# Growing moss on wood?



## Justin144

Is there a tick to growing moss on wood? I always loved the look i wannt see if i can do it. Also im going to be making fake vines with peat moss. Will the moss grow on this? How do i do it just sprinkle spores on the wood is it that easy? 
And where do i get the moss at?
Thanks


----------



## Medic1

Trick to getting moss to grow is good lights and high humidity. Josh's sheet moss is pretty popular. Also, quality sphagnum moss with generally come back to life under good conditions. Nice thing about the sphagnum is there could be spores of other things in it as well that may come to life. I've had a couple ferns pop out of sphagnum.


----------



## thumbnail

The method I use does not include sphagnum at all. To me it gets too tall and the finished effect looks like you forgot to cut the grass. The moss I use is found in my nearby forest on logs and bark already. I let it dry out, and then scrape it from the log. Once I have enough built up I use either water or buttermilk to make a thin paste. It is then spread on said log or cork. The wood products I use are soaked in pond water to give them a good saturation level. The water I use for my moss is pond water(collected from one of my koi ponds) I run through a cloth just to remove larger particles. As mentioned above proper lighting is needed, and humidity needs to be kept up. You can also spread the moss on homemade vines. I will say though patience is key since some mosses will take a considerable amount of time to fill in. Another issue I have run into in the past is not letting the moss dry out too much.


----------



## benjaminfrogs

Can I blend all moss in general?


----------



## Justin144

Thanks for the info! That being said can you recommend good lighting for a 12x18 exo terra? Thanks

Also so the moss i find outside is safe to use? i have to dry it and everything to sterilize it ?


----------



## tongo

Yes you can blend different types of moss together. Collect whatever moss you want and blend it with water to get a paste. Then smear the paste onto the wood or where you want it to grow. 

Not all mosses you collect outside will grow. Some mosses require a dry period and do not do well in a high humid terrarium. You will need to locate some tropical moss or find one locally that does well being humid year round.


----------



## rigel10

Moss collected in woods: I make it dry, then I put it in viv; it comes back to life in wet conditions without any problem. But it does not last long, IME. I use it mainly as a substrate to facilitate rooting epiphytic plants, especially ficus sp., to form a green wall in the background.
Aquatic Moss: I just put it in viv. I generally buy moss in sterile packages or from reliable source.
About moss on the woods, I fix it (with small rubber bands or with wire cotton) on thin branches or I just put it on the larger woods. But it requires high humidity and light to thrive, IME.
Greetings


----------



## Jake H.

I'd recommend getting 1 or 2 Jungle Dawn LEDs or a similar LED product sold by some members on here (I know BNice has carried some in the past for $20 each). The moss in my vivariums exploded after I switched over to these LED's.


----------



## Justin144

Thanks all ill check out those leds! 

I do like the idea of the moss paste im going to try it out


----------



## mitcholito

I recommend you to check this thread out. Further down in the thread you find some good inspiration.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/be...ew-nano-vivarium-newbie-design-questions.html


----------



## juanico

Hi



thumbnail said:


> Once I have enough built up I use either water or buttermilk to make a thin paste. It is then spread on said log or cork. The wood products I use are soaked in pond water to give them a good saturation level. The water I use for my moss is pond water(collected from one of my koi ponds) I run through a cloth just to remove larger particles. ...


how long does it take for the moss to grow?
i did the same, one tank with a yoghurt-moss-mix, another tank with a beer-moss-mix. humidity is high, lightning ok, but after 4 weeks there is still no sign of any fresh moss.

cheers
wojtek


----------



## mitcholito

Code:


i did the same, one tank with a yoghurt-moss-mix, another tank with a beer-moss-mix

Stop using beer, buttermilk, youghurt and other strange stuff in the moss mixes. Just plain water is what you should use!

Frankly I don't know where this idea with dairy products came from. Its the same with the old myth that mosses grow in deep shade (yes I know there are a few that actually does).


----------



## thumbnail

It depends on the moss type on development speed. Moss that is mature already and spread tends to grow faster then just collecting the capsules that sprout after reproduction. Sometimes it can take many months before results can be seen, and even then if the environment changes too much it can hinder your moss from spreading. I will post pics of my wife's tank which is really the test tank for moss growth. I have patches of different types of collected mosses that were scraped and mixed with water. The growth is less then six months. I would also like to add if you can collect enough to cover all pieces from the start you will get results faster, but it will still take longer for the look your going for.


