Clash of the mosses!!!!

[Tindomul1of9]

A proffessor gave it to me, he collected it because he is a Dr. of Lower Plants. I forgot the proper name for that.

[terrestrial_man]

Hi Tindo!
A Dr of Lower Plants. Am I tempted to crack a joke here
But I promise to be a nice boy for the time being
Let me guess:
a bryologist is one that studies mosses, maybe this one

How is the tropical moss growing for you? Is it growing alot and rapidly or slowly. How are you growing it?
I like mosses

[Tindomul1of9]

Hey, yes a bryologist. I kept thinking of the word embryologist. Oh well.
I grow the tropical moss on gravel. It seems to be ok, but I think it needs more light. It's not growing by leaps and bounds, and I barely have any of it. Just enough to ensure survival of the species if conditions ever get better. On the other hand, some nice tropical liverworts that came with it are quickly colonizing my pumilio tank. Go figure.

[terrestrial_man]

Originally Posted by Tindomul1of9

Hey, yes a bryologist. I kept thinking of the word embryologist. Oh well.
I grow the tropical moss on gravel. It seems to be ok, but I think it needs more light. It's not growing by leaps and bounds, and I barely have any of it. Just enough to ensure survival of the species if conditions ever get better. On the other hand, some nice tropical liverworts that came with it are quickly colonizing my pumilio tank. Go figure.

Hello Tindo,
Liverworts will take over your substrate in due time. Maybe a good thing but it will grow over anything else!!
Not a good thing.

Try using coir as the substrate for the tropical moss.
Have you ever shopped for food storage containers at
WalMart or your grocery store. There are some that are
shallow, round or square. Get one of those packs and then punch a lot of holes in the bottom and line with the coir and lightly press in the moss. Give it time. I will have to take ft candle readings of how my tropical Diacrinum species is exposed.
Too little light the plant stays low;
just right and it grows!!
(as Bob Dylan once said: I'm a poet-hope I don't blow it!)
Gravel is not a good substrate for any moss.
I will be blogging more on this subject in my Moss-An Experiment in Terra (a play on Terror!!! :-)!)

[Tindomul1of9]

Geese, there is so much I didn't know I didn't know. Thanks.

[terrestrial_man]

What scares me is knowing I know but forgetting that I know!!!! Or is that what I know!

[Landon]

Originally Posted by terrestrial_man

Landon, your moss looks great-got any pics of it growing in its natural habitat? The reason the moss is growing the way it is looks like that it needs more light!!! Look at images of how it looks in nature and then compare!!! You tell me! Know what kind of moss it is???

im not sure what type of moss it is. most of it is moss i collected from an area in GA. i collected it from a shady area that was pretty moist. i tried to get the stuff from the shadyest (huh?) areas i could find it growing, because i know lighting is a probelm of terrarium grown mosses. im not sure what species the aquatic is, but its refered to as a java moss.

i know my moss looks a little stragely, because it needs more light, but it looks better tha no moss and im happy to have it alive

[terrestrial_man]

Hello Landon,
I agree it is growing well. You may want to try and move a small piece of it nearer the light to see what happens.

It is not Java Moss. Java Moss is aquatic and grows in water but can creep out onto the shore. I will post an image as soon as I can get one that is satisfactory. If you are ever out and about looking at mosses I do hope that you have a digital along!!! There are all kinds of mosses and they are all hard to id down to species just by looking at them!!!

I bet you have not seen this before but a young man in Sweden has developed a very interesting way of growing cool looking miniature orchid species.
Check this link> http://jsionline.freeservers.com/NanoB.JPG
I have some ideas on doing something along this line as there are alot of different ways of accomplishing this similar type of arrangement.

[harrywitmore]

I think you meant liverwort instead of lichen. I don't know any species of lichen that will live long in a terrarium. Wish that were not true. The key to liverwort is light and plenty of moisture. Daily watering is good. The amount of light it can take is a proportional to the amount of water it has. Lots of water, lots of light. It will grow quickly in these conditions. I grow it in a tray and it spreads fast.

[terrestrial_man]

Originally Posted by harrywitmore

I think you meant liverwort instead of lichen. I don't know any species of lichen that will live long in a terrarium. Wish that were not true. The key to liverwort is light and plenty of moisture. Daily watering is good. The amount of light it can take is a proportional to the amount of water it has. Lots of water, lots of light. It will grow quickly in these conditions. I grow it in a tray and it spreads fast.

Hello Harry and thanks for the correction.
Yep. It is liverwort not lichen. Lichens are impossible to grow unless they are already growing in your yard!!! got some growing on my van that sits in the shade and even scrapping some off and sticking onto a branch is a death sentence to them!!! Liverworts are the bane of mosses. While I like them both I try to control the liverworts so I won's lose my mosses.