Clinical Rehabilitation
> 
> Ed


----------



## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

Wasn't it used in the US as recently as the Civil War? I am sure there is someone on here that can answer this one.


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

i sterilize everything that i can. i think it is good practice but that is my opinion. it kills off mold spores and i can tell you that if i place the sterilized and unsterilized moss separately out in the open for 3 days the unsterilized will be covered in black, green ,and white mold. (i know that mold and fungus are generally not an issue with frogs) and what about insect eggs etc.? who knows what could be lurking in there id rather be safe than sorry. i microwave ALL of the moss that i use. and boil or pressure cook other decorations (within a range of size since i cannot boil a tree trunk etc.) besides it takes about 20 minutes to be safe and sterilize it, so why not do it? even if someone is not convinced as to the effectiveness, wouldn't it be worth it to spend the 20 minutes and have the peace of mind that you did everything within your possibilities to prevent harm to your frogs?

james


----------



## chesney (Jan 18, 2007)

Josh's Frogs sells bricks of it.


----------



## reggorf (Oct 24, 2006)

I got a big order of it from Calwest. 6.5 lbs will last me a while. Thanks everyone.


----------



## ThePoshHerp (Mar 19, 2015)

melissa68 said:


> Wasn't it used in the US as recently as the Civil War? I am sure there is someone on here that can answer this one.


Several scholarly articles have been written on the subject; I've seen it in a few places but the only name that comes to mind at the moment is that of Professor J.B. Porter. At any rate, most of the ones I've read point to WWI being the most recent large-scale use of the moss: it was used by both the Allies and the Central Powers.


----------



## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

I prefer triple a new zealand sphagnum moss from calwest for dart frogs. 

I got super moss (Orchid sphagnum moss) on ebay for 21.99 for a 3.5 lb bag for use for packing salamanders for shipping and short term use in my fire salamander tubs. It does break down faster than the expensive stuff. I think for dart you want the good stuff. No stems and seeds that you don't need ..........


----------



## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

I used to use the stuff from home depot, which was usually filled with sticks dirt, tons of debris, and it's mostly broken up pieces. I tried this stuff that I got from NE Herp:










No sticks/debris, and it's almost whole, long fibers of sphag. Never going back to the home depot stuff again.


----------



## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

If you want to get serious sphagnum moss then the major source that everyone above is probably buying from is acadianwholesale They will sell you different grades of sphagnum and their top grade is really nice, huge long fibers I have pulled out 18 inch fibers. I actually on a whim because they were so long and nice decided to drape them off things in one of my tanks for a cool swampy look. 

But AFAIK they only whole sale so they will want a business account for whole sale. If you cant get that you can probably request any of the vendors for anything on their site and they can get it for you, in fact I think I saw Mike at Glass Box Tropicals advertising all the sizes recently. I personally bought a 3kg bail from Arcadia and its been nice always having tons of high quality sphagnum around for anything.


----------

