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By MaxVft
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Joined:  Sat May 08, 2021 4:17 am
#390668
Hello all,

Whenever I try to use live LFSM/sphagnum as a top dressing for my VFTs/'dews/etc. It ALWAYS dries out and turns brown, (assumingly)dying.

I have seen several people successfully use it as a top dressing but I don't have a clue as to what black magic they use.

Seems like the only successful way to grow it is in pure water or using it as an actual medium.

Any help is appreciated :D
Max
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By CPhunter101
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Joined:  Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:30 pm
#390669
MaxVft wrote:I have seen several people successfully use it as a top dressing but I don't have a clue as to what black magic they use.
Live sphagnum moss is difficult to use as a topdressing since it's so sensitive to light.
Direct sunlight or bright artificial lights can cause live sphagnum to dry to a crisp.
You can try adding more humidity and lower light levels, but there really isn't much you can do.
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By elaineo
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Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#390694
Not all sphagnums are created equal! The coarser species seem to do better in dry conditions than the denser ones... also, I think it helps if you grow the sphag out to fairly long strands so that part of it stays under the surface where it can stay cool and wet, and it will wick water up to the rest of itself at the top. Let me know if that sentence makes no sense. I can try to take a pic later :)
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By MaxVft
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#390701
@Cphunter101 my temps are only 70F indoors and even on a windowsill my sphagnum dries and turns brown/white... It's probably cuz' I don't mist it nor keep the soil sopping wet, lol :lol:
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By elaineo
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Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#390712
Here's a picture of what I do... I pot my stuff in plastic beer cups. The bottom ~30% is usually peat + perlite, and the top ~70% is sand+live sphag. There are holes in the cups, so the sphag can grow out the sides too.
The downside is that the sand eventually washes out the side holes.
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Here's one that I just repotted:
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It works better for indoor plants, or outdoor plants that sit in a water tray.
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By elaineo
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#390714
Thanks :b
In the third pic, the sphagnum is buried under the sand. The picture is meant to show how I start it out. If I started all the sphag on the surface, it would dry out before it could get growing in the cup.
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By Apollyon
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#390719
I was lucky enough to come across some live moss from a friend who found it growing in the "wild" that seems to be more forgiving of sunlight. Of the stuff I grow inside, I usually will only top off something that will stay damp enough to keep the top layer hydrated. Having it start further in the pot helps but if it doesn't have great humidity, it tends to look kinda dry and doesn't really grow well. It can survive though. My Ampullaria has live moss and I grow it under lights but something intermediate+ I don't bother as I don't keep them wet enough
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By MikeB
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Joined:  Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:13 pm
#390726
CPhunter101 wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 1:26 am That was what I was talking about. The newer cup (first pic) does have more live moss, but much of its moss is dead or starting to brown.
That looks like the red/purple sphagnum moss (from Meadowview Biological Research Station) that I sold to elaineo a few weeks ago. It isn't dying; those are its natural colors.
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By Nocturne
Posts:  250
Joined:  Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:25 pm
#390729
No heat+bag for constant moisture,allow rhizomes to develop (Plan B: auto spray. Plan C:manual spray every 6 hr). RO only. LED works.

GL HFImage
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By elaineo
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Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#390730
MikeB wrote: That looks like the red/purple sphagnum moss (from Meadowview Biological Research Station) that I sold to elaineo a few weeks ago. It isn't dying; those are its natural colors.
Yeah! It's the red/purple moss, mixed with some of my old green moss. VFTs often grow in red moss in the wild, so in theory it should be possible to grow them together in pots.
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By Nocturne
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Joined:  Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:25 pm
#390731
elaineo wrote:
MikeB wrote: That looks like the red/purple sphagnum moss (from Meadowview Biological Research Station) that I sold to elaineo a few weeks ago. It isn't dying; those are its natural colors.
Yeah! It's the red/purple moss, mixed with some of my old green moss. VFTs often grow in red moss in the wild, so in theory it should be possible to grow them together in pots.
Screen Shot 2021-10-19 at 8.14.00 PM.png
That theory looks to be on the right trackImage
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By Apollyon
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#390736
Makes you wonder if you can harden some of this stuff to the sun or if there are more "sunlight hardy" species of this stuff in different locales. Stuff I have grows in a spot where it gets about 6 hours but it isn't unobstructed all day long. I always liked those VFT in live moss pics
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