Growing Kyoto Moss from Spores?! - Page 2

Epiphile · #11 03-02-2010, 06:24 AM

FwoGiZ, try a search over on DB for Kyoto moss- people over there have recorded their successes and failures, and you may be able to draw some conclusions from that.

Froggsong, I'm interested in that inert moss-growing mat/substrate thing- please post some details when you can.

froggsong · #12 03-02-2010, 05:01 PM

I'll definitely get on that this evening. My back is actually bothering me little enough that I am able to get some housework done, and I can only be online for a little bit. So how about this. I'll get on around 6 tonight (pacific), and if everyone that wants to discuss it will get on at the same time, I'll post it in small posts so that we can discuss it. I really wish we had a chat client built in, but we don't... I'll post a thread here in a minute that will announce the discussion and what time I'll be on, then we can discuss it in the thread tonight at 6 (pacific). I'll have to go over the book a couple of times between now and then so that I don't break any copyright laws by discussing it. Posting the title of the book and the author's name should be enough, right?

FwoGiZ · #13 03-03-2010, 02:20 PM

tx aaron, went on DB and decided I was gonna try a mix of coco husks, peat moss and sand... I will use only half the spores I have in a 6x7 inches dish, that I will be covering with saran wrap, and be put in a corner of my room, around 60ish F
I am thinking on using the same water as I use for my frogs (tap water treated) and maybe would try to rinse this water with rice, as it was explained on some other threads.
here's a picture of the mix I will be using
I will post more pics once I have put the spores, and more of the developement

right now, I am cooking it in the oven!

froggsong · #14 03-03-2010, 03:17 PM

You should water it with distilled water or collected rain water. We'll be meeting again tonight at 6pm pacific to further discuss mosses and the moss mat system developed my Mr. Smith. Please feel free to join us.

WannabeVivMaster · #15 03-05-2010, 10:04 PM

Maybe I'm missing something... this entire moss problem is begining to appear much like the problem of attempting to grow an oak tree in a vivarium. Some plants just won't work. Or maybe they will work, just with an unbelievable amount of work.
I recently bought Java Moss. I put it in my viv about two weeks ago. It is growing new sprouts and appears to be doing good. I saw pictures (Brian's Tropicals) of Java Moss in vivs. The Java Moss looks to me like the best choice for vivarium set ups. Just mist it a couple / few times a day, tolerates low light, spreads nicely, forms bright green carpet, etc. Isn't that what everybody is looking for in a moss.
I understand alot of this hobby is the challenge of it. It seems moss is one of those things that's almost unobtainable; much like fitting an oak tree.
Just my opinion. However, it would be nice if somebody could find a good, easy way to get different mosses in the vivs.

Lance · #16 03-07-2010, 04:24 AM

Ive placed some kyoto moss into my red galacts tank back in Nov and I finaly have some good amount of green to show. Ill post some pics later in the day to show. Ive grown the spores in a few places all with different conditions and it seems that the moss grows better when in a vivarium setting with lights. The bin that I used for basicly low light levels didnt even sprout. From my knowledge of it, its a hit and miss deal.

FwoGiZ · #17 03-08-2010, 01:30 PM

hmm I am starting to wonder if I shouldn't be putting lights? Right now they're next to a window (not in front..) so they don't get any direct sunlight but they do get a lil bit of light... I also started giving them RO water instead of treated tap water

Grimm · #18 03-08-2010, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance

Ive placed some kyoto moss into my red galacts tank back in Nov and I finaly have some good amount of green to show. Ill post some pics later in the day to show. Ive grown the spores in a few places all with different conditions and it seems that the moss grows better when in a vivarium setting with lights. The bin that I used for basicly low light levels didnt even sprout. From my knowledge of it, its a hit and miss deal.

Id love to see a picture of WHERE is is growing in your tank...I have 2 packages of spore remaining and I might sprinkle one into several different spots once I redo my viv. Using your experience with it should give me a better idea where it will grow best.

froggsong · #19 03-08-2010, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WannabeVivMaster

Maybe I'm missing something... this entire moss problem is begining to appear much like the problem of attempting to grow an oak tree in a vivarium. Some plants just won't work. Or maybe they will work, just with an unbelievable amount of work.
I recently bought Java Moss. I put it in my viv about two weeks ago. It is growing new sprouts and appears to be doing good. I saw pictures (Brian's Tropicals) of Java Moss in vivs. The Java Moss looks to me like the best choice for vivarium set ups. Just mist it a couple / few times a day, tolerates low light, spreads nicely, forms bright green carpet, etc. Isn't that what everybody is looking for in a moss.
I understand alot of this hobby is the challenge of it. It seems moss is one of those things that's almost unobtainable; much like fitting an oak tree.
Just my opinion. However, it would be nice if somebody could find a good, easy way to get different mosses in the vivs.

I don't think that's a good comparison at all. It's not that difficult, it just takes a bit of experimentation to figure out the best way to do it. Just because you don't want to put in the effort doesn't mean that others don't. If none of us experiment to come up with new techniques, then no one will benefit in the future and the hobby will stagnate. Please don't think I'm being rude, I assure that isn't my object.

Coming up with ways to easily grow a variety of mosses in a vivarium setting is a big interest of mine. I'm not content to grow a single type of moss. I need variety, I want to bring the variety of mosses I see outside my door into my house where I can closely examine them every day, if I want to.

I'm actually having great success, so far, with some moss I transplanted into my CWD vive. It's looking lush and stays very hydrated, and doesn't seem to be suffering from the high temperature (in the 90's) or bright light. It is under the output from my humidifier, so it stays hydrated 24/7. I think that this is the key when transplanting moss. Hopefully we'll be able to finish our discussion on moss and the moss mat system and techniques developed by Mr. Smith sometime this week.

If your spores still aren't sprouting, perhaps you should expose them to a more acidic environment to break down the coating on the spores so that they can germinate. You could take a small bit of them and soak them for a couple of minutes in some vinegar, or sprinkle a pinch or two on the substrate you are using (in a separate container) and mist them with diluted vinegar (you could also do a bit with straight vinegar and see if that changes the result). Also, it seems to me that the best growing medium for moss spores is moss. I get this from my observations out in my yard. I find lots of mossy places with young mosses of different types mixed in with more established mosses. Perhaps you can get some untreated dried moss to propagate your spores in. They definitely require an acidic environment to dissolve the coating on the spores. The coating keeps the spores from growing until they are in the correct environment.

Grimm · #20 03-08-2010, 09:07 PM

Hey Froggy... I totally agree with everything you just said...Except I'm a little confused about the exposing the spores to a "more acidic environment".

I am assuming mostly all kinds to Kyoto Moss Spore vendors get their stock from roughly the same place. My package of spores are ground down into a very fine dust (excluding a few rocks)...Does mean that the spore coating has not been removed or are the spores indeed only the size of a dust particleand still require an acidic environment???