sphagnum moss growing?

[ashley1222]

Is my dried sphagnum moss coming back to life?? Or is this algae? I have heard that dried sphag could come back to life, but I didn't know if this was true. I also heard that live sphag is better for orchids like phals. Thoughts?

[jeremyinsf]

It breaks down so fast anyway, I think it's better to replace it and keep it fresh.

[ashley1222]

This sphagnum moss is only a couple months old. The plant had been outside in the heat and humidity. I thought the moss might be growing now.

[Ray]

There are likely sufficient spores in the sphagnum that it can come back to growth, and frankly, that makes a wonderful medium, as it stays moist and naturally keeps the strands open and airy. However...

That greening of the entire end, and not just little tip, suggests algae, and unless you use close to pure water, the spores are unlikely to germinate, and continued application of fertilizer, except in VERY dilute concentrations, will kill it.

[ashley1222]

Originally Posted by Ray

There are likely sufficient spores in the sphagnum that it can come back to growth, and frankly, that makes a wonderful medium, as it stays moist and naturally keeps the strands open and airy. However...

That greening of the entire end, and not just little tip, suggests algae, and unless you use close to pure water, the spores are unlikely to germinate, and continued application of fertilizer, except in VERY dilute concentrations, will kill it.

Ray thank you for your reply. I would love to experiment with live sphagnum moss as a medium. Will the algae hurt my plants? Or cause rot?

[Ray]

It won't hurt the plants, but it will "slimify" the sphagnum.

[WhiteRabbit]

Some people grow some orchids in live sphag. But tap water and fertilizer both will kill the sphag.

[RosieC]

Looks like algae to me.

Most of my masdies which grow in the greenhouse in moss will get algae very quickly. Then they often get a covering of our local home grown moss over the surface as well. I can't stop either and they don't seem to matter so I just let them be.

[Discus]

I have live sphagnum growing around the place - but I use RO water exclusively and fertilise at quite low concentrations; it seems to survive quite well around the carnivorous plants that are never fertilised too, like in the pot of a small Nepenthes glabrata. I can only assume it germinated from spores, as the original live moss I've since spread around came out of some pots (kept in closed ziplocks for humidity) I was trying to germinate various species of Drosera in; the medium was primarily peat moss (really dead sphagnum) with a little perlite, vermiculite and some dried sphagnum. I also got various different "sheet" mosses, ferns and liverworts. But only one species of Drosera (capensis, which grows like a weed). Apparently, Disa orchids grow quite well in it.

---------- Post added at 10:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:06 AM ----------

To me it looks like that moss is simply covered in algae rather than having been "resurrected"

[Brooke]

I have live sphag growing on a couple of my Bulbos and one Coel baskets. I use rain water only with MSU fert on a regular basis and the moss thrives. I don't know if you could grow live sphag without the constant moisture.

Brooke