FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Discuss non-carnivorous plants here

Moderator: Matt

User avatar
By elaineo
Location: 
Posts:  1013
Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#388433
Different types of moss, grown for 3 weeks under 24-hour full spectrum light at about 50 PPFD. Wanted to see if I could make them all turn red.

Types of moss tested:
  • @optique sphag (top right)
    Michigan ebay sphag (bottom right)
    California ebay sphag (center)
    @Mikeb moss (top left)
    Meadowview red sphag from Mikeb (bottom left)
Before:
IMG_2120.jpg
IMG_2120.jpg (828.28 KiB) Viewed 10212 times
After:
IMG_2209.jpg
IMG_2209.jpg (1.39 MiB) Viewed 10212 times
Dan V, plantnerdjules liked this
User avatar
By elaineo
Location: 
Posts:  1013
Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#388434
Since each piece of sphag is an individual plant, I wonder if there's some natural selection process that goes on over time. The cup in the middle showed the most growth, but I've had that sphag for several years so it's had time to adapt to local growing conditions. A lot of the red sphag (bottom right) died and rotted when I first started growing it in a tray, but the remaining sphag seems to be doing well.
User avatar
By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#388435
The 'red' sphag I got off of ebay, the same as y'all, didn't have any red when I got it and still doesn't in full sun.
User avatar
By Rammplins
Location: 
Posts:  417
Joined:  Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:28 pm
#388436
OOooo, I like that red sphag from Mikeb. What a beautifully deep color, I know what I will be topdressing my red neps in the future with! The middle one has a decent amount of growth on it as well for only 3 weeks, but makes sense if its been in your care the longest.

I dont know, I have found if you start with just the head and line them up together in tight rows all the heads seem to grow at basically the same speed. But that could possibly be because they are locking together to form a mat, restricting the growth of any super fast ones. Thats just a guess though
By Z_Y
Posts:  177
Joined:  Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:19 pm
#388437
I too have been trying to propagate some of my colored moss. I found two stable colors, one very red and one orange. I actually really like the orange one, but it grows so slowly:
IMG_20210914_143021.jpg
IMG_20210914_143021.jpg (1.15 MiB) Viewed 10201 times
Here's how the red/orange one looks like in a pot:
IMG_20210914_143034.jpg
IMG_20210914_143034.jpg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 10201 times
Some more red type:
IMG_20210914_143057.jpg
IMG_20210914_143057.jpg (3.2 MiB) Viewed 10201 times
There's red type in this pot, but the greenish-red above it might be a different species too.
IMG_20210914_143150.jpg
IMG_20210914_143150.jpg (2.8 MiB) Viewed 10201 times
I also purchased some red ones off ebay and they didn't look that red. They also came with a lot of twigs and ants like it was picked off the forest floor, it took me a while to pick out all the sphagnum heads and toss out all the rest. I still haven't used it in any of my pots yet since I'm afraid of introducing some pest:
IMG_20210607_173416.jpg
IMG_20210607_173416.jpg (1.66 MiB) Viewed 10201 times
elaineo, Nepenthes0260 liked this
User avatar
By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#388438
That looks exactly like the one I got from ebay, including the twigs, leaves, roots and ants. I submerged it under water for two or three days and then picked through it. One bonus that came with it was about 8 drosera rotundafolia seedlings that sprouted up.
User avatar
By Rammplins
Location: 
Posts:  417
Joined:  Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:28 pm
#388439
Every time I buy any live moss from Ebay I always clean up the inevitable sticks and stems, then I keep it in quarantine for 4 weeks. The first week I keep it completely submerged it water to drown out any bugs that may be living in there. Then I drain it, keep it in 100% humidity and neem mist it once a week until it comes out of quarantine. After its out of quarantine I give it a final wash and its good to go, ive never had any problem with pests other than spider mites, Im fairly sure they didn't come from the sphagnum though as they showed up quite a bit later.

