Is my sphagnum turning green again, or something else?

[Corry]

My phal that just started to spike is potted in mostly bark with some sphagnum moss mixed in, and in a clear, plastic pot. The moss was brown when I posted it, and quite dry. I just noticed that the moss in the bottom half or so of the pot is green again. Is the moss re-greening, or is there something else going on? And should I be concerned?

[Corry]

A few pics. also, it's quite loosely potted, and I potted it last April/Mayish. It was nearly dead at the time from some terrible neglect on my part, and had almost no root system whatsoever. I almost threw it away and decided to see if I could save it.

[greengarden]

That does look like living green moss. Sometimes sphag can get a dark green algae type stuff that grows on it though. If the moss looks/feels kind of slimey when wet and the green looks like it is sitting on the surface of the moss then this might be what it is, if the green is more part of the plant if that makes sense it's probably regrown from a small still living bit, I have a few bits floating around that have regrown at one time or another.

[terryros]

Most of the time the green is from "algae", which is technically usually a cyanobacteria. The dead, dry sphagnum moss that we use rarely if ever is resuscitated to life. The bacteria require light to grow, which is why clear pots allow it to appear on the walls. Otherwise, it appears on the surface of the pot, but only where light can reach. In a variety of posts of several forums users have commented that the bacterial growth probably does no harm to the plant, probably because we are usually giving an excess of chemicals to our plants and the bacterial use does not detract.

So, it becomes an appearance thing. Some like the look and others detest it. I don't like it and therefore don't use clear pots AND, every time I water, I spray my sphagnum top surface with a stabilized activated hydrogen peroxide spray that I get from First Rays (Zerotol/Oxidate) and I then have minimal algae growth.


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[Corry]

Thanks! The look doesn't bother me, I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't harm my phal!