FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

<ARRRGGHHHH!!!!!> I hate it when I have a wonderful post typed up and it goes to the great bit-bucket-in-the-ether...Shakespeare (or at least Samuel Clemens) would have been proud of it!!! Oh well....now, the condensed version.

Sphagnum moss. I've got two trays that are growing slowly. We're predicted to have several nights of below-freezing temperatures and it appears that people who grow it don't worry about freezing temperatures but I think I'll move it inside our open-ended garage for a little bit of protection, anyhow.

I've got two, roughly 16"x12", trays. One is roughly 3" deep and the other around 2" deep. When I received the plugs of moss I simply set them in the trays "sunny-side-up" with no substrate in the bottom of the trays. They appear to have grown a bit but nothing excessive. I've sprayed them once (recently) with Maxsea and they "seem" to have greened up a tad. When I received the moss it was during a very dry period this past summer and the moss was tan-colored with a few areas or specks of pale green scattered in it. I've simply kept up to an inch, usually 1/2" of water in the bottom of the trays except when it rained and it would fill up higher and then I'd drain it off. I tried a pan of sphagnum prior to these and used a thin layer of peat moss in the bottom...the sphagnum did not do well and it died...seemed like the sphagnum soaked up LOTS of tannins.

The question (this didn't end up being a condensed version, did it? ) is: Do I need some type of substrate below the moss? I'm not gungho about using peat moss, but what about sand or gravel? I've even seen boxes set up using perlite or foam board that is covered with a cloth with the ends of the cloth dangling in the water and the moss on top of the foam getting it's moisture from the wet cloth...it stays moist but not standing in water.

Anyhoo....thoughts on a substrate for sphagnum moss, anyone????

I just grow mine in a plastic bag with no substrate. I don't think they need any either. In the wild it grows on top of itself. The bottom layer of sphagnum that all the other sphagnum is growing on is either floating on water or in a mix of mostly water with peat (very little), seaweed, sticks, and other gunk that isn't really substrate. That's what it's like up here anyway. I don't know about sphagnum that grows in the south. I did see a little in NC though. It looked like it was growing on its dead self (?) so about the same as up here.

Thanks for the feedback. Down here it appears to grow down a piece until it heats soil...lots of twigs and leaves mixed in. But, the only places that I've seen it in the wild have been old cutover forests where the soil has been heavily scarred by skidders, bulldozers, etc.,...just remnant survivor patches...and some not even what you could call a patch. I'm sure further south in some of the noted bogs along the coast that the substrate is a aged one and much deeper and vast that what I've seen around here.

I wonder if it would be worth my time to move the trays into the old trailer for overwintering. I could keep them well above freezing with a large east-facing bay window to sit in front of. I might could even get industrious and hang an LED shoplight above them.

That moss is actually growing pretty well! The moss really slows down or even stops growth when cold temps come so if you want to keep it growing as quickly as possible you should move it to the trailer. I have seen small patches growing around leaf litter but the leaves are more mixed in and around the moss than the moss actually growing in it. I think it just really depends on what is around the moss. If there are lots of trees it will probably be growing in more leaves than not and if there aren't trees then growing in its dead self, like at my local bog.

I don't see a problem, your moss tubs look great. I don't use any sort of substrate myself, the moss doesn't need any. Just keep the water level below the live parts of the moss and you'll be fine. Fertilization helps a lot to speed up growth too, though you're probably not going to see much growth in general this time of year.

That looks good. Got any info on how you're growing it? Using a substrate? Indoors? Water levels? I'm searching for any tidbits I can find on how to do this!

I think I'm going to strip out the peat I have in my trays and move to just the live moss. I don't like the humic acid turning the tips brown.

The tannin issue is what I'm hoping to keep away from. It seems to be working fine for the moss just to have some water in the bottom of the tray. I'm wondering, though, if I need to keep it deeper than what I have it...or if the live green tops do fine just drawing water up through the brown bottom part. It seemed to do ok in the summer heat with just an inch or less of water in the trays, but I did spray the trays once every couple of days, too.

I'm trying to figure out how to keep the tannins/humic acid from ending up turning the live moss in planted pots brown, too. Deeper layer of live moss?

I've seen some growers line the bottom of their trays with window screening, water up to that point, and then put the live moss on that. Nice thing is, it's reusable and easy to separate from the moss.

Sphagnum seems to like ~70 temps, high humidity, and full sun. Mine (which I grow outside) slow their growth in summer and winter and really put on a good show in spring and autumn.

It also seems to really like growing in clumps for some reason. I'd try grouping it together vs. spreading it out and seeing which one produced better growth.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the tips, Davin!!! I had wondered about spreading it out or not. This spring I’m going to try to propagate it a good bit and will try setting it in trays in clumps!

Good observation on temperature and best growth times, too!

I’m a little confused on the window screen use. Do they simply lay it in the bottom of the tray. Is it stretched in a frame that’s elevated a bit?

@Intheswamp you'd probably get a lot out of this thread: sphagnum-science-t37893.html.

As far as substrate, sphagnum moss doesn't really need one. Dead sphagnum moss, whatever your preferred brand is, would be fine.

SDK1 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 5:37 pm @Intheswamp you'd probably get a lot out of this thread: sphagnum-science-t37893.html.

As far as substrate, sphagnum moss doesn't really need one. Dead sphagnum moss, whatever your preferred brand is, would be fine.

I just read this thread, thanks for posting!
Does anyone know if there are similar products to the Gambels solution that might be found in the grow shops that have popped up all over Michigan? I’m sure a grow shop brand with a trippy logo will cost more than $1.34 but it wouldn’t have shipping costs

Yeah the shipping cost is kind of a drag but it's important to remember that 1L of Gamborg's is enough for.... A LOT of feedings. There's a good chance you wouldn't need another bottle for a couple years.

Also you don't have to feed the sphagnum, it's more than capable of making its own food and growing from that. It just grows more slowly. Slowly working towards a 24 hr. photoperiod and maintaining high humidity and high heat will really go a long way towards boosting the growth of the sphagnum. Adding in the food is the cherry on top that makes it all go nuts once you have all the factors dialed in.

You can use Maxsea or even Dyna-gro (like the user in the post I linked did in an earlier version of their recipe), you may just have to mist more and/or flush the container later that month after a feeding. For species like S. palustre, you may not need to flush more than once every 3 months because it is a species that usually lives in higher PPM environments. Some red/orange/brown (not all) species are the ones that really prefer the super low PPM environments.