Should I order from Meadowview though I will definitely look for some Sarr seedling first though!
User avatar
By elaineo
Location: 
Posts:  1013
Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#388440
Panman wrote:The 'red' sphag I got off of ebay, the same as y'all, didn't have any red when I got it and still doesn't in full sun.
I messaged the seller, as the moss was all green/brown when I received it. She said that too much water makes it turn green. It didn't make that much sense to me, but I have observed it to be true.
User avatar
By Apollyon
Location: 
Posts:  1663
Joined:  Tue May 05, 2020 2:49 am
#388444
I'd love to zero in on how the colors change and the variables. I got a large clump off average moss that was growing in red heads in my 1020 prop tray. I separated all of the he4ads and grew them isolated and the new stuff grew green. Outside of breaking them off, everything else was identical. That's some awesome red moss you have. I'm definitely jealous
User avatar
By elaineo
Location: 
Posts:  1013
Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#388446
Apollyon wrote:I'd love to zero in on how the colors change and the variables. I got a large clump off average moss that was growing in red heads in my 1020 prop tray. I separated all of the he4ads and grew them isolated and the new stuff grew green. Outside of breaking them off, everything else was identical. That's some awesome red moss you have. I'm definitely jealous
The "red" moss (bottom right in the photo) does have some green growth. Here is a photo of the same moss after I dumped it out of the cup:
IMG_2212.jpg
IMG_2212.jpg (720.77 KiB) Viewed 10173 times
From what I can tell, red is a sign of stress (too much light + not enough water). Plants produce anthocyanin to protect from oxidation.

Four of the mosses were able to turn red. Here is a photo of the MikeB moss (top left in the photo) after dumping it out. It started out the greenest, but even this one got some red:
IMG_2213.jpg
IMG_2213.jpg (329.67 KiB) Viewed 10173 times
The only moss that didn't show any red was the optique moss, which turned yellow/clear. But, it grew almost as much as the center cup, so it probably has some natural resistance to stress. It is a coarse species, which grows longer and looser.
User avatar
By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#388447
I just got my Meadowview red/purple moss in today. I gave it a quick going over and have it submerged in water. I'll soak it like that for a couple of days and them pick out the weeds and twigs. In the process I found about a half dozen sarracenia seedlings and one flytrap that may be a year old. I feel like I found the prize in a box of Cracker Jack's.
Attachments:
IMG_14092021_171617_(900_x_1200_pixel).jpg
IMG_14092021_171617_(900_x_1200_pixel).jpg (375.37 KiB) Viewed 10168 times
IMG_14092021_171600_(1200_x_900_pixel).jpg
IMG_14092021_171600_(1200_x_900_pixel).jpg (587.5 KiB) Viewed 10168 times
elaineo, MaxVft, MikeB and 2 others liked this
User avatar
By Nepenthes0260
Location: 
Posts:  1774
Joined:  Mon Apr 30, 2018 1:59 am
#388453
Z_Y wrote:I too have been trying to propagate some of my colored moss. I found two stable colors, one very red and one orange. I actually really like the orange one, but it grows so slowly:
IMG_20210914_143021.jpg
Here's how the red/orange one looks like in a pot:
IMG_20210914_143034.jpg
Some more red type:
IMG_20210914_143057.jpg
There's red type in this pot, but the greenish-red above it might be a different species too.
IMG_20210914_143150.jpg
I also purchased some red ones off ebay and they didn't look that red. They also came with a lot of twigs and ants like it was picked off the forest floor, it took me a while to pick out all the sphagnum heads and toss out all the rest. I still haven't used it in any of my pots yet since I'm afraid of introducing some pest:
IMG_20210607_173416.jpg
That sphagnum and Heliamphora look fantastic, what temps are you keeping them in? Would like to grow some more sphag eventually, but it's never very vigorous in my HL room.
User avatar
By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#388462
I'm too excited not to share. I combed through the moss one more time and came up with a few more pitcher plants, another flytrap, and what I believe is a filiformis hibernicula. Now they are potted and in humidity domes. I will be interested to see what actually survives.
Attachments:
IMG_14092021_202124_(900_x_1200_pixel).jpg
IMG_14092021_202124_(900_x_1200_pixel).jpg (347.46 KiB) Viewed 10132 times
IMG_14092021_202140_(900_x_1200_pixel).jpg
IMG_14092021_202140_(900_x_1200_pixel).jpg (245.02 KiB) Viewed 10132 times
elaineo, Supercazzola liked this
Hello!

Welcome

Chilly in LA…

I've got a friend in Harvey, but that looks like […]

Hey all, just got my order in today and figured I'[…]

1 year old cape!

My cape is being evil. It died back when I did I[…]

The Sphagnum Yacht

We all love cotton...blue jeans, t-shirts, underwe[…]

I counted 21 in this one. Both are flavas that I g[…]

A few weeks back most of my VFTs suddenly put out […]

Counting to infinity.

2476

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!