Emersed growth setup

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Here are some updated pictures...

Erect moss..





Xmas moss

[mor b]

i just got 7 species of moss , and would like to keep them all. since now its summer here , i wonder what is the max temp i can keep this mosses in the emersed growth? thanks

[RonWill]

Dear What's-your-name "baruch mor",
Welcome to the forum and I think you're the 1st member from Israel.

You didn't mention what the summertime temps are. Here in Singapore, it maxs out around 32ºC and from my experiments, so long as I keep the moss cultures in the shade and covered (to maintain high humidity), the moss will be ok. Keep it out of direct sun, if possible.

Ghazanfar has his mosses on moist peat while mine are laid on driftwoods. There are pics of Taiwan Moss shown in this post.

[mor b]

thanks ronwill , the name is baruch mor .
there is a small community of planted tanks here in israel ,and i hope iy will became bigger n bigger when time passes.
i oreder all my plants from thailand n singapore as i cant find here something interesting.
here the summer time is a about 30-32 and i have a penthouse so i can put it outside in a plastic box , covered n spay it with water n liquid fertilizer. i will let u know
can i grow all the mosses in this way?
i have singapore, taiwan, erect, jigsaw, willow, giant and weeping moss
thanks

[FC]

baruch mor,

Ok, I see your name here, good. It would be good if you were to include your name in the signature setup (can be found in the "Profile" menu). Have fun here.

[Salamastre]

I hope it is okay to bump old threads.

This thread is very interesting. I grew gourmet mushrooms for a couple of years, and became somewhat of an expert in keeping relative humidity stable anywhere between 80% and 100% with very simple and cheap setups.

For small tanks, if using the driftwood method, the best method is to put a 4cm layer of Perlite on the bottom, and add water so that half of the perlite remains emmersed. Put the pieces of driftwood on top. Perlite will wick up water, and it has such a high surface area, thet RH will reach 100% in a sealed container in less than an hour. If that humidity is too much, add more water. The less perlite that remains emmersed, the less humidity.

If using peat/sand in a small tank, something that would work (works with mushrooms using compost instead of peat), is to separate 1/4 of the floor area, gluing a small 5cm high divider to the floor. Fill the 3/4 area with the peat/sand, and the 1/4 with perlite.

For large containers, like a 80 liter Rubbermaid or bigger, put the driftwood or the peat/sand inside the container, and put an open glass jar 3/4 full with clean water and an airstone inside the container. Run an airline from an airpump outside the container to the airstone. Seal the box. The bubbles in the jar will create a very fine mist, and raise the humidity very fast. To control the humidity, you can open a little bit the lid or drill a few holes. I do not like the noise of an airpump, I will save $ for one of those piezoelectric ultrasonic foggers that they use for amphibian setups and cheeesy fountains in nightclubs.

As soon as I get my hands on a camera i will show pictures.

I hope this is of help.

[timebomb]

It will be great if you can show us some pics, Salamastre. I've never heard of perlite. I googled the name just now and I think I may be able to find this rock in some of our nurseries. Thanks for sharing.

Loh K L

[RonWill]

I've never heard of perlite

Perlite is a soil conditioner, usually located along the same isle with vermiculite, which works (more or less) as how Fernando described.

Better to check out the larger nurseries like Far East Flora etc.

[Salamastre]

I don´t have a digital camera, i'll try to get some pictures ASAP.

Perlite is basically volcanic glass foam, crushed to small spehers (1mm aprox). Imagine fine filter sponge that became crystalized. It has millions of tiny pores, which gives it an incredible large surface area, an the ability to wick water by capillarity.

Here you can only get it in large quantities, but you can substitute for anything inorganic that will wick water and let it evaporate, like crushed pottery, pummice rock, cooked clay balls, etc...

In my experience, vermiculite will not work as well, vermiculite absorbs a lot of water, but does not let it evaporate that easily, and with time tends to compact into a brown mush.

[foxwagon]

I mixxed the peat and sand quite well, but some peat floated

Well that is definatly a differant way of doing it, not good, not bad....just differant.

[greenmiddlefinger]

I'd like to know how the conversion back to aquatic form is.

This seems like a great method for growing more moss.

From experience though, some plants really die back during transition-period. This would not be that helpful if most of the moss dies when one tries to switch back (unless you just want x-mas moss as a terrarium plant).

Anyone know how they do on the aquatic-transition?

[RonWill]

Anyone know how they do on the aquatic-transition?

Steven, I grow most of my moss emerse on driftwoods and when I see a nice spread or when the moss are well attached, I'll transfer them into my tanks to grow further. Works both ways, ie. reversing from aquatic to emersed form. Just keep them very moist.