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Discuss water requirements, "soil" (growing media) and suitable planting containers

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By Leathal_Traps
Posts:  1311
Joined:  Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:27 am
#175489
:mrgreen: I have seen over time that people have been constantly asking about sphagnum moss, how it grows, what it needs, and so on and so forth. This post will explain the main topics to keep in mind when growing this beautiful type of moss. Keep in mind, lighting conditions, water/humidity, and temperatures. Once you finish reading this post, I assure you, you will have a good overall idea on how to take care for this type of moss.

1) LIGHTING:
Sphagnum moss likes direct sunlight, for a few hours. Keep in mind, sphagnum is not like a flytrap it doesn't need great amounts of it, in order to grow, simply that it will grow faster. Although it doesn't need great quantities of sunlight, don't place it in a place where it will have full shade 24/7. It will die. Another important point is that DO NOT LET YOUR SPHAGNUM BURN. They are sensitive plants and with high amounts of bright sunlight, it will burn, just like any other plant.

2) WATER AND HUMIDITY:
Sphagnum's natural habitat are bogs, this means that they are in a humid condition all the time, and surrounded with
water. What I have done with my sphagnum is put it in a pot with dead peat under, and give it about 1-2 inches of water.
Then I cut out a piece of a zip lock bag and put it around to top off the pot, and put a rubber band around it. Then I make a few holes, and everything works out. Although it might seem primitive, I've had 100% success rate with this method. Remember, if you don't keep your moss humid, it will easily dry out.

3) TEMPERATURE:
Sphagnum does not like high temperatures. It will stand up to about a maximum of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and then it will also start to burn. Although it can also stand pretty low temperatures, the ideal temperature is about 75 degrees, not too cold and not too hot. This will be the best way to grow your sphagnum into healthy plants.

EXTRAS:

I've also seen that people have been asking, can I bring sphagnum "back to life". Although it is hard the answer is YES. I myself once ordered a pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), a flytrap typical, and a sundew (do not know what type). The box inside came full of dried sphagnum to pot the plants. I poured distilled water and I noticed some of the strands had red-ish looking tops, and as you may know, red sphagnum is rare.

I potted the plants and left the reddest looking strands in a cup with distilled water over night. In the morning, I noticed that the strands seem more alive, only the tops were red, and the rest was still brown. Over the next few days, the strands started growing on the top, and it started becoming green on the bottom. It lives. This shows that if you try you can, but it doesn't always work out

SUGGESTIONS:
Please leave a comment if you would like to ask something, or include some information that has been left out. I will edit this post over time, to make it better. I am looking forward to this becoming a sticky, that everyone can learn. Hope it helped
Last edited by Leathal_Traps on Sun May 12, 2013 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By LAKJP
Posts:  880
Joined:  Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:16 pm
#175507
Thanks for sharing these helpful information, though I have a question : how fast does sphagnum moss recover from shipping shock and resume growth?
By Leathal_Traps
Posts:  1311
Joined:  Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:27 am
#175508
The first time I bought sphagnum, it was within a day or two, they grow quite rapidly, and they don't suffer a big 'shock" when shipped since they have no roots.
Leathal_Traps liked this
By Leathal_Traps
Posts:  1311
Joined:  Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:27 am
#175586
No problem. As people keep on asking questions, I will add them to the post as info. Ask as many questions as you want, as they will be beneficial to the community.
By Alex
Posts:  51
Joined:  Fri Jun 13, 2014 6:17 pm
#206344
Late response, but I just had this happen today and I'm looking for an answer. I received Dry sphagnum moss with my flytrap about 2 months ago. I have left it in distilled water outside since then, wrapped around the roots. However, today I took the pot out of the water supply, and within a few hours the top started to become green. It is slowly spreading, and my question is, how far will the green spread? And is there any reason as to why when I pulled it out it started to form color?
By bannister
Posts:  236
Joined:  Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:17 am
#206358
Alex wrote:Late response, but I just had this happen today and I'm looking for an answer. I received Dry sphagnum moss with my flytrap about 2 months ago. I have left it in distilled water outside since then, wrapped around the roots. However, today I took the pot out of the water supply, and within a few hours the top started to become green. It is slowly spreading, and my question is, how far will the green spread? And is there any reason as to why when I pulled it out it started to form color?
This is most likely algae. Take a picture for us to identify.
User avatar
By SFLguy
Posts:  1726
Joined:  Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:29 am
#206593
The algae will not hurt your plant but eventually the grass could strangle out the CP roots ava when it gets big, it's almost impossible to remove without disturbing the roots of your plant

Also on a different note, I think my sphagnum is reviving :)
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