New moss site & new method of growing

[terrestrial_man]

Just opened on the net this month is this site:
New Moss Gardening
which looks great and is introducing a new approach in moss cultivation that just may have applications for terrariums. The site is the work of Rick Smith who has been growing mosses for years.
It is a site to watch as he plans on working up info on using mosses in terrariums sometime in the future.

[froggsong]

Cool. I'm going to take a look at that as soon as I can. Thanks for posting!

[beckdg]

sweet

[Dwent]

very cool. lots of good mossy info.

[froggsong]

I took a look at the site an immediately ordered the book. He'll be writing new additions in the future, all of which will be available for free to existing owners online. I have GOT to get some of that rose moss. I also need to set up a rain barrel...Anyway, I'm rambling...

[terrestrial_man]

Probably all kinds of bryophytes, including aquatic mosses, can be grown on felt. However, the techniques for doing so would have to be worked out. So far in my tests I am using a plastic fruit base, the kind that is found in the supermarket that holds grapes or whatever, into which one to two layers of the artificial felt is cut to fit the entire bottom of the case. I call this a Humidity Case (HC) as its entire purpose is to provide protection from dessication. Here is what it looks like.

[terrestrial_man]

I have done some experiments with the use of the felt in containers outdoors to see how the moss species used would fare. In two cases of using Bryum species what I have learned is that the felt system is effective when the felt is enclosed in a plastic case such as that used for holding fresh fruit, like grapes, found at your local grocers. With felt sitting in a tray without being inside any enclosed case the moss just has not done as well. So my conclusion would be that humidity and protection against spatter are necessary for the felt system to work when used in a growing tray.
I am also trying to rescue some moss that was barely hanging on and have placed the surviving pieces into a "Humidity Case". The pieces are slowly recovering and growing upon the felt.
The top image is when the moss pieces were place into the HC on June 8, 2010. The bottom the status as of July 8, 2010.