# Peacock spikemoss



## ZenMonkey (Sep 17, 2013)

So I have a little patch of this, but I'm not really sure what to do with it. Currently it's just hanging out in a corner of my growing viv. I've never worked with spikemoss before and I'm interested in ideas for it. I'd love for it to grow on a coco hut, since the folius moss doesn't take to it, but would it rather grow on cork or substrate? 

I know it can be tough to keep moss alive, so if I lose this patch I won't suffer. I'm not sure whether it's growing, but since I've had it in my vivarium it's greened up nicely.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Give it a bed of of good zew zealand moist long fiber sphag and keep it moist with good light and it will fill your viv 

The brighter the light the flatter it goes and beyond the hints off irodecence you usuallybgetnin high light like outside it can turn dark purplish/blue. That's how mine was in greenhouse I bought it from but after some time in a darker viv it turned to the bright green with hints of iridescence you usually see


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Spikemosses, although they sound similar to mosses are actually quite different. Spikemosses (_Selaginella_ sp.) are vascular plants, whereas mosses and liverwarts are non-vascular plants. Mosses, for the most part, are less restricted in their growing conditions in our tanks and will grow epiphytically or terrestrially. _Selaginella_ however are mostly restricted to a terrestrial life, although some have had some success growing some species on their backgrounds (I don't recall peacock spikemoss being one of them). Your best bet at growing these awesome plants in the way you want is to plant them terrestrially and slowly train the new growth over the hut. 

It seems that _Selaginella_ are kinda delicate as I have had really crappy luck with them myself. On the bright side, peacock spikemoss (_Selaginella uncinata_) has lasted the longest for me, but don't be suprised if the plant doesn't take off for you. Mabye someone who can actually keep them alive can chime in 

John

Edit: seems like Dave beat me to it! Thats what happens when you take a midnight snack during a dendroboard post


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## ZenMonkey (Sep 17, 2013)

Dendro Dave said:


> Give it a bed of of good zew zealand moist long fiber sphag and keep it moist with good light and it will fill your viv


Well, that's exactly how I have it at the moment, so cool, I'll just leave it there.

Thanks to both of you for the quick and helpful replies!


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

FroggyKnight said:


> Spikemosses, although they sound similar to mosses are actually quite different. Spikemosses (_Selaginella_ sp.) are vascular plants, whereas mosses and liverwarts are non-vascular plants. Mosses, for the most part, are less restricted in their growing conditions in our tanks and will grow epiphytically or terrestrially. _Selaginella_ however are mostly restricted to a terrestrial life, although some have had some success growing some species on their backgrounds (I don't recall peacock spikemoss being one of them). Your best bet at growing these awesome plants in the way you want is to plant them terrestrially and slowly train the new growth over the hut.
> 
> It seems that _Selaginella_ are kinda delicate as I have had really crappy luck with them myself. On the bright side, peacock spikemoss (_Selaginella uncinata_) has lasted the longest for me, but don't be suprised if the plant doesn't take off for you. Mabye someone who can actually keep them alive can chime in
> 
> ...



I"all disagree slightly with this as I've seen several examples of vivs growing various sags on the background including uncinata and have done it myself... I think a dripwall, waterfall nearby or regular misting is the key though. I have something sold to me as sag Apoda that stays low and forms mounds, its turning out to be one of my favorite groundcovers and I think it will do well on a moist background too.

As for growing over a coco hut to.my surprise i,'he never had much luck getting something to grow on them even moss, but what you can do is make mound of moist sphag and kinda press it on/over it as stuff will grow over it that way making a "hobbit hole" of sorts, but makes it hard to check them for eggs if you've got a Petri dish under there


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Now that you mention it, I remember seeing pics of both those species growing on backgrounds! I hate misinformation, thank you for the correction

John


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

FroggyKnight said:


> Now that you mention it, I remember seeing pics of both those species growing on backgrounds! I hate misinformation, thank you for the correction
> 
> John


No prob, I only remembered probably because they weren't bromilads... Love broms but think they are overused my many...every vivs full of broms... LA de da (Nah its All good especially if u have thumbs or pumilio)


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

My Selaginella erythropus never thrived. Afraid of losing it, I made a cutting and put it in my spare tank (aka, the forgotten tank). Apparently, high humidity, no frogs stumping on it, and no misting were what the plant needed to thrive.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

JPccusa said:


> My Selaginella erythropus never thrived. Afraid of losing it, I made a cutting and put it in my spare tank (aka, the forgotten tank). Apparently, high humidity, no frogs stumping on it, and no misting were what the plant needed to thrive.


Pretty much, though I think well established plants can take some traffic. Lately I've been growing plants in flat/short sushi or salad containers and I'm finding that both that sag. Apoda and uncinata can be started from just a few tiny leaves and piece of stem... it is amazing the tiny pieces I've seen regenerate into full plants that could be transferred. 

Seems a lot of plants are grown in the store/green houses a lot less humid then vivs conditions. Sure some adapt fine but I've seen so many new plants melt when put in vivs. This is kinda the opposite problem with sags, but when i tried to put begonia pavonina in vivs the one I transplanted just melted and died. The one in left in its pot grew/leaves melted off... rinse repeat till it finally stabilizes, then divisions I took from that stable plant had much higher transplant success.

The point of that tangent is...

I've adopted the idea of a high humidity transplant tank to allow expensive/rare plants to stay in their pots and then eventually transplant or better yet just take cuttings from to add to vivs and leave the mother plant alone. Leaving that pavonina in its pot seemed to let it stabilize enough and after years its still in there... BUT while I think that saved the plant... it did introduce slugs into the vivs, so i think a high humidity quarantine viv as an intermittent step is the way to go for high risk/value plants.

Basically I think many of us are killing sensitive plants by not allowing them to stay in the pot while they adapt to vivarium light/humidity conditions, because our Qt procedures say to not just drop plant and pot into vivs... Helps avoid things like slugs but I think we kill a lot of sensitive plants... So basically having a place that replicates vivs conditions but allows plants to stay in their pots seems to have increased my success with lots of plants. 

Mature plants started as cuttings in high humidity containers seem more vivs ready, and also plants that come from seeds started in these containers or in the vivs seem to do better. Example: Blue oxalis, adult plants I'd buy mostly died over and over, but seed grown plants that started life under vivarium conditions have proven to be much hardier. Now if I can get seed for any plant I'm dead set on having in my vivs... that's the way I go, or I try propagating cuttings in viv conditions... mother plant is now option of last resort.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Interesting thread...I have a tank with two different Selaginella---one planted in the substrate, and the other in a planting pocket toward the top...both have ariel (sp?) roots...so conceivably they could be planted at the bottom of a cork background, and encouraged to root upwards...I think that might look pretty neat... I also keep plants in their pots after a pretty good flushing of warm water over the leaf/surface of soil area while holding the pot horizontally to expose the under part of the leaf where so many critters live. Its not perfect however...and then the still potted plants go into a temp.QT/viv environment until needed or to make cuttings...I haven't tried, but perhaps after a time, removing the pot and replanting in ABG in that same spot might be worth trying...hmmm I lose very few plants with this method....until they actually get put into a viv, then they are on their own....which sometimes doesn't work...


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