FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey guys !

I've been using long fiber moss from NZ (blonde color type) to grow my darlingtonias and noticed that recently some of the top tips have been turning brown. It's on a window sill that's not extremely sunny, so I was wondering if that just means that I'm in the presence of possible live moss (I know that usually the live moss gets that when the sun is too harsh/moss too dry) ?

I was looking for some so in that case I would be careful to cultivate it and give it the water and all that it needs !

thanks

The tips of live sphagnum moss will often become white or brown if they are too dry, which can happen easily in hot, dry weather. In nature, sphagnum moss often grows where it is cold (sometimes very cold) and very moist, and in cold air the evaporation is much less, keeping the humidity very high.

If your live sphagnum is getting brown, you can either water it more often, mist it, or keep it in shadier conditions to increase the humidity. In addition, you can plant it in a container with high sides (such as many plastic storage containers) and the semi-enclosed space will inhibit drying drafts and concentrate the humidity inside the container.

Good luck.

Thanks Steve for the awesome reply as always. However I guess I should have been more direct ! Does that mean that I'm in presence of revived moss? I was talking about dead moss here and I noticed the browning in a few spots which seemed to go away a few hours later once misted. I'm dying to find some Nz live moss, this would be a hell of a miracle for me, lol ! I guess this doesn't happen with dead one, does it? Thanks

I find that LFS does have a habit of sprouting every now and then. Although this doesn't necessarily mean yours is alive. It essentially just means that it has burnt a bit in the sun. It even happens to live LFS too, depending on how strong the sun is. As Steve said, they naturally come from very damp and cool areas, they are not really suited to our warmer, dryer climate.