FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I found a small piece of rotting limb that had fallen from a tree that had a cool-looking field of moss growing on it...moss and some jelly fungus. I grabbed it and dropped it in an old plastic container and have been keeping it watered a little and sitting at the edge of a grow light. In addition to keeping a little water in the bottom of the container I mist it when I think about it. I've had it now for probably three weeks. I figured I'd start seeing springtails or something in it, but so far there's been no critter movement observed. The big question is...is it dangerous/invasive having it around my pots of growing CPs? It's just regular old moss like we have around here and it looks cool... but I don't want it to be a problem for my plants, especially sundews.

2nd question. If it *is* safe, could the moss covered piece of rotting wood be put in a container with sundews or is it too "fertile" to mix in the sundews' pots?

Not a great picture, but...

If you stand in one place too long, that's likely to grow on your north side.

"Fertile" as in fertilizer contaminated? I would say unlikely. However, there is the chance of undesirable hitchhikers -- pathogenic fungi, microbes, et cetera.

I’m not inclined to stress too much about these things as long as it’s not being added to a vivarium with live animals that could be harmed. There are already tons of spores and contaminants circulating in the air. It’s most likely all the same stuff plus maybe some insects in the moss and bark. You could grow it in a closed clear bin for some time as a sort of quarantine and to contain any critters that might hatch in the spring. If you still aren’t observing anything that concerns you, all good!
With that said, if I had very rare and expensive plants or an enclosed grow space that would be a hassle to decontaminate I probably wouldn’t risk it.

evenwind wrote:If you stand in one place too long, that's likely to grow on your north side.

Now I'm trying to decide on which direction to stand in...

DragonsEye wrote:"Fertile" as in fertilizer contaminated? I would say unlikely. However, there is the chance of undesirable hitchhikers -- pathogenic fungi, microbes, et cetera.

Bug_cemetery wrote:I’m not inclined to stress too much about these things as long as it’s not being added to a vivarium with live animals that could be harmed. There are already tons of spores and contaminants circulating in the air. It’s most likely all the same stuff plus maybe some insects in the moss and bark. You could grow it in a closed clear bin for some time as a sort of quarantine and to contain any critters that might hatch in the spring. If you still aren’t observing anything that concerns you, all good!
With that said, if I had very rare and expensive plants or an enclosed grow space that would be a hassle to decontaminate I probably wouldn’t risk it.

Yeah, I was wondering if the rotting wood would impart any nutrients to the growing medium of the sundews or if it's just be mostly inert, possibly affecting the pH. As for the hitchhikers, there's definitely fungus, but the jelly fungus is supposedly a good fungus...for trees and such, as it only attacks/feeds on rotting wood. There's no telling what else might be hanging out on the moss island, though.

Bug_cemetery, I may start a little world inside a large jar and see what happens. Lay a gallon jar on its side, put an inch or two of a sandy mix of peat in the jar and lay the rotted limb on top. Maybe throw a little charcoal in for good measure. A slight misting with rain water and then cap it off. Maybe stick a few seedling sundews in the sand. Then stand back and see what happens.

As for expensive plants, I don't really have any of those...but I've got some that are dear to me.

Its the kid in me, I guess...moss has always seemed kind of like a miniature forest/world to me.