----------



## juanico

thumbnail said:


> ... but it will still take longer for the look your going for.


ok, thanks. so i'll just have to wait


----------



## Broseph

Once moss is established, it seems to tolerate some dryness. To get is started, however, plenty of moisture is requied. I've kept vivs 'wetter' than I prefer to get some moss going, then back off the moisture after it's growing.


----------



## tom855

Anybody ever get moss to take root on cocohuts? I put some on my undercontruction viv, but it looked more like a lame hat than anything natural. It seems like a nice idea, but I'm not sure how to make it look good. Any ideas?

Thanks!


----------



## carola1155

I have done the moss on a cocohut plenty of times. The key is to get a low growing type not something like Java or else it does look kinda goofy.

Just make sure it stays well misted.


----------



## tom855

That's good to hear that moss will eventually grow fast to the hut. I got mine from NEHERP and have left it in a bag for about a month and it's getting a bit stringy. I guess that's why it looked so goofy. I'll work on getting some attached. I think it'd be pretty cool to see one covered with moss. Thanks for the info!

Tom


----------



## Mohlerbear

Put kyoto moss spores all over your coco hut. It'll look awesome! Google kyoto moss 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## tom855

Mohlerbear said:


> Put kyoto moss spores all over your coco hut. It'll look awesome! Google kyoto moss


Oh wow. That stuff does look cool. Much better than the Cat in the Hat type look I'd get if I used the sheet moss stuff I have. It will look nice some places, but that Kyoto moss would look cool on the huts. 

Question about the stuff ..... once it grows can you move it, or do you need to buy more seed and plant it elsewhere?

Thanks again for the idea!

Tom


----------



## Mohlerbear

Tom
From what I understand it'll grow on different things since they are spores. I don't see why you couldn't move it or scrape some off it. Once it goes, it goes. I ordered 3 packs a few weeks ago. Applied it about 2 weeks ago. Seen some growth especially on cork. Just follow the directions. The other stuff I applied is taking longer and I may re apply some today. I'll keep you updated. 

So yes, I think you can move it and hell yeah it does look awesome!

Chris


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## tom855

Way cool. I just ordered a packet off Ebay. I'm really excited to see how it does. Thanks for the suggestion!!!!!


----------



## inka4040

tom855 said:


> Anybody ever get moss to take root on cocohuts? I put some on my undercontruction viv, but it looked more like a lame hat than anything natural. It seems like a nice idea, but I'm not sure how to make it look good. Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks!


I took an old dried out christmas moss covered coco hut from a fish tank, and placed it in my first viv. Got total emergent growth coverage within the space of a couple months.


----------



## Mohlerbear

tom855 said:


> Way cool. I just ordered a packet off Ebay. I'm really excited to see how it does. Thanks for the suggestion!!!!!



Awesome! No problem man. I'm pumped for you! I ordered a packet off eBay too and then a week later ordered two more. You can't ever have too much 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## tom855

Oh great. Like I need another obsession.


----------



## Encyclia

Since it's tough to control the growth of some mosses in terms of their height, I have had good luck with Riccia in some of my tanks. Riccia is not a moss (it's a liverwort), but you get a similar effect, as seen in this picture. It needs a fair bit of light and a humid environment, but works well in my least-ventilated tanks. It will also grow on wood  Just another option for you.

Mark


----------



## tom855

Interesting. I know it's a popular plant submerged in planted aquariums, but wasn't aware that it would grow so well emmerged. Might be worth a try someday!


----------



## Encyclia

It will grow emerged, but it really helps to get it started floating in an aquarium with high light and CO2 injection. It grows much thicker that way and that seems to give it the start it needs to grow in its terrestrial form.

Mark


----------



## tom855

Oh, the days of high tech / CO2 / etc. I remember it well. ..... and not going back.  

Riccia was one thing I never played with back then. It sounds like it would be fun to try in the viv, but as you said, it might be hard to get it to take off.


----------



## inka4040

Riccardia is prettier, and way less weedy without being any more difficult IME. Not sure if all that work is necessary for riccia. Never had a problem growing it when moisture was high enough, and you can generally just grab a finger pinch and rub it all over something, and have all the pieces that broke off grow in.


----------



## tom855

Wow. Google pictures of it are cool looking. Might look really nice on my wood "ramp" up from my corner pool. Any idea where you can buy the stuff? A quick look over on TPT says it's really, really pricey. But then, that's for submerged stuff. Maybe the terrarium version is more reasonable.


----------



## inka4040

Yeah, it's not cheap, but the pinch and rub method works for riccardia as well. A little goes a long long way if you're patient.


----------

